Fribox's 1996 Celica GT, A used car that likes to suck money out of my pockets Options

[fribox]

5s-fe, 5 speed, 221000 miles. Second owner. (Now nearing 225000)
It looks shiny in this picture, but it has a lot of problems.




Engine refuses to rev past 4500-5000 RPM (not that I do this often), if anyone has a solution to this I'd be very grateful. I've read a bit on here its either the catalytic converter being clogged or timing is off.

This thread isn't really much of a project thread, more of a maintenance diary. I don't plan anything spectacular with this car, but I'd like to share my woes and experience with you guys.
Maybe I'll come across something and find out what is wrong and help someone who has the same problem, who knows.
I was first planning a 3S-GE swap, but figure its not worth the hassle on a car with 225000+ miles on it. I've seen good things about 294 grind cams though, which is what I might do for the little more umf at the high end that I want.
But I'll post whatever happens to my car here.

This post has been edited by fribox: Mar 18, 2014 - 10:38 PM

[Box]

Generally when the distributor goes out it'll throw a code and won't really run at all. That and the inside of it will look like spaghetti from where the copper coil has unraveled. Being the car is OBDII it definitely should be throwing a code for anything serious. As far as it only revving to 5K, does that apply to neutral as well? Have you tried revving it by manually moving the throttle? Could be something as simple needing to adjust/replace the throttle cable. If that's not it I'd look into the cam position sensor or MAP sensor.

On the misfire issue that could be the above, or possibly an ignition coil. Plugs and wires can also cause misfire. Though again being OBDII there should be a code for a major component failure.