I just bought a 87 toyota with the 22re engine and I am having several issues please help if I’m going through water my truck dies my coil and distributer both are not the issue. 2. My truck will not rev past 4 grand and almost bogs or 2 steps need help I have replaced fuel filter changed oil plugs and wires
How deep of water ?
Half way of the tire
Here is what you do… Start the engine let it warm up with a little drive actually, so that it is fully warmed up and heat soaked. Then get out the garden hose… Strategically spray water in or around your distributor / engine bay…
If you are in water up to halfway of the tires… I would think the fan would grab some of it and place it right where you dont want it…near the ignition system…and or the under hood area may be getting a steam bath from the water as well. Either way…water is the issue…in whatever form.
Using the hose in a very controlled manner will suss out what is responsible…and its rinseable and repeatable too.
I’m curious as to how you determined that the coil and distributor are not the issue.
3 Likes
How did you check the coil? Did you measure primary resistance ? (between Pos and Neg terminals-should be 1.3 - 1.7 ohms on a 20R engine). Secondary Resistance (between pos and high tension should be 12 - 16kilohm for 20R engine).
On my Celica’s 20R (your 22r may differ), I get about 6 volts across the primary positive and negative terminals with ignition on. I don’t have specs for 22R, sorry.
If it has an igniter, that is another electrical component that can fail.
1 Like
You mentioned replacing the plugs and wires. Did you replace the distributor cap and rotor? Remove the cap and carefully inspect the inside and outside looking for carbon tracks that are directing the spark to ground instead of the plugs when they are wet or damp. Some people think they look like cracks in the plastic but they are not.
2 Likes
In the olden days we were told not to touch the inside of a distributor cap as the oils from your fingers can make it fail, True?
I have not heard that one for a distributor cap but for some light bulb’s it it true.
There was usually more oil coming up yje shaft past the little felt washer that was supposed to keep it out than it could ever get from your fingertips.
This is actually a real thing @Barkydog… do not touch the inside of your distributor cap… That high voltage is just looking for any damn excuse to go…somewhere else. The oil or grease or dirt you might impart inside the cap is perfectly suitable for those electrons to hitch a ride on whenever they so choose (or is it the moisture which tries to condense on this dirt that provides the path, I forget, maybe both…either way, no touchy) The misfires it can cause will drive you nuts
Yep…No touch the inside of the cap is proper and Old School information.
Re: distributor cap. There should be a thin rubber gasket where the cap meets the distributor body. If that is missing - trouble like this.
Toyota calls that gasket “Dust Proof Packing”.
Dust Proof? Waterproof would be nice!!!
I recall that the caps were vented.
3 Likes
I have an '87 with the 22R engine, but I avoid driving through water. Do you mean that you forded a stream or that it was raining?
Yep, @Rod_Knox they were vented…with a little black plastic vent cap that routed its air flow around and down sorta thing.
I can still see that cap in my head.
2 Likes
Oil from your fingers is NOT an issue, oil is a dielectric. Dirt mixed in with the oil could be an issue though.
Do what @Honda_Blackbird recommended but do it at night. Makes seeing the arcs and sparks easier, and there will be arcs and sparks.
If you have an OEM fiber distributor cap, replace it with a plastic cap. The fiber ones break down as they get old and absorb water.
When you replaced the spark plug wires, did you put on a good coating of dielectric grease on both the inside and outside of the connectors and towers? That will stop a lot of the current leakage.
Edit: BTW, you don’t need a garden hose, a spray bottle filled with water will do, it only takes a mist.
1 Like
Yes… What @keith just said.