Project: I dunno yet ('99 GT), NOW with pictures & video [IN COLOR]! (Update BOTTOM of pg.5) Options

[navseal345]

Tell the dealer "ever since" when it stalls driving home after the airbag.

I had a brief thought about it, lol.

[navseal345]

In other news...

Saturday car started up fine & drove to the shop. I got the fuel filter in. A Camry filter works but just buy the correct filter to start with. The Camry one is larger in diameter & doesn't fit the Celica bracket, maybe a Camry bracket might be made to work in a Celica... I dunno.

I'm not sure if the fuel filter solved the issue because it's only like a 10 drive back home from work. I did accelerate a few times aggressively and it seemed ok.

But...

I didn't beat on it to hard/ take it out for a long drive because I discovered a coolant leak whilst in the engine bay! FLUCKING CAR! * insert super angry emoji *
Luckily it seems to be coming from the thermostat/ thermo housing neck, so should be an easy fix. Needed to do a coolant flush anyway.

In more news... I did record my best mpg (in a Celica) while this whole issue started happening, 30mpg!! Im sure outside temperature & vehicle speed is a major factor. I can lay out more details if someone is interested.


But plan as of now is to fix coolant leak & do a flush. Then drive for a long period of time to see if the issue returns.

Oh, one more thing... Found out the car is Federal Emissions. According to the ECU part# 89661-2G281

[Bitter]

But the underhood sticker and 2 cats say it's California. Do you...have the wrong computer? Call a Toyota dealer and have them pull the ECM part number by VIN.

[navseal345]

THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO U.S. EPA REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO GASOLINE-FUELED 1999 MODEL YEAR NEW PASSENGER CARS PROVIDED THAT THIS VEHICLE IS NOT SOLD OR DELIVERED TO AN ULTIMATE PURCHASER FOR PRINCIPAL USE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA OR A STATE THAT HAS ADOPTED CALIFORNIA STANDARDS UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF SECTION 177 OF THE CLEAN AIR ACT AND THOSE STANDARDS ARE IN EFFECT.


That's what the underwood sticker says.

[Bitter]

Oh Lord, why did Toyota make that so confusing? Most cars say they meet federal and that's it or they meet California AND federal. Toyota had to go all extra and be like NOT FOR YOU CALIFORNIA YOU DONT GET THIS ONE CALIFORNIA THIS CAR DOES NOT MEET EMISSIONS FOR CALIFORNIA. Jesus. First time I've seen it worded that way. Your 1999 is some weird **** my dude!

[navseal345]

I will agree with that statement.

[richee3]

For some reason I’m thinking they were all Cali spec in ‘99. The most noteworthy difference to my memory was one cat vs two so that would be a good indicator. The fact that you said you got record gas mileage sticks out to me. Whatever you have going on is likely causing a lean condition instead of a rich condition. Typically if the ECU thinks something is wrong it will dump fuel so this makes me think either you have an O2 sensor that could be failing sending the wrong signal to the ECU or something mechanical. Since it’s after the engine warms up, I’m not thinking it’s something mechanical.

[navseal345]

Yeah my thoughts too.
Especially since I drove it from Grinnell, IA to Council Bluffs, IA at 65mph with no real issues. Then I decided to give it throttle to accelerate to 80mph & it started acting up, even when I coasted back down to 65mph, until I got home & shut it off (maybe 15min later).

[Bitter]

Have to go drive around this week and see if it acts up still. Fuel filter would be weird but not unheard of. Might want to pull the sending unit up and check/replace the pre filter "sock" on the bottom of the pump too. Could even be a failing pump I suppose. Kind of a pain to get a fuel pressure gauge on these to drive around with but it can be done mostly safely.

[enderswift]

guys,

forget all this fuel filter, o2 sensor talk. The car is clearly rejecting the 5S


The only solution is to swap a 3S in there

[navseal345]

guys,

forget all this fuel filter, o2 sensor talk. The car is clearly rejecting the 5S

The only solution is to swap a 3S in there

Beams is better!

This post has been edited by navseal345: May 24, 2022 - 7:38 PM

[navseal345]

Ok hear is the mileage report...

1) 5/13/2022 10:20am
148miles (city driving/ fill up before trip)
5.451gallons
27.15mpg

2) 5/13/2022 5:31pm
210.6 miles (interstate/ Omaha to Grinnell, IA (issue started))
6.943gallons
30.33mpg

3) 5/14/2022 11:02pm
340.2miles (interstate/ Grinnell, IA to Ottawa, IL to big I-80 Truckstop(Walcott, IA)(issue most prevalent/ happened most during this
period))
12.2gallons
27.89mpg

4) 5/21/2022 5:49pm
314.9miles (interstate, maybe less than 20city miles/ I-80 Truckstop to Omaha (kept 65mph 'cause issue was not really noticeable at
that speed)
10.103gallons
31.17mpg

I'm not sure if any of this information helps or has anything to do with the issue I'm having. Or is the difference do to weather/ vehicle speeds? BUT it is the best recorded milage I've had.

[Bitter]

Speed plays a huge role in MPG. I bet you'd see over 32 at 55 MPH.

This post has been edited by Bitter: May 25, 2022 - 7:13 AM

[navseal345]

Yeah. But... Gotta go fast! Lol

[Bitter]

8f it makes you feel better I do not much better with a smaller engine but have less of a high speed penalty.

[navseal345]

I think I am getting motivation to work on the car this weekend (haven't touched it weeks) OR that motivation is coming from diesel fuel prices!!

Do people like to use that radiator flush or just use a garden hose to flush the cooling system?

I was thinking...
- Take out thermostat
- Put the neck back on without thermostat
- Use some radiator flush & water, bleed the system & drive around the neighborhood
- Come back, take hoses off, flush with water via the garden hose
- Install new thermostat & neck, & bleed the system with the correct coolant
- That part of the job is done

Then after the cooling system is good, I can drive it long enough to see if my "surging/ misfire" issue returns.

[Bitter]

I think I am getting motivation to work on the car this weekend (haven't touched it weeks) OR that motivation is coming from diesel fuel prices!!

Do people like to use that radiator flush or just use a garden hose to flush the cooling system?

I was thinking...
- Take out thermostat
- Put the neck back on without thermostat
- Use some radiator flush & water, bleed the system & drive around the neighborhood
- Come back, take hoses off, flush with water via the garden hose
- Install new thermostat & neck, & bleed the system with the correct coolant
- That part of the job is done

Then after the cooling system is good, I can drive it long enough to see if my "surging/ misfire" issue returns.

I wouldn't use flush unless you think there's crud or blockage in the radiator or heater core. I'd just drain the old stuff from the radiator and the engine block, blow out what's in the heater core, then maybe flush the garden hose through the block, heater core, and radiator to see if any crap gets washed out. Fill up with red or pink Toyota coolant, use the fancy coolant purging funnel to get all the air out (helps if the front is up higher like on ramps or stands), then once it's burped all the air out and the thermostat has opened, pop the cap on it and let it cool down a few hours, re-check radiator and bottle level, run it in the driveway again until the fans come on and check it's not running hot, should be good for a drive!

[navseal345]

Didn't have any issues with heat so, I won't use the "flush". I have 2 of those fancy bleed funnels, they definitely make the job nicer. Thanks!

[navseal345]

Also going to be replacing the radiator hoses... What kind of hose clamps do you all like to use/ prefer...

The basic hose clamps
Basic B!tch hose clamp.

OR

The fancy ones
Fancy hose clamps like this?

[navseal345]

Or just reuse the OE spring clamps & see? I dunno just curious on people's opinions.