Toyota Repair: Electrical Toyota Nova Chevy Corolla, toyota corolla, chevy nova

Question
QUESTION: Hi Ted; I really appreciate you offering your expert advice and hope you can guide me in the right direction, as I am in the "hands up" zone. I purchased a 1986 Chevy Nova ( which I believe to be a North American assembled Toyota Corolla). I have done a complete tune up with all filters and O2 censor, and have set everything to spec, with the exception of ignition timing, which I set @ 9 BTDC instead of the recomended 4 BTDC, as it runs better, just below "ping". My problem with this car is that if the headlights are on it vibrates and shakes, and almost stalls. OK then. Had the alternator bench tested at 62 amps. I replaced the battery with a fresh new group 35. The problem persists. After doing a little research, it would appear that this model car has day time running lights. Huh!? I do not have them operational on this car, I had no idea I even had them!

So my question to you is: could this be a relay problem? If this is the case, could this be why my car does the hippy shake with the headlight switch on?

Any help you could give me on this Ted, would be greatly appreciated as I give up :)

Thank you so much, and I anxiously await your reply!

best,
Todd Findlay

ANSWER: Is it carbureted or EFI?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Ted;

It has the nasty feedback carburetor system, sorry for not mentioning that. I have discovered the problem however.After chasing through relays and fuses I was mildly amused to find the ECU IG fuse was missing ! I stuck a new fuse in and everything smoothed right out! The car runs like brand new! This fuse is for a computer I presume?

Thank you for help, and hope I may call on you again if I am out of ideas for any future problems :)

All the best to you and yours this holiday season Ted :)

best,
Todd M. Findlay

Answer
That carburetor caused a lot of headaches for toyota techs, there were just a lot of problems and the onboard diagnostic system was inadequate at best, not sure what that fuse was for but it must be important, don't have any wiring diagrams anymore on hand.