Car won't start!
 

Hi guys I'm posting a question for a friend to be answered by you(hopefully). My friend has a mark 3 supra turbo im unsure of the year as everytime I've seen it he hasn't had plates on it. I was hoping anyone had idea's on why it wouldn't start. This is what happened:

• He recently replaced the headgasket.

• The petrol is getting a spark.

• The timing is lined up.

• The car won't start!

Hopefully you can help thanks in advance Rob.

Man more info needed! btw you can narrow down the MKIII su-pra to within two years by body diffrences (lights mirrors,etc) not huge diffrences but enough.
Anyway there are a great deal many things that could be wrong. have you checked the Cold Starter? ANswer these questions -please;
1. Is it N/a (Naturally Aspirated) or turbo?
2. Did it start before the head gasket change?
3. Any mods?
4. manual or auto?

Check anything to do with the timing, No1 piston is at top of stroke, crank pulley timing markings read zero, cam pulleys markings are at the top, cam sensor installed correctly.You can download the complete service manual from this link. 1990 MK3 Supra TSRM Text Edition(51.4MB)

Is there any fuel getting into the engine?

Sorry buddy, it is turbo, it did start before the head was done, no modifications, and it's manual thanks a million for any advice.

Yes there is.

Well you need fuel, spark and air. Sometimes the connector from the distributor doesn't make a good connection and won't fire. Make sure the ground wires are back on under the intake. There may be two sets of wires with eyes on them that aren't bolted on and it won't start without the ground. The airflow meter has to have a good plug on it too.

Start at the beginning and make sure the front cylinder is at tdc on its compression stroke and then put the timing mark about ten degrees after tdc. Put the plugs in, make sure they are in the correct firing order, 153624. Check to see that the plug to the coil pack is plugged in. As the wiring gets older and mor brittle, some of the plastic locks break and don't keep a good connection so you may have to wiggle connectors while turning the engine over.

The timing has to be close though or it won't start. If it is 180 degrees out it will back fire so you know at least you are getting fuel and spark, but the timing is off. The cams have to be set too. Again #1 piston tdc, align the notches with the dots on the cam gears and get the timing belt on without moving the cams. There are ways to make sure the cams are timed just right by moving the gears and the dowel pins, but you have to know what you are looking for as far as timing belt tightness and correct cam gear timing. So just do the basic cam timing and even though the cams may be off just a bit they shouldn't be off by even one tooth.

The engine is a non interference head so you won't bend a valve by having the timing off, but it won't run either if they are off. By this time the distributor is going to be off so you should have marked it first, but if you didn't then you should leave the bolt a little loose and when you think everything else is right, have someone turn the engine over and move the distributor slowly one way or the other and see if you get anything.

Let us know how it goes.

Russ

He was told that it was an interference head so he's guessing it could be the timing also he was confused about the bit where you talked about the distributor as he found three coils but no distributor i think. Thanks again for all the help guys any more input would be great.

Supras are non interferance engines.... Unless he messed with the cam settings or something I dont see how that would have an effect. Maybe he forgot to plug in a connector. I did that when I replaced my HG It ended up being the MAF connetor lol. It has a coil pack cause its a turbo n/a have distributors.

he said it was turbo. so he's got coil packs bro

only thing i can think would me MAF. or some stupid wire/hose. make sure everything is connected

Ok, I know he has the coil pack, but he also has what is called a cam position sensor. You set your ignition timing with that the same way you set a distributor that has one coil and six wires coming out of the top. If you have that off, then like the normal distributor, the timing will be off and it either won't start or it will just barely run.

I realize that it could be several other problems, but the plug firing has to get its signal from somewhere and it is still the place the old distributor went and where the cam positioning sensor now sits. I had a problem with the dist/cps connector on another Supra and it wouldn't start. I found it by trial and error, but re-doing that plug made the connection and it started.

Good luck and I hope you got it figured out by now.

Russ