If it ain't broke

[swampratt]

Don't fix it.
I was thinking my MPG is a little less than normal and time for a tune up on the Corolla.
I have had the plugs cap and rotor in service for 163,000 miles and decided to change them.

I drive over 150 the first day and next time I drive it it from Yukon to Norman to see @Hangfire and
I leave his place and notice some misfires like bad gas or something but this gas was in before tune up.
It clears up and only misfires a couple times to my trip to give primers to @jbarnett
I leave his shop and notice the car running rough and finally get to tecumseh to shoot some new loads in the 6.5x55.

It is running rough and I am thinking what is going on ..bad spark plugs is my fuel gauge wacked and I am almost out of gas?
I shoot and go to leave the property and pull out of the gate and leave the car running so i can shut the gate behind me and the car idles down really rough and dies like it ran out of fuel.

I tried to start it and it did not start.
I listen for the fuel pump and hard to hear over the door dinger (that thing needs removed pronto).

I pull the bottom back seat out as that is where the access panel is for the fuel pump.
I do not hear it when I cycle the key.
I pull the cover off and still no sound.

I pull the pump and have it laying on the floor hooked to wires and cycle the key and still no sound.

I remove it from the wires and find some speaker wire in an old truck on the property and make jumpers and the fuel pump is now hooked to the battery and it pumps fine.

OK something in the wiring as I have checked all fuses and swapped relays.
Neighbor drives down the gravel road and I use his phone to call my buddy to come out.

By the time my buddy and his son get there I have the pump back in the tank and a hot wire ran to it and the thing still will not start.
You can hear the fuel running through the injector rails and through the bypass back to the pump.

I told my buddy to crank the car I will check for fire at the plugs.

No fire at the plug.
Ok and further testing NO fire at the distributor cap terminals.


Ok checked wires on the in cap coil and they are good.
Check all wiring and fuses and relays again. NO DICE.

OK pull cap off again and tie a section of speaker wire to the coil output.
Huge spark that will jump over 5" and made me jump over 10" Yea it bit me a few times before I could let go of it


OK only issue can be a bad distributor cap.
There are carbon 2 buttons in that cap one that sits on the coil output and on that sits on the center of the rotor bug.

O picture of the good old cap i removed.

That little channel must have some kind of wire or resistor or something in it to conduct electricity from point A to Point B.
Obviously this new cap has failed in that area.
Never had that happen.

I could have made a hole above each terminal and inserted a wire and fixed it but off to the parts store in Shawnee to get a cap and rotor.

None at NAPA None at Oreilly and 1 at Autozone.

Darn thing fired right up with new cap and rotor.
Fuel pump runs fine also.

Next time I fix something that is not busted I will put the old parts in the trunk.
I used to do that anyway.

 

[HiredHand]

Yes, save the old parts that’s what dad would always do. They make good spares in a pinch. I’m sure he learned that because his first car came out of a salvage yard and so did the parts to keep it running. He was 12 years old at the time and my grandfather instructed the dealership garage manager to pull a car that couldn’t be made operable out of the local salvage yard. Dad had it running in about a week. Made sure not to tell my grandfather about that either.

 

[jbarnett]

Don't fix it.
I was thinking my MPG is a little less than normal and time for a tune up on the Corolla.
I have had the plugs cap and rotor in service for 163,000 miles and decided to change them.

I drive over 150 the first day and next time I drive it it from Yukon to Norman to see @Hangfire and
I leave his place and notice some misfires like bad gas or something but this gas was in before tune up.
It clears up and only misfires a couple times to my trip to give primers to @jbarnett
I leave his shop and notice the car running rough and finally get to tecumseh to shoot some new loads in the 6.5x55.

It is running rough and I am thinking what is going on ..bad spark plugs is my fuel gauge wacked and I am almost out of gas?
I shoot and go to leave the property and pull out of the gate and leave the car running so i can shut the gate behind me and the car idles down really rough and dies like it ran out of fuel.

I tried to start it and it did not start.
I listen for the fuel pump and hard to hear over the door dinger (that thing needs removed pronto).

I pull the bottom back seat out as that is where the access panel is for the fuel pump.
I do not hear it when I cycle the key.
I pull the cover off and still no sound.

I pull the pump and have it laying on the floor hooked to wires and cycle the key and still no sound.

I remove it from the wires and find some speaker wire in an old truck on the property and make jumpers and the fuel pump is now hooked to the battery and it pumps fine.

OK something in the wiring as I have checked all fuses and swapped relays.
Neighbor drives down the gravel road and I use his phone to call my buddy to come out.

By the time my buddy and his son get there I have the pump back in the tank and a hot wire ran to it and the thing still will not start.
You can hear the fuel running through the injector rails and through the bypass back to the pump.

I told my buddy to crank the car I will check for fire at the plugs.

