Toyota 1.8 engine problems

Hoping you guys can give me some new insight on this problem.

I have a 2009 Toyota Corolla 1.8l with 217k miles. About once a month it would not start unless I cycled the gas pedal through the full range a couple of times. A few weeks ago it would not start at all no matter what I did. I exhausted my diagnostic capabilities and suspected a sensor or ECU problem so I had it towed to the dealership.

They had it for a week and decided it had to be the remote start that I installed. I stopped by to unplug it for them and they had the valve cover off and plugs out. The removed they remote start and put new plugs in it and got it to start finally. It was running a little rough and did not want to cold start.

They suspected bad gas so ran it dry and added new gas plus injector cleaner but nothing changed. They removed the fuel rail to check fuel pressure and clean the injectors directly. They also performed a compression test and measured 140psi on each cylinder. I am not sure if that is dry or wet. The book specs 157 to 190 psi. They decided low compression is the cause of the cold start problem but it will eventually start and run okay. They replaced the battery claiming mine was bad, likely form all of the cranking during diagnosis.

I picked it up and it was difficult to start. The service adviser finally got it to start. I left for home and it started idling rough at stops and required some gas to keep the RPMs up. It then completely died about 10 miles from home and would not restart. It finally threw some engine codes, misfire cylinder 4, fault in primary or secondary ignition circuit on all 4 cylinders.

I would like to get it running so I can trade it. Would a leak down test be a good next step or should I be looking for something else? I am surprised that the compression only being 20psi off would cause a start and idle issue versus just some loss of power.

Sorry for the long post. I am stumped and a little frustrated by the dealerships diagnostic process. For the tractor related, I moved it around the drive with my Ford 860.

Thanks in advance.
Thaddeus

Sounds like they are just guessing....low compression doesn't preclude a no start.and
the battery should not necessarily go bad from cranking. Don't pay the bill til you
are satisfied.BEN

I agree with Centash. The dealership is incompetent and throwing BS at you. Get Toyota regional service
rep on the phone and describe it as an emmissions related, saftey related issue that was not present befor
it was """fixed""" by the dealership. They are sensitive to this and will respond. I am a former Toyota
Technician. Jim

Thanks for the advice.

I went and spoke to the service adviser and of course the technician is at training all week and their customer claims rep is on vacation.

Another technician said the 140psi was a wet measurement so now I am more confused about what is going on. The adviser didn't care about the error codes or that I was unhappy with the service. Just said they didn't charge me for all of the labor they could of.

Get Toyota regional service rep. They are not at or associated with the dealer at all. They represent Toyota at a corporate level. Jim

Something doesn't sound right here. Removed the fuel rail to check pressure? There must be some way to check it in place. Your issue
could even be intermittent flooding, even from one injector getting stuck. Usually injectors are always powered and are operated by
the engine controller grounding the circuit. A intermittent short in the injector circuit could then dump too much fuel and or cause
the plugs to foul out. Competent technicians are tough to come by these days.

Also a long shot; with that mileage the cam might have jumped a tooth. Seem to recall the chain rubbing blocks wearing enough that the tensioner piston falls out.

With that compression, there should be no trouble starting. Some suggestions:

Check for GOOD spark when it is not starting. If a GOOD spark is present, then the problem is elsewhere.

Check fuel pressure when it is not starting. Pressure should jump up to spec as soon as the key is turned on. Lo-w fuel pressure will definitely cause hard starting. BTW, I have already found one Toyota car with symptoms like yours that had a bad fuel pump.

Another thing to check for is plugged exhaust. Usually caused by a melted catalytic converter. This would cause a drastic loss of power. It could also cause hard starting.

As far as cam timing goes, if that timing is off (slipped a tooth as another poster suggested)m it will set a code telling you that it is out of sync.

Bear in mind that an engine needs 3 things to run:
1) compression
2) correctly timed spark
3) combustible fuel/air mixture.

Compression being that small bit off spec will not cause a starting problem.

fault in primary or secondary ignition circuit on all 4 cylinders.

Click to expand...

So did you have P035x codes? If so those are circuit malfunction codes, nothing tricky here. Its either the PCM, harness or coil. Seeing circuit malfunction codes is always a good place to start. Toyotas have a known problem with engine harnesses causing problems like you have and codes like you got.

Cycling the throttle is probably doing nothing but confusing the PCM, if you believe its flooded then hold it to the floor, don't cycle the throttle around. There are other things you can start looking at but having those codes lets see why they came on first.