Hi
I have had problems for some time with vehicle not starting on particular days (usually when mild -happier when cold). I was having to flood it to start it and then after warming up, leave it switched off for 30 minutes before attempting to drive it. It has been like that for about 6 months, but over the past few weeks it become harder and harder to start, but still ran A-ok once it was up and running, as always. This week,(after the vehicle had been standing for a few days, which it doesn't like, and it had been raining heavily), it just refused to start at all. Tried flooding it - no good. Tried cold start - no good. Breakdown chap came out and tried everything. He said there was a spark but it probably just needed a good service, and towed it off to the nearest garage.
The garage now tell me it needs a new distributor.
Can anyone tell me if the symptoms match that of a broken down distributor? I am very anxious that they might not know what they are doing and I have got so little money and am self-employed and can't work till I get the vehicle back!
They seem to think they can just get a second-hand distributor for this vehicle on tuesday. I have yet to see one in a breakers. A new one is around £450 and the vehicle probably isn't worth that (but I can't afford a new one!)
Is there anything else this could be? The bit I don't understand is if the distributor was on the way out, how could it have been running so well just last week?
Thanks :)
- (#10607) Maria, 2 May 04 20:20
Maria,
The distributor is a complex bit of kit. There are many parts to it and if just one is failing it has a knock on effect on the rest. I'd guess at a break in one of the many circuits, most likely in the coil/igniter area, ok when dry or with the engine hot, but not so good with a cold engine or damp conditions as some of the spark jumps to earth. The garage will have tested the spark to the spark plugs and can tell how weak it is, and therefore point to the dizzy as the cause.
Ask the garage to source the used one, they are out there.
- (#10607) Clive (Bristol), 3 May 04 01:32
Thanks for the advice Clive, sort of reassuring. :)
- (#10607) Maria, 3 May 04 11:24
I'd be asking them to give you the old dizzy back to keep ...just in case it doesn't solve it.
I would have thought it would be something else like needle valve in carb, cold start setting or a number of other things.
Normally dizzy probs are rotor arm, cap or moisture related ..easily replaced. Sometimes a dodgy main HT lead......I would have thought the dizzy would last as long as the engine - however they have checked and diagnosed the problem. Get them to leave the old one in the boot though....
- (#10607) chris turner, 3 May 04 16:08
But toyota dizzys include the electronic module AND the HT coil. Either of which can (and do) go intermittent, and are a bugger to diagnose...
- (#10607) David Miller, 4 May 04 00:38