abeans st185 - Kill 1 Save Another

abeans

Member
Trash_Panda":1v5wk2os said:
Just binge read this whole thread. Enjoyed following along as you worked through all the issues, keep the updates coming! I have been in your shoes before fixing many "repairs" from a previous owner. Excited to see you get this thing on the road!
Thanks for the words of encouragement! Means a alot.

Trash_Panda":1v5wk2os said:
In the pic of your buddy holding the flexible exhaust (didn't know those even existed) is that a 2.5 RS in the background? I had an a 98' 2 door Imprezza (non RS) wish I kept that thing, fun car.

Yes, that's my buddy's car where the car is at currently. He loves those, has a couple now had a bunch. Been building that car for about 3 years, its full stage rally. Pulled it from a Junkyard as a Auto car. Built the cage himself, converted to manual has short gearing, quicker rack. Group N stuff on it... ect ect.

Wish the Toyota was as light as it... and the engine/trans was as easy to pull... Although the Subarus weak link is it's engine.

VIBtBtRl.jpg


I like odd ball cars, so not for me.
 

abeans

Member
Fuel leak is fixed. Going to have to dive back in and get different angle fittings... But it will work. Don't like rubbing on subframe currently. Plus I found some of the the last gas tank mounting hardware in the country.

Got all the power to the car, sorted out some bugs. Car cranks but got no spark. Bummer...I found a thread that suggests jumping the diag port... Also could be the distributor, has been sitting forever... Ignitor is getting voltage on both wires which is on. 12v and 10.5v

Got a new cap and rotor on the way from rockauto because so cheap.

All the cranking found only one oil leak. That garbage eBay turbo oil drain feed fitting. Going to need to scrap that for a new plan... Anyone have a better off the shelf solution?
 

abeans

Member
abeans":2ygqrbgl said:
Got all the power to the car, sorted out some bugs. Car cranks but got no spark. Bummer...I found a thread that suggests jumping the diag port... Also could be the distributor, has been sitting forever... Ignitor is getting voltage on both wires which is on. 12v and 10.5v

Got a new cap and rotor on the way from rockauto because so cheap.

Now that i think about this more...I suspect the injectors are spitting either now that i think of it.

Does the ECU it self need to be grounded? I have it sitting on the carpet currently.
 

abeans

Member
Alright then. I know the rail is getting fuel... Ignition coil has voltage...

But no injector no spark.. hmmm. Normally i'd say its a Crank position sensor or cam. But this car doesn't have that.

My troubleshooting skills are too modern.
 
I don't remember if you are using the original ECU, or if you are using an aftermarket ECU.

The original setup had the ECU grounding done through the ECU wiring harness to chassis ground - the ECU body to chassis was not the means for grounding.

The original ECU gets its engine position inputs from the distributor. Those inputs coming from the distributor to the ECU would be coming in on wires G1, G2 & NE in the wiring harness. At the ECU wiring harness connector "D", G1 is pin 15; G2 is pin 2, and NE is pin 1. Grounding wire -G is on the ECU wiring harness connector "E", -G is pin 16. This is based on a USDM ST185, 1990-1991.

The above is an original factory setup. Not sure what you have.
 

abeans

Member
I'm on the original ecu. Both cars 1990 usdm. Using the harness from the parts car as it was less hacked. (Pretty oily)

Admitting stupidity, I accidentally grounded a positive 12v up front on the car. Hoping I didn't fry part of the ecu.

I've got a check engine light on accessory on. Cranks great. Pump sends fuel. No poped fuses. All the other electrical things seem to function.

Got the Toyota manual to troubleshoot, but, was hoping it was a easy fix.
 

underscore

Well-known member
Pop the ECU open and make sure the caps haven't leaked. Two are more prone to leaking than the rest (but they all should be replaced at this age) and if memory serves one of them is by the injector drivers.
 

abeans

Member
underscore":15dgwl6v said:
Pop the ECU open and make sure the caps haven't leaked. Two are more prone to leaking than the rest (but they all should be replaced at this age) and if memory serves one of them is by the injector drivers.
I can take a look. But - the parts car ran before i sent it to Toyota heaven. Only thing i question on it is me accidentally grounding out a positive lead....

I'm more suspect of the distributor just given the age and sitting
 
Are you using ECU and the distributor from the parts car that previously ran? Which engine wiring harness to the ECU are you using?
 

abeans

Member
93celicaconv":1zmbiok4 said:
Are you using ECU and the distributor from the parts car that previously ran? Which engine wiring harness to the ECU are you using?
Ecu = parts car
Wire harness= parts car
Distributor= maroon car (the parts car had 240k miles so I'd rather not just swap this)

Swapped the other two ignition modules with no change.
 
When you touched the negative battery terminal to the positive post of the battery (assuming the positive cable was attached to the battery positive post, and the negative cable was properly fastened to engine/chassis ground), was the engine running at the time or ignition key in the on position? Or was the engine off and the ignition in the off position?
 

abeans

Member
93celicaconv":1uc76wtc said:
When you touched the negative battery terminal to the positive post of the battery (assuming the positive cable was attached to the battery positive post, and the negative cable was properly fastened to engine/chassis ground), was the engine running at the time or ignition key in the on position? Or was the engine off and the ignition in the off position?
It was off.
 
If all was off, I will assume you had no sparks at all when the contact was made, if if there was any it was very minor/brief.

In this case, all you did was brought up the ground potential from 0 VDC to 12 VDC (same as the side of the positive cable connection to the battery). Because both sides were at equal potential, not current could flow. And because the engine was not running, you did not have an alternator that would have otherwise spiked voltage until it shorted out won't get into the principle of alternator operation here).

So if what happened was as you say, then nothing was damaged by this mis-step. This isn't the cause of your current problem.

That said, have you verified when #1 cylinder is at 0 deg (at TDC), that your distributor rotor is at the position the #1 cylinder spark plug wire should be relative to your distributor cap (and the plug wires are on the proper connections of the distributor cap)?

The offset of the pin involving the connection to the camshaft is not that much - some folks have figured out a way to have the distributor rotor 180 deg out of sync with the cam - the distributor shouldn't seat properly in the head/valve cover, but sometimes/somehow this has happened.
 

abeans

Member
Well when i did timing i was certain the cam was in the correct place, i didn't even think to consider the distributor.

But - even if it was off 180, it would still create spark, no? Just not at the right time.
 
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