Engine is misfiring and jerking?

toyota has huge issues with carbon deposits on the intake valves that give these types of symptoms. This guide will help fix it

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-misfires-or-runs-rough

Roy

I own a 1995 Toyota Corolla 160iGLE (South African make) model AE92-R. Recently, the engine started misfiring when its cold ****** when I start and go). I contacted mechanics to have a look at it several times but nothing has changed. I have so far replaced (changed) the following, fuel filter, fuel pump, throttle sensor, idle switch, condensor, spark plugs and now am being told to replace ignitor. I have the feeling that the technicians have run out of ideas. This is my dream car which I would like to see it grounded hence am asking for you opinion.

MAP/MAF sensor? ECT sensor?

Check that the inlet manifold has not sucked in, spray a little carby cleaner around the manifold with the engine running, if the revs pick up you will have a leak.

I do remember very well the mechanic did sprayed the carburator cleaner around the inlet manifold when he was replacing the idle switch. Take note that the misfiring only occurs when I start the engine and slightly rev the engine (1500- 2500rpm) and after 5 to 10 minutes warm up the misfiring stops, BUT still hesitates when I start moving till temp reaches normal. Am sorry for not giving you a clear picture in the first place. What and where are MAP/MAF ECT
sensors located? Am sorry am not a technician myself.

I would be checking the coolant temp sensor as well, as if it is out of range, you can get the ECU setting a lean condition on start up when it should be richer, worth a look.

My 95 Corolla needed a new left axel a month ago. $220 and new axel solved clunking noise. It was also running rough. My Mechanic added "professional strength fuel injector cleaner" supposedly 90% proof at $9/can instead of consumer grade 2-4% product.
After one day, the engine starts to runs like a top.
Two months later, car begins to miss and not develop power when stopped at light, or parked up hill. Barely makes it to top, and except for gravity, might never get back up to speed. Gas mileage goes out the window: Less than 15 mpg and gas @$3.30 seems like $7/gal I think it's running on two cylinders, but without warning, will clear itself at 60 mph on level highway and run well for 15 miles or so.
Suddenly, or at a stop light, loss of power, and mileage suffers again. My mechanic has retired due to cancer, & can't help. I've replaced air filter, spark plugs & a fresh tank of gas. I have a fuel filter I could try to replace this weekend,as I have some limited mechanical ability. I change the 10W30 oil every 3000-4000 miles plus oil filter, but the engine uneeds another 1 quart every 1000 miles. Also, an idiot light "Check Engine" lit in the dash yesterday, but went out after 80 miles today. A burning rubber smell accompnied the first recent lack of power and the car smelled hot in the garage. What do you suggest I do? I need this car for daily 40 mile one way highway commute to work, returning AFTER MIDNIGHT! Thanks.

Timing Belt was replaced at 121K miles. So it shouldn't be a problem.

The rough running sounds like a sensor out of range (MAP/MAF, TPS or coolant temp). You will need to get the ECM scanned for the code. Most auto parts stors will scan the ECM for free.

The burning rubber sounds like a belt, maybe timing belt? When was the last time the timing belt was changed? If the timing belt has missing cogs it will cause the engine timing to be off and cause it to run rough (or not at all). It should be replaced every 60-70K.

Mhpautos, coolant temp sensor was a the first to replace when the whole thing started. I will try ECU setting. Keep you in touch. Thank you so much for your help.

Mhpautos, the coolant temp sensor was the first to be replaced when the whole thing started. I will check the ECU setting. Thank you very much for your help and I will keep you updated.

I just put in regular gas when my tank is almost emty and afterwards my engine began to misfire

its probably not the gas but a ignition misfire. check the cap, rotor and wires and spark plugs. if your really concerned about bad gas then remove fuel filter and pour the gas into a clear glass bottle and if there is water in it then it will seperate and you will see 2 different liquids

While driving, the car missed and a check engine light threw and then would be fine. but then it would miss again and it would stall and take awhile to start back. It has a brand new distributer, ignition coil, plugs and wires.. what would cause the car not to start anymore?

so its cranking, but not starting? you need to find out what you are missing first. Spark, fuel, inj. pulse, compression.

