Questions and Answers

Cranky Corolla Q. Hi, Vincent: First of all, I'd like to say thanks for your service and web site, both of which I find very informative and helpful. After checking out as much of the Troubleshooting section however I could not find an answer to my car repair problem.

I have a 1987 Toyota Corolla, automatic transmission, it's been working pretty well up until recently. The car has trouble starting hot or cold. Sometimes there will be times when it starts right away for 2 or 3 times then; it won't start. The car starts immediately sometimes, other times it takes 2, 3, 4, 5 turns of the ignition key. I suspected it was the battery but the same problem occurred when I used a different battery. I replaced the + terminal connector as it had lots of corrosion on it. Also replaced the spark plugs, but the problem persists.

When you turn the key, sometimes there is nothing except the lights (brake, oil, fuel, etc.) lighting up on the dashboard. Sometimes when you turn the key, the engine starts to turn over but doesn't quite start. Also, something weird, when you shift the gear to Neutral you can sometimes start it, or if you just move the gear shift through all the different gears then back up to Park. Sometimes, that works but not all the times.

Once the engine starts it runs fine and doesn't die off. Also, it seems if you try to start the car a few seconds after you turn it off it starts fine without a problem, but if you wait longer than a few seconds you're back to that same problem that it may or may not start.

After reading all your troubleshooting tips, I'm thinking it may be fuel pump related or possibly ignition related. But then again, I'm not too smart about cars.

Any help you have to offer would be appreciated,
Mike

A. This sounds like a bad starter to me. If you turn the key and it doesn't spin or spins slowly, it's a starter.

To confirm this you can do a starter current draw test and see how much current it's drawing. I'm sure it'll be a lot. Here are the specs for current draw.

Cranking Voltage and Amperage Draw

Cranking Voltage	10 Volts
Maximum Amperage Draw	200 Amps

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA