1990 Toyota Carina 2.0 GLi from UK and Ireland - Comments

Not much at all.

Recently we replaced the back exhaust box as it had acquired a hole. Not too bad after 12 years of driving.

The car seems to lose power sometimes, as though a cylinder is off time, but this only occurs in the rain. Can anybody help out please?

The 2.0 engine is superbly refined and very quick, and refuses to stop pulling until around 130 MPH.

The seats are wonderfully designed and a joy for those with bad backs.

The hatchback has a cavern of room for absolutely anything you can bring along.

Could be your HT leads or distributor cap - try squirting some WD40 to see if that cures the problem.

I've had similar trouble with my 12/13 year old Carina GLi. Usually loss of power, occasionally stalling, occasionally difficult to start. The first two problems are worst when the engine has warmed up and can persist for several miles. These problems only happen after the car has been standing in heavy rain. I tried changing HT leads and distributor cap several years ago. They made no difference. Garage mechanic has checked the coil and says it looks fine. Nobody seems to be able to track down the problem. I assume it is something to do with a sensor which controls fuel injection. In all other respects it has been an excellent car, but this loss of power is dangerous as it tends to happen when changing up as I pull the car out at a junction.

Hi guys.

Thanks for the advice, the problem turned out to be associated with the spark plugs. Replacement of all 4 has cured the problem. Thanks for your help!

Just a little note about the Carina 2.0 GLi with 3S-FE with Oxygen Sensors 88-89 years model. Some of your problems described here can be caused of an bad earth drawing. This earth is located on the intake manifold underside and ground the ignition, injection and engine ECU. This ground comes from the main cable that serves most functions around the engine. It's four cables fitting to this ground and you are not able to see it. You can disconnect this ground cable and reconnect on another better place at the intake and draw a separate ground directly to the battery minus. Also check the chassis to engine ground wish has a connector. This can cause problems like you describe, that the car does not start after heavy rain, power-loose somewhile after heating up the engine and so on. This is NOT a known fault or common, but after several years of problem I discovered this eartpoint and now the problem is gone!

Good luck.

Regards, Bengt Eriksson, Sweden.

Have you tried to change spark plugs and spark plug wires?

This needs to be changed every once in a while.