Hello,
I just bought a used 1993 Corolla. I pressure washed the engine compartment, afterwards I had to dry out the distributor cap because of moisture that caused a miss/no power. That seemed to have fixed the problem. I got home and parked, came out a little later and started the car. It had the same symptoms as it had with the moisture inside the distributor cap, engine miss/no power. I checked the dist. cap and whatever else i could think of, but couldn't find the problem. Can you give me some ideas??

Get some electronics cleaner and remove all electrical connections in engine compartment.

Spray both ends with cleaner and blow dry.

Power washing the engine is problematical at best.

I use brake clean and compressed air to clean the engine.

Disconnect - battery cable before starting the cleaning process described above.

i have a toyota sprinter with 5afe engine that stopped, check and had no spark, replaced the distributor with another but the timing mark is 40deg atdc, so took out the dizzy retaining bolt and turned the dizzy around till it was on 10deg btdc, the bolt is no where near the slots to hold it in, and when i rev the engine there is no advance, it actually retards the spark (due to no advance) it just stays where it is set eg 10deg this is when te1 and e1 are shorter out and not shorted out) there are no codes in computer. i have tried 3 dizzys all exactly the same number as original one. i have tried 3 ecu's of the same number. all produce same results , needs dizzy to be advanced miles to run. timing belt is spot on, harmonic balancer is correct. i set ignition timing at 10deg then turned off enginethen turned the crank to 10deg and took the dizzy cap off and the reluctor wheel is about half way from where it is supposed to be when triggering, ??? how can it run there??, i pulled the dizzy out and turned by hand and it fires the coil when reluctor wheel is just passing the pick up. where is the advace? what can i try? so to recap tried 3 dizys and 3 ecus all from running cars. still needs dizzy advance miles and still no advace when reving. (btw coil and ignitor is in the dizzy and so is replaced with every dizzy)

The only thing I can think of is that the cam gear on the exhaust cam that drive the dist. has a broken woodruff key.

no it is fine. the crank to cam to distributor timing is all spot on. if you take the plugs out and wind over by hand it fires at correct time, im going to check all the power inputs and earths on the computer today, will also check map sensor input and output signals. It has a toyota ESA (electronic spark advance) system and only has a g1 sensor it the distributor, if this helps at all.

If engine timing (mechanically) is good, then I would also check grounds, but something is screwy, if timing keeps changing.

I would remove both camshaft gears and check the keys.

Is lower timimg belt gear good?

my 93 corolla has misfiring issues and it will also shut down on me on the road but starts back up with no problem. the check engine light comes on and off as well. i changed out the distributor and checked the cap and roter but the it still has the same problem.

CEL/SES On

What you need to do here is have the computer scanned for OBD2 codes, there's a problem within the engine management system that caused the light to turn On, this is your starting point of diagnosis

Engine Mechanical problem
1993 Toyota Corolla 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

I have a 1993 toyota corolla 1.8L engine My engine misses at idle speed and let the engine worm up idle speed from 750 rpm to 650 Rpm for a few seconds and back up to 750.. , it feels like its looping but im not sure.. i can hear from the muffler a backfire of air and condensation from the muffler.. I had the computer checked but no codes... I have changed the plugs, boots, fuel filter and checked the coils. What can be the cause....

Visually check the intake manifold gasket for leaks, while not a universal problem, early Toyota's did have a problem with bolts backing out due to vibration and steel bolts in an aluminum head.

Inspect all vacuum hoses.

Hey there.
I have a 92 toyota corolla RV. 1.8l (lift back type)... and it miss fires ALOT under load... changing all spark plugs fixes the problem for about two weeks. then its back. Changing plugs individually does not help which has me confused.. has new leads, new dizzy cap, and the plugs appear to be fine. all edges are still very sharp. oh and when the engine is cold she works fine, problem temporarily gone... but once shes up to temp its back. No mechanics I know can explain the problem... Has anyone heard of this before??? Please help.
Thanks
Carl

Most likely a bad ignitor (ignition module).

On this engine (4AFE) it is actually cheaper to replace dist. than module itself.

Go to parts store and price module and dist.w/module.

