st184 ignition issues

[Mike11]

Hi peoples, first post - sadly in need of help.

As the title says, having issues when accelerating. Recently bought the st184 celica with rwc and now already having problems. Well it started after i loosened the bolt to do the timing, when i did, i took off the bolt and moved the distributor up and down to see the range of movement. Tuned it back to factory 10btdc and next mornin the accelerator felt less responsive for the first few seconds under acceleration on the way to work and heading back home it started to surge or miss. Did the same thing next day but alil worse, so i had a look under the bonnet at the usual, end up changing spark plugs and that lessened the issue but still surging under acceleration to about 2200-2500, always happens 1st-3rd gears and sometimes in 4th and 5th, cruising at speed is fine, idling gets a miss every 3 or so seconds, not popping like back fire. Its now at about 13btdc and alil better again but still absolutely annoying when i have to get up to the speed limit.

Not sure what to do, few friends suggested it may be leads, coil or fuel system (does feel like might be gettin too much fuel and not getting ignited when surging), but i wanna be sure before i purchase any of these items. Any help would be great.

Cheers!

[Guest]

Could be leads, dizzy cap, coil (the coils are particularly bad on 184s)...

It would also pay to check the IAT and MAP sensors.

You can actually run at about 15deg btc as long as u run 98octane fuel...

[Keisari]

I myself am running at 15 btdc with 98 octane. I found that this actually smoothed out the idle a little (after re-adjusting it) and helped the acceleration a bit vs 10 btdc. I assume you're bridging E1/TE1 before adjusting the distributor? I'm not sure why this is, but I also found that giving it a good rev every now and then helps a bit.

If you have a multimeter, feeler gauge and a paperclip you can test all of the ignition system.

[Guest]

I myself am running at 15 btdc with 98 octane. I found that this actually smoothed out the idle a little (after re-adjusting it) and helped the acceleration a bit vs 10 btdc. I assume you're bridging E1/TE1 before adjusting the distributor? I'm not sure why this is, but I also found that giving it a good rev every now and then helps a bit.

If you have a multimeter, feeler gauge and a paperclip you can test all of the ignition system.

haha, i never bothered to do this (bridge e1/t1) i did reset the ECU though.

[Keisari]

I myself am running at 15 btdc with 98 octane. I found that this actually smoothed out the idle a little (after re-adjusting it) and helped the acceleration a bit vs 10 btdc. I assume you're bridging E1/TE1 before adjusting the distributor? I'm not sure why this is, but I also found that giving it a good rev every now and then helps a bit.

If you have a multimeter, feeler gauge and a paperclip you can test all of the ignition system.

haha, i never bothered to do this (bridge e1/t1) i did reset the ECU though.

Oh really? My impression was that it wouldn't work otherwise. But come to think of it, I've never tried it before without doing this, haha.

[Mike11]

yea thanks for the responses guys, i actually had a look at the dizzy and took the cap off, there was oil inside and i think that the oil may have desposited itself round the back of the dizzy where theres a plug. Tried cleaning it up as much as i could without removing the dizzy from cam shaft, did help alil but stil having hesitation when accelerating.

Might try source a new dizzy, any1 know approximate prices for this item and where i can purchase, besides from toyota? for 1990 st184.

[Guest]

yea thanks for the responses guys, i actually had a look at the dizzy and took the cap off, there was oil inside and i think that the oil may have desposited itself round the back of the dizzy where theres a plug. Tried cleaning it up as much as i could without removing the dizzy from cam shaft, did help alil but stil having hesitation when accelerating.

Might try source a new dizzy, any1 know approximate prices for this item and where i can purchase, besides from toyota? for 1990 st184.

repco, bursons, etc... be sure you get the right one, if yours does not have an inbuilt coil make sure you get one the same..

[Mike11]

repco, bursons, etc... be sure you get the right one, if yours does not have an inbuilt coil make sure you get one the same..

Thanks for the advice Mick, i wasnt sure bout my dizzy cos dont know the absolute history on my celica (pretty sure its still factory), but yea it doesnt have an internal coil in the dizzy. Got repco to order one in, but wasnt the right one (they said it was the only one available for st184 5sfe). Repco cheapest compared to bursons 550 and toyota 900ish.

Do you know where i could get a dizzy for first series of st184 celica? well besides wreckers........

[tarago_rv]

Hi peoples, first post - sadly in need of help.

As the title says, having issues when accelerating. Recently bought the st184 celica with rwc and now already having problems. Well it started after i loosened the bolt to do the timing, when i did, i took off the bolt and moved the distributor up and down to see the range of movement. Tuned it back to factory 10btdc and next mornin the accelerator felt less responsive for the first few seconds under acceleration on the way to work and heading back home it started to surge or miss. Did the same thing next day but alil worse, so i had a look under the bonnet at the usual, end up changing spark plugs and that lessened the issue but still surging under acceleration to about 2200-2500, always happens 1st-3rd gears and sometimes in 4th and 5th, cruising at speed is fine, idling gets a miss every 3 or so seconds, not popping like back fire. Its now at about 13btdc and alil better again but still absolutely annoying when i have to get up to the speed limit.

Not sure what to do, few friends suggested it may be leads, coil or fuel system (does feel like might be gettin too much fuel and not getting ignited when surging), but i wanna be sure before i purchase any of these items. Any help would be great.

Cheers!

Hi - have no idea if the posts below are talking about an ignition coil (i just drive a car with lots of issues) - but I was having the same problems you have described. I drive an old fuel injected 1987 Tarago RV. I was advised that the problem might be caused by pockets of moisture and to therefore add a bottle of methylated spirits to the fuel tank. I did not try this as the car eventually stopped starting. They did a check of the ignition system and found the 'ignition coil' needed to be replaced.

[Mike11]

yea problem pretty weird, played with the timing over weekend and did it by sense (do have a timing light), had it over advanced cos heard the knocking, but car had no surges or miss, so tuned it back bit by bit til there was no knocking sound. BUT then the issues starts all over again, parked the car jumped TE1 E1 and checked the timing with light, was directly below 15 on the crack pulley. Absolutely makin me insane, like the motor is retarding under 2000rpm with slighty heavy acceleration (and you really gotta feather the throttle to avoid this) but theres no issues if i've got a heavy foot from 0kph.

Did look for a dizzy over the few weeks but nobody seems to stock celica dizzy without internal coil. Anyone know of any place that i could get this part?