'95 Celica Extremely Sluggish Options

[dgmcauliffe]

Good day everyone.

I recently parked my 1995 Celica GT as I was in the market for something different. After buying my new car (1998 M3), I went to move the Celica into a new parking space and quickly realized that something was wrong. The car felt like it had no life in it and wouldn't move until aboutnthree thousand rpms.

A quick background: I've had the Celica for about three or four years now, and aside from a few starter issues there were never any major problems. About a year and some change ago, one of the internal wires in my distributor burnt out, leaving me immobile at a fairly busy four-way stop. I went ahead and purchased and installed a new distributor. I also went ahead and purchased new spark plugs and wires. The car ran, but it idled rough. A friend of mine and I adjusted the distributor timing until the rough idle went away, but the car never quite ran as smooth.

Anyway, about a week ago I went to move the Celica and it didn't budge until it reached about 3000 revs. I thought maybe the quick response of the Bimmer had spoiled me, but after several attempts at moving the Celica, I realized that there was something really wrong. The car used to have great response, but now it only moves at higher rpms and even then it feels extremely sluggish. I was wondering if anyone has any clue as to what the issue might be or where I might begin to look. I'm not the most knowledgeable guy when it comes to cars (though I have learned a lot and am surrounded by car people who have helped me), as the Celica was my first car and the first car I've ever really worked on. It's also a five speed, so I imagine my early days of learning to drive manual were rough on the clutch. I also live on a hill and my preferred method of preventing roll back was feathering the gas and clutch in first gear (I have since employed the parking break method). I was guessing the issue was something transmission and/or clutch related, but I'm uncertain. Thank you in advance for any advice.

[ST204GT83]

Can you feel the clutch stick when coming out of first? I drove a truck with a slipping clutch once, was not fun.

[cheela]

how long has it been sitting? you can't let a car sit and then just get in and drive it. It may just need a quick maintenance job. look everything over, check all fluids etc.

[Box]

What Cheela said, especially with cars that use 87 octane as it degrades faster than 93 octane and it degrades to a point of being unusable sooner too consequently. If it's been sitting for 3-6+ months and especially outside and not in a garage I'd say drain the fuel and top it off with fresh fuel first, or if it's low enough should be able to top it off with 91-93 to disperse the old fuel well enough. I find it odd the clutch would all of a sudden be useless when it was seemingly fine when parked, unless it's the hydraulic system that's leaked down or has become contaminated with water so check your fluid reservoir.

This post has been edited by Box: Apr 4, 2018 - 3:13 PM

[dgmcauliffe]

how long has it been sitting? you can't let a car sit and then just get in and drive it. It may just need a quick maintenance job. look everything over, check all fluids etc.

Cheela,
It had only been sitting for a few days, maybe a week tops. Thanks for your advice.