My car listed above Seca hatchback has starting missing and carrying on. I have changed Ignition coil and distributor cap and no change. What else can I do?

Good morning.

The first thing I would do is to do a compression test to see if the engine is in good shape internally.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

Once that is done, then check the plugs for proper gap or damage. See if there is spark going to the plugs through the ignition wires.

Roy

Hi, i recently got my oil changed and engine flushed at Mr. Lube and shortly after i noticed that it felt like the engine was missing. I popped the hood and noticed that the thing the distributer cap is attached to that goes into the engine and i assume attaches to the over head cam was not bolted on. There are to bolts and both were gone and i could move the whole thing around. I pulled it out of the engine and now i cannot put it back in. Im wondering if Mr. Lube removed it to do the engine flush and didn't put the bolts back in. Would that explain why the engines missing and why can't i get it back in?? thanks.

If I understand your question, you removed the distributor?

It is held in place by two bolts and is driven by exhaust camshaft. You may have to wiggle it a little to get back in (remove distributor cap) and rotate engine to TDC #1, install dist. and make sure rotor is pointing to #1 cylinder wire, then reset timing.

Yes it could cause a miss, but I am concerned why the bolts are missing, there would be no reason the shop would remove the dist. bolts to change oil, or flush engine.

Yesterday I was driving to work and when I left a friends house for the first time my car started to skip as if it wasn't getting enough fuel. So at first I thought my either backfiring or I needed to change the fuel filter but then about 10-15 minutes later it stopped and was running normal again I checked all my fluids everything is right where it is supposed to be. So my question is should I go back to my original theories of it either backfiring or just a clogged fuel filter or is it something else that I am missing.

If idle is normal (not high). Then I would start with tune up.

If problem persists, I would suspect ignitor.

Fuel could be problem, but you would have to check with mechanical gauge.

Thank you for the help but I had actually found the problem to be the rotor in the distributor cap after I changed that it started like normal.

Glad to hear it.

Hi guys,

My engine seems to misfire or knock when driven aggressively. I'm not sure but it feels like it hesitates for like half-a-second when I really floor the gas very fast. It drives perfectly when driven nicely and I can feel the pull really well, the engine had a new timing belt, new oil, new gear oil, timing was set, the distributor was cleaned and new oil seals and everything. I even changed the distributor pickup coil..Is that it? Is it the new pickup coil? And the funny thing is, I marked the previous timing of the distributor before I took it out now when I put it back, I had to advance the timing so far away from the previous mark which was I think was the best timing I had. I took the distributor out, checked it again and put it back, and still my car seems like misfires when driven aggressively. Everything's okay except that. When I drive moderately, all is okay. My friend told me to check the vacuum advance and maybe somewhere in the exhaust there's a leak.

Any ideas? Please..

Thanks a lot and more power!
Jack

1990 Toyota Corolla Misfires?

Misfires can be caused by worn or fouled spark plugs, a weak spark (weak coil, bad spark plug wire), loss of compression, vacuum leaks, anything that causes an unusually lean fuel mixture (lean misfire), an EGR valve that is stuck open, dirty fuel injectors, low fuel pressure, or even bad fuel.

Thanks!

I have new Bosch spark plugs and new Wires as well, I'm using the same fuel ever since so that leaves me checking the coil, injectors, and vacuum leaks. I don't think I have an EGR valve, or my exhaust could be leaking.

Thanks. More power.
Jack

Only cars sold in CA. had the EGR in the early 90's. It will tell you on the information sticker under the hood.

It will say "non EGR" or "EGR equipped".

Cars for states other than CA. were called "Federal/Canada".

Is this a FI engine or Carb?

car can start fine, but when driving at low speeds its missing, in high speeds it is fine

Engine running rough or misfiring can be cause by the following-inspect and test all the following below:
1.Defective spark plug.
2.Inadequate spark/coil,defective spark plug wire.
3.Lack of compression
4.False air leakage.
5.Faulty fuel injectors.
6.Insufficient fuel pressure.
7.Contaminated fuel.
8.EGR valve that is leaking.
9.Oxygen sensors.
10.Idle air control valve.
11.Throttle position sensor.