37 replies to this topic

[mountainbikeak]

I have a 91 loyale 1.8 4wd, wagon has been running really well lately. About an hour ago it just died on the highway, no warning, no warning lights, sounds, smell. We checked for spark had some, we also checked for fuel but not sure if we did that the correct way. It has 175000 miles on the motor. Fuel tank is pretty full. I don't know, any kind of info would be good. Finals week and this is the last thing I need right now.. . THanks guys Oh how do you check if a fuel pump is working? thanks again

[WJM]

Check the fuses first. Did the tack and oil pres die with the engine die'ing?

[mountainbikeak]

Check the fuses first. Did the tack and oil pres die with the engine die'ing?

You know, I noticed it was dead when the engine stalled, all the lights went on and at that point I was trying to get off the highway and didn't notice what the oil pres and the tack was doing. i did check what I think was the fuel pump fuse? I'll check in my un trusty chiltons guide. thanks

[Hocrest]

Timing Belt??

[pwoens]

Maybe a busted timing belt??

[WJM]

Timing Belt??

Thats why I asked about the tack/oil pres....if the drivers side breaks, the dizz no turn and no more oil pres. The 88 RX i had did that....and the 89. The 87 will NOT follow its brothers! :-p

[DrKrazy]

We checked for spark had some

How did you check for spark though? And I take it the engine did still crank over?
(might be pass side timing belt that broke, seem to recall my 86 GL-10 running still ran after it broke that one, just off 2 cylinders)

[mountainbikeak]

Thats why I asked about the tack/oil pres....if the drivers side breaks, the dizz no turn and no more oil pres. The 88 RX i had did that....and the 89. The 87 will NOT follow its brothers! :-p

Kind of hard to tell if they broke without looking, is that correct? I had both timing belts replaced little over a year ago. I'll have to look at that. I'm trying to get as much info to bring with me so hopefully I don't have to be out in the cold to long.... oh and some dude took off a fuel line and thier really wasn't that much pressure, poured out a bit instead of squirted out. I know the fuel lines should stay pressurized.. any thoughts?

[mountainbikeak]

How did you check for spark though? And I take it the engine did still crank over?
(might be pass side timing belt that broke, seem to recall my 86 GL-10 running still ran after it broke that one, just off 2 cylinders)

yeah it still turns over, I had someone look at the spark while I turned it over, I think he looked from the distrubutor?

[WJM]

was it a sudden loss in power and then nothing? that indicated timing belt on drivers side.

what kind of timing belts were used?

[mountainbikeak]

was it a sudden loss in power and then nothing? that indicated timing belt on drivers side.

what kind of timing belts were used?

Sudden loss, by girlfriend didn't even know it lost power until I said something, and I couldn't tell you for sure what kind, a shop in oregon put them in. You think it might be timing belt?

[WJM]

Sounds like a timing belt.

[DrKrazy]

You can pop your distributor cap off and watch to see if your rotor turns while you crank your car. That will at least tell you if your driver's side timing belt is still on/not broken. You'll have to take off a cover to check the passenger side.

[mountainbikeak]

You can pop your distributor cap off and watch to see if your rotor turns while you crank your car. That will at least tell you if your driver's side timing belt is still on/not broken. You'll have to take off a cover to check the passenger side.

Nice, thanks man really appreciate the info, that will save me a ton of time.. do you recal what size bolts for the covers? and are they a pain to take off?

[DrKrazy]

No problem, it's called passing it on..nothing these guys haven't done for me a hundred times.
Bolts on the cover should be 10mm (be careful with them, the plastic covers like to go SNAP!) and it shouldn't be too bad, might need to take the electric fan off to make it easier though. Only another 4 bolts that are either 10 or 12mm. Just depends on how cramped it is and how skinny your arms are.

[WJM]

Nice, thanks man really appreciate the info, that will save me a ton of time.. do you recal what size bolts for the covers? and are they a pain to take off?

Should be a std phillips head...they are not really standard on sizing tho. Once the spare tire it out of the way, its easy to get to.

[WJM]

Oh...duh, the TIming belt covers are 10MM. PITA to get off is they were over tightened.

[mountainbikeak]

No problem, it's called passing it on..nothing these guys haven't done for me a hundred times.
Bolts on the cover should be 10mm (be careful with them, the plastic covers like to go SNAP!) and it shouldn't be too bad, might need to take the electric fan off to make it easier though. Only another 4 bolts that are either 10 or 12mm. Just depends on how cramped it is and how skinny your arms are.

unfortuanatly my arms are not small, but thanks again for the info, I'm crusing out to try it now... real quick, while i'm thier I would like to check the fuel pump fuse, any idea where that is? (under hood, or in main fuse cluster?) thanks again

[WJM]

should be main fuel cluster. The cover should have the diagram of where it is.

[northguy]

Where are you stranded, guy. If you're close to my place (Chugiak), I'll just pull you into my garage and you can work on it there. If you are in the Anchorage area, give Snowman a call. He's always up for a wrench session. He is a wizard with the very car you're wrenching on and is enrolled in the UAA auto program - might be able to wheel you into the shop and out in no time. Drop a line if you need some help. (The SKA is here to help).

[chef_tim]

Just a thought, did you have the tentioners changed with the T-belts??? A bad one will eat a belt if it freezes up. Hope you get it fixed, Tim

[mountainbikeak]

alright so I checked out the rotor to see if it was spinning, it was! Ok so I looked at the rotor and it would actually free spin on the shaft, and I found a screw laying inside the cap, so I put the screw back in, although its only half in because the damn thing is stripped. I start the car it starts real good yeah real happy. so my friend suggest we get a new cap and rotor. I say ok. long story short, we change them, he took out the distributor aparently so he could get to the screw on the rotor. anyway now it won't start, I don't know if he put the wire on wrong or what. I did however notice that the spindle the rotor lays on wasn't enterly strait... I don't know what could have gone wrong in this process? Something we missed? do these screws get stipped out a lot? How do I fix that./ You guys rock thanks ahead of time.

[edrach]

You really need to get a hold of snowman. Sorry, but you don't need to pull the distributor to replace the rotor and cap. There is only one right way to put the disty back in. Wait for someone who's done it before to give you a hand.

alright so I checked out the rotor to see if it was spinning, it was! Ok so I looked at the rotor and it would actually free spin on the shaft, and I found a screw laying inside the cap, so I put the screw back in, although its only half in because the damn thing is stripped. I start the car it starts real good yeah real happy. so my friend suggest we get a new cap and rotor. I say ok. long story short, we change them, he took out the distributor aparently so he could get to the screw on the rotor. anyway now it won't start, I don't know if he put the wire on wrong or what. I did however notice that the spindle the rotor lays on wasn't enterly strait... I don't know what could have gone wrong in this process? Something we missed? do these screws get stipped out a lot? How do I fix that./ You guys rock thanks ahead of time.

[mountainbikeak]

You really need to get a hold of snowman. Sorry, but you don't need to pull the distributor to replace the rotor and cap. There is only one right way to put the disty back in. Wait for someone who's done it before to give you a hand.

yeah I don't know why he took it out, he claims he couldn't get to the screw! So thier is a certain way the thing is supose to go back in? We lined everything up except for the main body and the part that spins at the bottom.

[WJM]

You'll have to put the engine back to TDC #1 and line the dizzy back up. THere's only 20+ ways the dizzy can go back in....one of them is correct.

You can get to the screw with the dizzy in...but its difficult. I admit that I take the dizzy out to do the screw...of course at that time I am usually doing timing belts and the such...