3sfe help

[Maggs]

Hi im wondering if anyone here has any tips for me so i can get my car going again.. The cars a 93 corona with the 3sfe engine. Last week i sent the car in to get a new cambelt ,idler ,tensioner ,all the seals + waterpump and other maintenance things.. I left auckland for wellington which went fine but coming back the car started hesitating so i pulled over and had a look but didnt see anything wrong so i carried on going. Car was hesitating again and then died completely. I opened the bonnet and the top rad hose and overflow were boiling. The bottom hose was cooler. I though the thermostat might have seized shut but that wasn't the case. After dodging bulls in a field for water i tried starting and it ran so i filled the rad back up and the car seemed to run 100% fine ,it wasnt until it got to what i thought was operating temp it cut out again. I have only just got the car back now ,any suggestions?

[Maggs]

Should the engine be able to run without the coolant temp sensor plugged in ? Theres no spark now and a mate reckons it could be the sensor telling the ecu to shut down the engine.. make sense ?

[Maggs]

If some kind person could unplug there water temp sensor which is next to the bolt at the end of the top hose and see if there engine starts that would narrow down the possibilities.. thanks

[1hypo3]

if you unplug the sensor it goes open circuit which means the ecu chooses a default setting of i think -20degreesC which means it will inject alot more fuel which will cause stalling, running rough, hard starting when warm and most possibly foul the spark plugs.
i would also check if the cooling system is bled properly and check to see if your radiator fans are working

[Maggs]

Hey thanks for the reply.. The car also had a new cooling system minus fans so id expect the pros to have bled that properly but i cant myself until i get the car running. I unplugged the fan sensor and switched the ignition on and the fans came on so they do work.. Im actually thinking the thermostat is $&#$% as it wont open in boiling water but im confident the motors fine its just an electrical problem. Theres no spark and the dizzy cap looks in good nick.. Sparks plugs are new but leads are not. What else could i check and how do i check it?

[Crimson Tears]

Your cooling system problems could be a variety of things, but regardless the car should still start.
So if you have checked and there is definitely no spark, start by checking the resistance of your leads. Toyota's spec is less than 25k ohms.
If that is okay check your cap and rotor. Also make sure that when you crank the engine the rotor is rotating - if it doesn't you may have a broken timing belt etc.
If that is okay turn the ignition switch on and check that you have power at the positive terminal of the coil - you will probably need a wiring diagram. These are common for the coils playing up, I replaced one today infact on a car with a no start condition.
You can pull the distributor apart and replace the coil seperately.

Hope this helps

Cheers