95 Corolla crank no start. One day runs great, the next day crank-no start

#1
Hi all, we have a 95 Corolla (base model, 1.6L/4AFE motor, 3 spd auto trans) with about 167,000 miles. Got it about 6 months ago and replaced the battery and the starter plunger and contacts and the little car ran like a champ. 1st a little history: A few weeks ago we noticed that after driving one day, there would be some overnight coolant leakage on the driveway the next morning (under where the coolant overflow bottle is located). The amount leaked would be about a cups worth, not a lot, but some. Replaced the radiator cap and it didn't make any difference. No leaks found with the car running. So we would fill the radiator every time we wanted to go anywhere in that car, and never went more than a few miles. We only drove it a few times a week until we could fix the coolant leak. The car has never overheated and the gauge is always on the low side when driving. Still haven't been able to diagnose the coolant overflow/leak cause but then along came the crank/no start issue so this has to be fixed first.

As I said, the car ran really great even though we had the coolant overflow/leak issue. We drove the car around the corner a couple of weeks ago and came home and parked the car. The next day I went out to do some more coolant leak troubleshooting and the car would crank/no start?? Did some checking and this is what I know so far; Car distributor rotor turns and has spark on all 4 spark plug wires. I sprayed some starter fluid up the intake (to rule out the fuel pump) and it wouldn't even catch, just kept cranking/no difference. Checked and no engine codes on this OBD1 car. Checked all the fuses I could find and didn't find any blown, although I could probably recheck if I knew which fuses and relays I should recheck and where exactly they are located. Anyone have some advice on where to look/check? Checked all fluids and everything good, and no evidence of coolant in the engine oil. I guess my next step would be to check the fuel injection system and perhaps the engine compression but I am not all to sure how to go about that, any advice?

My wife and I are seniors and on a fixed income so we can't afford a mechanic. My head tells me that it is probably something simple but I am not a mechanic by trade. Any and all help and advice is greatly appreciated!
 
#2
Hello fellow 95 owner! Mine is a manual and a prizm, but I believe overall we’re looking at the same car.

I definitely feel your pain. The same thing happened to my car last year. Cranking no-start, starter fluid did nothing. I didn’t have a coolant leak, though. I am also a very amateur weekend DIY mechanic type, so take my experience for what it’s worth.

I ended up replacing the fuel pump, cleaning a some common engine components (throttle body, IAC, air filter, etc) and gapping the spark plugs to get my car going again, and immediately hurried to the closest autozone to get new spark plugs, gapped those and replaced them. I know the fuel pump doesn’t make sense since you did the starter fluid thing...the spark plugs are ultimately what ended up being the last step I took that got the car going, so you may want to start there. Maybe I didn’t even need to replace my fuel pump *forehead smack*.

I wish I could say my journey ended there. The car kept giving me issues. I ended up doing the spark plug wires, distributor cap, and rotor as well. Thankfully for our old cars even after all of this I was only down ~$150. $80 fuel pump, $30 or so for wires, about $10 each for plugs, cap, rotor. Maybe $20 on cleaners. Eventually got an air filter, etc.

I continue to have a rough/stalling idle issue that I’m trying to diagnose. Even the mechanic wasn’t able to help me find the issue!! Darn OBD1. I’ve been trying to find a moderately priced solution to getting live data from OBD1, but it’s very tricky.

It is a good idea to do some basic diagnostics. Autozone/O’Reilly/etc can lend you engine compression test kits, fuel pressure test kits (a bit more complex on our car than others), noid light kits for testing fuel injectors, all sorts of things, free of charge (pay a deposit and get it back when you return the item within 90 days). Diagnosing OBD1 cars is a pain.

I’m not sure how much you’re willing to do on your own, but as I said, I’m not super experienced and between some
Googling and plenty of YouTube tutorial videos I was able to do all of the above. Hope this helps.
 
Top