QuestionMy 1988 Celica GT will not start altho it cranks fine, has fuel in the tank, and is getting spark. What is the best way to troubleshoot this problem ?
AnswerIf there is park, it is either not getting fuel into the combustion chamber, or there is a valve timing problem or compression loss.
First make sure there is fuel pressure, you can check without a pressure gauge by loosening the cold start injector fitting, crank the engine and fuel should spray out, be careful it can be under high pressure and fuel will go everywhere, not very safe, so make sure there is no source of ignition.
The safest way is to connect a fuel pressure gauge, the pressure should be about 35psi.
If there is fuel pressure the problem may be that the timing belt jumped or broke, remove the distributor cap and see if the rotor turns when cranking the engine, if it does the belt is not broken but it may have jumped timing, either way it has to be replaced.
Last, there may be a loss of engine compression because of burned/leaking valves or other internal problems.
I suspect there is a problem with the fuel pump.
