electrical problems Help!

[chilisaz]

I recently purchased an 82 celica supra. it had a rough running engine so my friend and I ran a compression test on her. 175 on all cylinders but #1. no 1 was not firing because somehow the rocker arm was floating free under the valve cover. that is the next problem to tackle. when we put everything back together she wouldn't fire up. no spark coming from the coil. the plugs, wires and distributer are all nw and just fine. while disconnecting the electrical a spark arced on the coil. what may this have shorted. I bought another coil and igniter used, and car still won't turn on. fuses are all fine everything is grounded and connected as far as I can tell. what am i missing or what could it be, any help would be appreciated. thanks.

[doug82supra]

OK, the crowd is quiet tonight. Other guys know more electrical, but will suggest searching and reading tsrm, or checking fusible links for continuity. They are usually yellow. Likely to be something simple, although a fuse would have been my first guess. Sounds like you've done the legwork to obtain a backup coil and igniter. Keep backtracking from coil and see if coil and igniter are receiving juice. Hope your ecu is ok.

The floating rocker often happens on low engine oil (my son revved my engine once and threw a rocker, but my fault on the low oil on parked supra). You'll have to remove the whole cam tower, check and bleed the offending lifter, and hold the rockers in place with dabs of grease. Here's a nicely illustrated thread from Tanya on cam tower work:

http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=20159&highlight=tanya+cam+tower

Read up! Good luck

[Road Ripper]

Did you check both fuse boxes? (One in engine bay and one behind driver's kick panel) Wiring to the distributor is plugged in? Sometimes the pick-up coil in the distributor can go out causing no spark, but I think it will also kill the fuel injectors too. I'm not too familiar with 82's, but I do have a Haynes manual and live in St. Cloud, MN. Depending on where you live, maybe I or another member is close enough to help.

By the way, was this the car that was on Craigslist Minneapolis this winter, the maroon 82 L-type with maroon cloth interior(in Eagan)? Just curious about what happened to that car.

[Lexusboy]

any ground wires? and where in mn are you located? im in rochester..

^ are you talking about the one with the smashed up front end?

[chilisaz]

thanks for the responses everyone. It is not an L-type or smashed up. this car was brought in as a trade in to beurkle Acura by someone. they had it listed at $1100 but really wanted it off their lot (it was hiding in the employee lot) so i picked it up for $700 It is a P-type with a blue cloth interior. the car was originally blue but a previous owner sprayed it a maroon color (why i don't understand)

I've checked all the fuses several times over as well as every connection and ground. i'll check the distrib pick up coil next as well as compare the ohm readings on the new coil vs. the old one. I suppose it is possible the one i boguht from the junkyard is bad too. hope that isn't the case though.

I'm in Andover right on the border of Coon Rapids. Anyone who wants to help out is more than welcome to.

doug82supra -thanks for the link i'll sure that we'll come in handy when we get to that step. first I want to get her to fire up again though. also another problem with the engine, it seems to be leaking oil out of the exhaust side valve cover. what would be the cause of this the oil seals gone bad? the car was over-filled by a quart of oil when i bought it i presume because it lowly leaks. the previous owner obviuosly put a little bit of money into it to make it run better. it appears to have brand new spark plugs, wires and distributer. he apparently never opened up the valve cover. it ran a little rough when i bought her but atleast it was running ..right now I would like to just get back to that and then hopefully get her running well for not too much money.

[Road Ripper]

Sounds like the oil leak is just a dried out cam cover gasket (rubber seal). Pretty easy to replace, just clean everything up good and install the seal dry (no silicone required).

Is it possible that the junkyard didn't send you the correct year ignition coil assembly? I know they differ thru the years, so that might be a potential problem. I don't know of any 82's in any junkyards, either.

I work 2nd/night shift during the week, and I'm usually busy for at least half of the weekend going to family functions, working on our cars, or going to junkyards. If you're still having problems getting it running, I'll see what I can do about getting down there to help.

Lexusboy - Yep, that was the one. It used to be in Savage, MN, then someone in Eagan apparently bought it for the engine/drivetrain, and was parting it out on Craigslist. I shoulda tried to get those taillights, among other stuff. Oh well, you snooze you lose I guess.

[chilisaz]

It is the correct coil/igniter setup part #'s match It was off an 82 which lucky for me is the only car and year than uses that particular set-up. I bought it online from a junkyard in Missouri. i forgot to mention there was a little oil on the sparkplugs in cylinder 1 and 3 would that still likely be caused by the cam cover gasket? Thanks. going to test everything again tonight, hope we find the problem and get her on the road again.

[Donn29]

Sounds like you took the dizzy out of the cam tower to fix the rocker? Check that the plug for the dizzy is still hooked up and the ground for the head too. Likely the yellow plug for the dizzy is unhooked.

[1984SUPRADUDE]

Hey, this is Mark in Memphis,Tennesee .................. We have 1984 Supra, engine quit running out on the road, last Fall, Engine Check Light constant illumination, No Spark from the Coil to the Spark plugs; we have checked all fuses and relays; replaced the fuel pump; the IGNITER COIL is getting proper voltage; been unable to get a good diagnostic readout from the Engine Check Connectors, the ANALOG voltmeter is not giving us good readings.
I am most interested in what your outcome in with your Supra .................. drop me a line or call me !
Thanks,
Mark
901-413-8692

[Lexusboy]

thread jack what?

Road ripper + chilisaz: MN supra meet?

[chilisaz]

Problem solved...finally. after spending a few more hours checking every connection and going through the haynes manual we found some breaker switches under the dash which after they were reset the car fired up. now that the rocker arm isn't floating around under the cam the engine seems to run a little smoother. still lots to work on but she is running again. seems it wasn't the coil or igniter so now I have a couple extra. oh well. thanks all for the suggestions.

Lexusboy MN suprameet sounds great. i would love to meet some other supra onwers and maybe go for a ride in some with healthy engines firing on all 6 cylinders. Saturdays or Sundays i'm usually free.

[Lexusboy]

^lol i work usually on weekends haha... but yea... mine isnt the HEALTHIEST it leaks oil, (quite a bit) and i let someone who was gonna buy it and now the clutch makes wierd noises when the thing is in nuteral with the clutch let out at idle