Red top beams - engine wont start

[Black Light 93]

Hi all,

Im having issues starting my car. 2 weeks ago car cut out and wouldnt start. I have a mk2 rev2 with a redtop beams from a celica, aswell as a link aftermarket ecu. Ecu told me my vvti cam solinoid was broken. I removed it, tested it, and it was broken. £160 from toyota later, engine still wont start. Checked spark plugs and they work fine, however they have a slight brown colouring on them, not sure what this means. Only thing left i can think of is compression testing. I would like to think i would know if it was this. Anyone have any ideas on what it could be, or what to try next? Car sometimes starts briefly runs rough and dies. Just want her back to her normal self.

[Ryan S]

Fuel, compression, spark. You need all 3. The car runs briefly so it briefly has all three. That rules out compression. So it's fuel or spark. Check for spark first since it's the easiest. Once you determine you have spark or not check for fuel. If you have fuel but no spark the car will reek of fuel.

[Black Light 93]

Have put new spark plugs in and have checked fuel pump and all are working. I do not know what to try next, any ideas?

[Black Light 93]

Update: I have also tested the coil packs. They all work some better then others. But i doubt this is the issue otherwise i would expect rough running and coughing instead of nothing. Could it potentially be the crank shaft sensor?? Just struggling to think what it could be.

[mr2garageswindon]

Are you getting a spark on all 4 when cranking? Laser tools do little lights that fit on top of each plug as a visual check (worth the £10 quid ish at machine mart or wherever)
Safer than resting them on the rocker cover to check sparks.
Any fault codes stored?
Fuel and fuel pressure?

[pbmr2]

not knowing the ecu makes this a little harder.

coil packs are known to go on the gen4 engines, as are the crank and cam sensors. (not sure beams has cam sensor?).

you mention you have tested the coils, so assuming they are good enough to at least start the engine then you need to check for fuel. it's about the only thing you've not mentioned yet.

i think you can test resistance test the cam and crank sensors, also check for dirt buildup and the gap from the rotating sensor. might be worth seeing if you get continuity across the pins when turning the crank by hand.
the bracket for the crank sensor has a habit of snapping, so try to wiggle it.

there is always the basics.. is the ecu getting 12v? is the COR relay getting power? ecu-ig relay getting power? fuel pump getting 12v?
no damaged looking wires or plugs around the fusebox or ecu?

get the multimeter out, good luck

[Black Light 93]

Hi thanks for the replies. So just a quick update. I have ran injector tests from my link g4 storm ecu and they work. Im not sure on fuel pressure yet hopefully this is getting done tomorrow. I have also got hold of a compression tester and have checked all seem to run and hold 150psi which is a good sign. Its off to my friends garage tomorrow to have the fuel pressure and a check of the sensors plus further diagnosis.

All the spark plugs have just been changed and all work as well as the coil packs. There wont be any fault codes due to my ecu and not having obd1 lead because of aftermarket ecu. Everything is plugged in and nothing loose. Hopefully this garage can find what im missing.