Over 1M Posts • 84K Topics • 9K Authors

engine problem after rebuild - 6G Celicas Forums

Topic #73485 31 posts Started by STCelica
alright well here is the story. i bought a 97 celica vert for 150 bucks and the engine that was in it threw a rod. so needless to say it was no good. i pulled the engine and got another 2.2 out of a camary. i turned the crank, new rings, valve seals the whole 9. anyways i but the damn thing back in and tried to start her but she will not run. the motor is in time check in 4-5 times, i got spark, fuel, and cmpression is about 155-160 in each cylinder. ive tried replacing the crank sensor, tps, i put in a new injectors off another motor i had. each cylinder is getting fuel cause the plugs are wet. the only thing i havent checked yet is the fuel pressure, but i know its getting up there. the only thing the motor doesnt have now is the egr and all the hose that went along with it. all my grounds are hooked up and ive even added a few. i just need some advice on what this could be, i am stumped. thanks in advance.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
define will not run... thats pretty broad... it chokes? it starts and dies? it doesn't turn over? it turns but doesn't fire? be more specific... its the only way we can help

Breaking Axles...
just cranks over, its cranking but will not fire. every now and then i can get a little pop but no start. i also replaced the dist cap and rotor, plug wires, and plugs

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
>
QUOTE (STCelica @ Apr 23, 2010 - 11:10 PM) *
>just cranks over, its cranking but will not fire. every now and then i can get a little pop but no start. i also replaced the dist cap and rotor, plug wires, and plugs



are the wires in the right firing order? how sure are you that you have spark?

Breaking Axles...
the firing order is good and i know i have spark not only did i get zonked by it you can see it wtih the spark tester i got.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
ignition timing way off?

2000 Celica GTS 'slowest gts evar'1998 Mazda 626 FS-DE/CD4-E
used a timing light and it flashed that it was on time

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
what year was the camry? what parts off the camry did you leave on?

2000 Celica GTS 'slowest gts evar'1998 Mazda 626 FS-DE/CD4-E
well if your compression is that good timing should be good. im not sure why is not firing up. how about the ECU? maybe it took a crap

2001 Celica GT-S Turbo1997 Supra TT 6speed1997 Celica 3MZ/1MZ swap1990 Celica All-Trac
Think it was a 93. As far as parts go I used everything that came off the 97.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
well you're missing something, are the injectors plugged in in the correct order?

2000 Celica GTS 'slowest gts evar'1998 Mazda 626 FS-DE/CD4-E
Yep I took the rail off the old motor and put it on the new one and all are getting a pulse I used a nouid light to test and I know there are spraying since I can see the fuel on the plug. The only thing I haven't tested yet is the fuel pressure

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
try swappin the wires between cyl 1/4 and 2/3
your timimng may be 180 degrees off. it'll show up as fine when u use a timing light

QUOTE"And, as always, your friendship, help, and dedication to the advancement of Texas Celica dominance is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks bro." -DEATH1994 GT:V6 swap, 5speed E53 W/ LSD, All Power, now RED1995 ST:SOLD @273k miles, Auto, all power, CarPC, White1994 ST:Totaled, 5spd, all power, RedRIP 07/09/09 @ 241,8101994 Lexus LS400:This is my new DD
well another day done and still cant get this #@%$ing car running. today i checked my fuel pressure and i have good pressure at the filter. about 65-70 lbs. i even replaced the fuel pulsation valve since the one on the car wasnt holding a vacume. i am at my wits end with this car. so is my dad. the only thing i havent replaced yet is the fuel pressure regulator. i just dont know anymore.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
>
QUOTE (STCelica @ Apr 23, 2010 - 10:48 PM) *
>alright well here is the story. i bought a 97 celica vert for 150 bucks and the engine that was in it threw a rod. so needless to say it was no good. i pulled the engine and got another 2.2 out of a camary. i turned the crank, new rings, valve seals the whole 9. anyways i but the damn thing back in and tried to start her but she will not run. the motor is in time check in 4-5 times, i got spark, fuel, and cmpression is about 155-160 in each cylinder. ive tried replacing the crank sensor, tps, i put in a new injectors off another motor i had. each cylinder is getting fuel cause the plugs are wet. the only thing i havent checked yet is the fuel pressure, but i know its getting up there. the only thing the motor doesnt have now is the egr and all the hose that went along with it. all my grounds are hooked up and ive even added a few. i just need some advice on what this could be, i am stumped. thanks in advance.


Did you get any check engine codes? I have a 1990 toyota celica gt automatic with the 2.2liter and bought a new aftermarket distributor. I installed it and the car started up no problem for about a month when it randomly wouldn't start. I knew I was getting fuel because I would smell it but it still wouldn't start. I got a code 11 ecu/ecm which in the repair manual said may have a problem with your ecu or distributor. It would be rare that my ecu would just go bad so my guess was that the aftermarket distributor wasn't compatible with my engine. I put on my old distributor even though it leaks oil and haven't had a starting issue since.

