why does my car keep dying?

[trez2k3]

hey i have a 86 toyota cressida and i just repaired the radiator bc it had a leak. I just took it for a drive and ever since the car overheated when b4 the radiator was fixed it doesnt run right, almost every time i stop at a light it dies and also whenever it is idling even in the driveway the rpms are way low any idea whats causeing this??? tia

 

[Polgara]

Sounds like you burnt a valve (I hope not). Are there any sounds coming from the engine? Like maybe a tapping sound? Any smoke from the exhaust?

A valve job for a Japanese car can cost between 1K-2K. Japanese cars do not take overheating very well. It's time to let a mechanic look at it.


Sarah

 

[db]

If you have a coolant temp gauge, is it in the normal range, or staying cold?

 

[trez2k3]

well that aint what i wanted to hear but thanks for the help is there any chance it might be the spark plugs?

 

[Mikelh]

It sounds like low compression. Either burned valves as Polgara mentioned, or broken or scored piston rings. Is it hard to start?

You ask about plugs. I'd remove them, re-gap them and torgue them to proper specs. That may help. The plugs may have loosened under that heat.

Michael

 

[Electric Amish]

Probably not the plugs. That would just cause it to miss, not generally kill it.

amish

 

[Zenmervolt]

<<A valve job for a Japanese car can cost between 1K-2K. Japanese cars do not take overheating very well. It's time to let a mechanic look at it.>>

Being Japanese has NOTHING to do with it. Having aluminium heads, has everything to do with it. I'll grant that more Japanese cars used aluminium heads in the 1980's than American cars, but the problem is a function if having an aluminium head instead of a cast iron head. An L-71 'Vette will handle overheating better than an L-89 'Vette because the L-89 has aluminium heads vs the L-71's cast-iron heads for example. And better a burnt valve than a melted piston. Piston slap is right up there on my list of "damnit" sounds.

ZV

 

[trez2k3]

ok it also has trouble starting sometimes...somethin else i forgot to say my dad put that fuel injector cleaner stuff in it with less than a 1/4 tank of gas in it would that have anything to do with it??

 

[Zenmervolt]

<< ok it also has trouble starting sometimes...somethin else i forgot to say my dad put that fuel injector cleaner stuff in it with less than a 1/4 tank of gas in it would that have anything to do with it?? >>

The FI cleaner would not cause a problem like this. I'd agree that this sounds very much as though you have lost compression on a cylinder or two.

ZV

EDIT: To check for dead cylinders, pull the plug wires from individual cylinders with the engine running. (Make sure that no more than one plug is disconnected at a time.) My guess is that there will be at least one cylinder (probably two) that are not firing. Once you have established which cylinder(s) is (are) not firing, check for spark first. Then check that the injector is firing (if carbbed, skip this step). Then check for compression. Spark, fuel, and compression are all needed for combustion, if one is absent then you get a dead cylinder. Compression is absent from either burnt valves, bad rings, or a melted piston (among other, less prevalent things).

 

[trez2k3]

so bottom line what CAN i do before i take it somewhere to get it looked at?

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Could have possibly lost the head gasket and now you are spurtin' a little coolant into a cylinder or two..They don't like to run on cooloant.

Take it to a shop and have them do a leakdown test on your motor...More reliable than a generic compression test. That could point out the problem.

 

[SuperSix]

<< Sounds like you burnt a valve (I hope not). Are there any sounds coming from the engine? Like maybe a tapping sound? Any smoke from the exhaust?

A valve job for a Japanese car can cost between 1K-2K. Japanese cars do not take overheating very well. It's time to let a mechanic look at it.


Sarah >>



I think I love you..

 

[trez2k3]

lol well isnt this good news looks like i wont have a car for about 6 months but thanks for the help yall

 

[JC]

I'd have to go with Gonzo on this....overheating doesn't usually result in burnt valves, more like cracked heads/blown head gaskets. The leakdown test is the ticket, you could also
look for coolant in the oil (check under the oil filler cap, look for 'chocolate milk foam') but that doesn't always happen with a leaking head gasket.

JC <----15 year mechanic

 

[SuperSix]

<< I'd have to go with Gonzo on this....overheating doesn't usually result in burnt valves, more like cracked heads/blown head gaskets. The leakdown test is the ticket, you could also
look for coolant in the oil (check under the oil filler cap, look for 'chocolate milk foam') but that doesn't always happen with a leaking head gasket.

JC <----15 year mechanic >>



Sounds like a plan..

 

[IGBT]

Idle speed selonoid or throttle position sensor or something in the feedback loop like the oxygen sensor?? Just a thought and some of the things I've dealt with to effect a repair...

 

[Pastfinder]

Do you have enough plutonium for the flux capacitor.....wait a minute....wrong thread, sorry........

 

[BooneRebel]

<< hey i have a 86 toyota cressida and i just repaired the radiator bc it had a leak. I just took it for a drive and ever since the car overheated when b4 the radiator was fixed it doesnt run right, almost every time i stop at a light it dies and also whenever it is idling even in the driveway the rpms are way low any idea whats causeing this??? tia >>

Something that no one else has mentioned so I thought I'd throw it out there: Have you checked your oil lately? Could be a simple fix, I had a similar problem a few years ago (much younger and dumber! ), as soon as I let off of the accelerator at a light it would start to die. I finally noticed the oil pressure gauge and found that the engine was almost dry (cringe). Topped it off with about 4 quarts of oil and it ran normal again.

 

[trez2k3]

hmmmmm i havent done that yet lemme go try it thanks

 

[trez2k3]

just put a quart and a half of oil in and still the same old crap...oh well

 

[RedRooster]

How's your tire pressure?

 

[royaldank]

Could be a distributor cap. I had the same problems and thought it was possibly bad gas since it would run for awhile and then start to not catch as you accelarate. It got progressively worse and started having problems idleing. Seemed that once I got it going, meaning hitting the accelerator rev'ed the engine instead of trying to kill it, it would run fine until I hit another stop sign, light, or had to slow down.

That might be a cheap fix, if that is the problem. Dist. caps and buttons are pretty cheap and shouldn't be too hard to replace.

But, I'm just throwing this out b/c no one else has mentioned it. I'm not a car guy.

 

[trez2k3]

k thanks ill look into it

 

[trez2k3]

any other ideas/opinions??

 

[JC]

Did you check the bottom of the oil filler cap, per my previous post?