'95 5S-FE Randomly Shutting Off Options

[Chockomon]

Hey guy, I'm not too familiar with Celicas as I'm more of a VW guy, but I would love some help on some issues I'm trying to diagnose. My friend just bought a 95 GT convertible. The engine runs great and it drives amazingly. However, it has this random stalling/shutting off issue and I can't seem to figure it out. Here's what happens:

The car will shut off out of nowhere. Doesn't stutter, shake, no CEL, nothing.
It happens at any time, independent of temperature, weather, engine temperature.
Usually will turn right back on as if nothing happens.
HOWEVER, sometimes it will not turn back on. When this happens, no CEL or battery light (warning lights) will turn on when the key is turned to the on position.

So where do I start? I'm thinking that the issue could be a faulty relay but I don't know which to look at / ring out. Could it be the Main Engine Relay? EFI? How would I go about checking the ECU on this car?

Thanks guys!

[Smaay]

might be the fuel pump relay, or the pump itself.

[Remy]

Jump the terminals (T1,E1) to see if any codes are saved on the ecu I had a similar problem turned out to be a faulty rebuild distributor corvette performance shops FTL...

[JuMPiiN]

My Celi does the same thing, I was told by a few people it was the distributor, then I was told it could be the fuel pump or relay. Im actually fairly certain mine is the distributor, maybe you should check yours too.

I jumped for codes as well T1-E1 and didnt get anything. No codes or nothing. So its prob your dizzy.

This post has been edited by JuMPiiN: Nov 18, 2010 - 6:16 PM

[Chockomon]

So if the distributor is bad, the CEL may not light before starting the car?

[supercoolee]

my celica has the same problem a lot of people told me it was the distributor. i changed the distributor and the rotor and spark plugs and spark plug wires and nothing has changed. my dad said it might be the fuel pump, but im not really sure though. the abs light also comes on sometimes and im not sure what the problem could be

[Chockomon]

hey guys, I figured I'd make it a little clearer that when I say the car won't turn back on, I mean to say that the car will not even crank.

[presure2]

i know this seems like a stupid question, but are his battery terminals clean, and tight?

[Chockomon]

Battery terminals are clean, battery was recently replaced with a DieHard Gold. Plenty of cranking power, never needs to be jumped. Usually, the car will crank, start and run fine until power just cuts out suddenly. It will either then start up again like nothing happened OR it will not crank. When the no-crank issue happens, the check engine light will not turn on when the key is turned to the on position.

[Smaay]

well the cranking thing leads me to bad starter circuit. but if the engine is already running, and it suddenly shuts off. you might have a bigger problem

[JuMPiiN]

This is whats wrong with my Celica, It starts up perfectly fine, runs PERFECT for a while, but after it hits temperature it will randomly die. When this happens it doesn't turn over or anything but yet all my lights work, radio, everything else but the engine wont turn over at all. So I have to park it and leave it there and when it cools off it will crank right back up. So I figure it was the crank sensor, and on our cars we dont have one of those its just tied directly into the distributor. So I figure its the distributor, but I honestly dont know. My engine is a rebuilt 97 5sfe, and everything on the car is new except the fuel pump and distributor.


Does your do something similar to my symptoms ?

This post has been edited by JuMPiiN: Nov 19, 2010 - 5:39 PM

[SleekCelica]

It is the ECU, and trust me. I've been through this off an on for about a year with your same issues and have the towing bills to show! Replace it and enjoy your reliable Celica.

[presure2]

bridge fp and b+ in the daignostics box and see if it stays running.

[Chockomon]

So I printed out some wiring diagrams and I'm going to ring out some wires/coils/etc.

Presure2 - what am I looking for when I jump those 2 slots?

[presure2]

So I printed out some wiring diagrams and I'm going to ring out some wires/coils/etc.

Presure2 - what am I looking for when I jump those 2 slots?

doing that bypasses the fuel pump relay and the circuit opening relay.
if it runs after doing that, you know one of those 2 is bad.

[Smaay]

^^^ yes it basically turns your fuel pump on all the time, stry to start the car, if it starts up, then you have narrowed down your problem. just remember if you leave the car, to take the jumper wire out.

[Chockomon]

Ok update. Car shut off when driving after hitting a bump. Now it won't crank. CEL doesn't light up. help please. Thanks for your help guys

[njccmd2002]

http://www.toymods.org.au/forums/showthread.php?t=18471

[Chockomon]

So I got it fixed! Turns out the fuse for AM2 was loose. the socket seemed like it burnt a little and wasn't giving constant connection. Fixed it and runs great! Thanks for all your help!!!