I would check around your distributor, I don't know if there are any compatability issues with your 1997 celica convertible and with the camry 2.2 motor you swapped.
Well I'll ohm test the dist before I buy a new one. Does anyone know what the timing is suposed to be. My haynes manual says tdc with the cam and my timing book I have that tells u the timing for all cars tells me 45 degrees bdtc. Which one is it. I've tried both and tge car still won't run.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
Also wheni hooked it up to a obdII reader it pulled a camshaft position sensor. As far as I know my celica doesn't have on unless it's built into the dist.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
Now I just called a guy who has Micheal on demand and he told me that the timing should be 8-12 degrees after tdc. Which one is it. If it's this one then I'm 57 degrees out of time. Idk.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
Dont use a timing light to set physical timing of the timing belt. Set cyl 1 which is on timing belt side to TDC. A quick way to check without the cover on is pull the spark plug and put a long skinny screwdriver in the hole and slowly turn the crank till it goes up the whole way. Now that crank is set to TDC set cam gear to correct position. There is a small hole in the webbing of the gear and if you look at the head behind the gear you will see a small indent. Line up the hole in the cam gear and the indent. Now cam gear is set. Next make sure the spring loaded idler for the timing belt is loose then push it down as far as it will go and lock it in place with the bolt. Then put the belt on loosen then idler to take up slack retighten bolt turn the engine 2 complete turns check that marks on the crank and cam are still good then you are done.

This post has been edited by bmj67: Apr 28, 2010 - 11:50 AM
I know the pump is good since Im getting good psi. I'll have to try and retime her again. The way above is the way I did it the first time. But I will double check since I don't remember seeing a indentation on the cover. I know there is a hole in the gear and I had that straight up. But I will look fir that mark. Thanks.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
Im rebuilding a 95 GT right now and Im following along. You'll get man dont give up!
laugh.gif >
QUOTE (STCelica @ Apr 28, 2010 - 1:14 PM) *
>I know the pump is good since Im getting good psi. I'll have to try and retime her again. The way above is the way I did it the first time. But I will double check since I don't remember seeing a indentation on the cover. I know there is a hole in the gear and I had that straight up. But I will look fir that mark. Thanks.

Today my dad tested the fuel pressure regulator and it was working fine. We tested it because we are getting amost 80-85 psi in the line. So we took off the fuel return line and there was no fuel come out when we turned the engine over. We then removed the fpr right from the rail and turn the motor over and still no fuel came out. From my understanding shouldn't that be wide open and let fuel pour out from that hole? I have another fuel rail laying around and it's straight though and clear and hopefully then the fuel pressure then will be in spec at 38-44 psi if I'm correct. Does this make any sense to anyone. Lol. I'm just trying to figure this out. My wife has been without a car for almost 2 months now.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
Well good news. IT'S ALIVE. I got tge damn thing running today. I took the exhaust cam out and rechecked the marks. There are a total of three different marks on the gear and we picked the wrong one. We adjusted the dots to the right spot and turned her over and I'll be damned it fired right off. Now I just need to get the driver fender and a body kit and then the fun can begin.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
a compression test would have saved you alot of time/trouble there...also admitting that you maybe didn't have the timing right and checking that.

2000 Celica GTS 'slowest gts evar'1998 Mazda 626 FS-DE/CD4-E
Yeah I did a compression check and it read 160 psi or so. So if they where out of time then there should have been no compression but there was. And the car was in time as far as ingnition and tdc on the crank and on the cam gear. But there are three dots on the the gears under the valve cover and the books I have weren't really helpful. I was only off on the exhaust came by 4-6 teeth. So yeah I thought timing was on since everything seemed good, but I was wrong. I admitted it. No big deal. It's running now and I just thought I would share my success with everyone here.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
thats weird that you'd have compression then, if the timing was off enough for it to not start...oh. i know why. duh! the spark/fuel are timed off the distributor which runs off the exhaust cam which was not timed to the crank/intake. so i bet fuel/spark was happening after or before the intake valves were open.

2000 Celica GTS 'slowest gts evar'1998 Mazda 626 FS-DE/CD4-E
good job Im looking at putting a head on today and was looking at those three dots. Which one did you go with? Good job Im glad you got it going.! Ive got my body kit sitting and primed and I cant wait to get it done.
The dist runs off the intake cam. And as far as the dots I used one of the single dots. It's kinda hard to explain. But u want to first get ur car in tdc and line the hole up on the cam gear with the mark on the cover. Then look at your exhaust cam. There will be a double dot then a single dot then another single dot. I'm pretty sure I used the last single dot. When u get the cam in there the other single dot should be facing up towards the valve cover. Like I said it's a little hard to explain but if u need help just send me a pic of the cams and I can see if I can help u that way.

1997 Celica Convertible (going to rebuild again)1994 TT 6Spd Supra1969 Camaro1997 S-101997 Astro Van
intake, exhaust whatever tongue.gif they're both soo close together who can tell them apart these days. I'm all turned around going from an A engine to a ZZ engine, ya know?

2000 Celica GTS 'slowest gts evar'1998 Mazda 626 FS-DE/CD4-E