Hello,
I have a '95 Celica ST auto with the 1.8 liter, 177k miles. Car is completely stock, well maintained, and has run with no issues until now. It drove normally until a couple weeks ago while driving it all of a sudden, at low speed, sputtered a little then died and would not restart. It turns over normally (not fast), just won't start. The gas light had just come on, so I tried putting another gallon of fuel in to no avail. I towed it home and have been troubleshooting since but I'm stumped.
What I've done:
Checked for spark: spark is there, but not "bright blue" like the Chilton says it should be. Was more orange/blue.
- replaced plugs (gapped to 0.31)
- tested wire resistance - less than 10k ohms so OK.
Distributor cap posts had a thin white crust on them, and rotor looked 'burned', with a thin black layer of crust and well worn
- replaced cap and rotor
- signal generator resistance G+ to G- = 214ohms, NE+ to NE- = 424ohms (both in spec)
- ignition coil Primary Resistance (+ to -) = 1.7 ohms, Secondary Resistance (+ to terminal) = 11.4ohms (both in spec)
I looked to check the Crank Position Sensor resistance but this engine/year does not appear to have one.
- Fuel pump primes when jumping the +B and FP terminals, as well as when attempting to turn over.
- fuel inlet pipe feels like it's getting pressurized when jumping fuel pump
- Timing belt was changed 30k miles / 3 1/2 years ago.
At this point, the only thing left I can think of is:
1) test fuel pressure -- I'd have to borrow a gauge
2) compression test -- also need a gauge, although I highly doubt something internal broke as the car has run perfectly up until now
Is there something I'm missing? Should I just try replacing the ignition coil and/or distributor?
Thanks