No fire at the plug.
Ok and further testing NO fire at the distributor cap terminals.


Ok checked wires on the in cap coil and they are good.
Check all wiring and fuses and relays again. NO DICE.

OK pull cap off again and tie a section of speaker wire to the coil output.
Huge spark that will jump over 5" and made me jump over 10" Yea it bit me a few times before I could let go of it


OK only issue can be a bad distributor cap.
There are carbon 2 buttons in that cap one that sits on the coil output and on that sits on the center of the rotor bug.

O picture of the good old cap i removed.
View attachment 297537

View attachment 297538

That little channel must have some kind of wire or resistor or something in it to conduct electricity from point A to Point B.
Obviously this new cap has failed in that area.
Never had that happen.

I could have made a hole above each terminal and inserted a wire and fixed it but off to the parts store in Shawnee to get a cap and rotor.

None at NAPA None at Oreilly and 1 at Autozone.

Darn thing fired right up with new cap and rotor.
Fuel pump runs fine also.

Next time I fix something that is not busted I will put the old parts in the trunk.
I used to do that anyway.

You should have called me. Glad you got it fixed.

 

[Okie4570]

Yes, save the old parts that’s what dad would always do. They make good spares in a pinch. I’m sure he learned that because his first car came out of a salvage yard and so did the parts to keep it running. He was 12 years old at the time and my grandfather instructed the dealership garage manager to pull a car that couldn’t be made operable out of the local salvage yard. Dad had it running in about a week. Made sure not to tell my grandfather about that either.

My dad passed away in 2003 and he had an assortment of "old parts" that filled a pick up bed, and none of those parts were bigger than my hand lol. I brought them all home in the same unlabeled containers and I've rummaged through several times over the years, saved me lots of 15 mile trips to town lol.

 

[rickm]

To many people now days dont want stuff like that laying around ,just trash it and if we need it later just go buy new, had a boss at work that way cause i saved alot of old used parts that sometimes would take a month or more to get it cause it had to be ordered just couldnt walk into store and buy it, when i left guys told me he had it all throwed away and there was some $3k new parts he just trashed cause didnt want it sitting around.

 

[okcBob]

So, I was planning on replacing the original plugs, wires, rad hoses, serpentine belt on my 2008 Toyota RAV4…
Everything works & looks ok, just thought 15 yrs is long enough

 

[joegrizzy]

sounds like a similar experience with my miata.....

To many people now days dont want stuff like that laying around ,just trash it and if we need it later just go buy new, had a boss at work that way cause i saved alot of old used parts that sometimes would take a month or more to get it cause it had to be ordered just couldnt walk into store and buy it, when i left guys told me he had it all throwed away and there was some $3k new parts he just trashed cause didnt want it sitting around.

yeah i feel like the whole "don't make a mess" crowd these days contributes to this. the whole "hoarder" thing. any time you start collecting things now you are a hoarder. any time you don't want to throw something away you are a hoarder.

well, going thru threads even on this board you can find what separates a poor old guy wishing he could afford the nice things he used to own and a wealthy old guy buying his old dream car of the past today; one of them decided to throw his away.

my great grandparents were what would be called "junkers" today but by God when they needed something they usually had it.

 

[Shinneryfarmer]

I once put a new set of Champion sparkplugs in a Oldsmobile for a neighbor lady. I drove the car into my shop, after installing the plugs it would not start. Thinking I knocked a wire loose somewhere I searched and searched to no avail. Finally pulled all the plugs, inserted back in plug wires and laid them on the intake. Had my wife come out and crank on it while I watched with lights in shop off. Notta nothing!!!! Put old plugs back in started right up. Returned plugs to local parts store where purchased and explained problem, lucky day. Champion rep was there and basically called me a liar, that there was nothing wrong with them plugs. I invited him back to my shop for demonstration. Where we started vehicle removed old plugs reinstalled new and engine wouldn't run. Long story shorter he left with said sparkplugs and informed owner of local parts store to give me 3 sets of my choice of brand and vehicle for my troubles at his expense.

 

[montesa]

sounds like a similar experience with my miata.....


yeah i feel like the whole "don't make a mess" crowd these days contributes to this. the whole "hoarder" thing. any time you start collecting things now you are a hoarder. any time you don't want to throw something away you are a hoarder.

well, going thru threads even on this board you can find what separates a poor old guy wishing he could afford the nice things he used to own and a wealthy old guy buying his old dream car of the past today; one of them decided to throw his away.

my great grandparents were what would be called "junkers" today but by God when they needed something they usually had it.

I don’t know how you hoarders do it.

 

[xseler]

I don't save all the old parts --- just the serpentine belt. Had one break way out in BFE. Nearest parts store that had one was 40 miles away. Yep, old one now gets put in the trunk and then gets swapped when the next new one goes on.