Help with starlet blowing out black stuff on drive

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69steel, Mar 2, 11:48pm
Please! Basically when you start the car it's fine but if you rev it a bit, it puts black stuff out of the exhaust onto the driveway. It smells strange when your driving along and seems to rev up and down slightly like the timing isn't right. We took it to the mechanic but he said we need to take it back so he can spend longer on looking into it. It's a 97 starlet. Any ideas!
jasongroves, Mar 2, 11:50pm
Check your oil and water levels.
I suspect a head gasket.
69steel, Mar 2, 11:51pm
It has had a full service and spark plugs replaced
69steel, Mar 2, 11:52pm
Oh and it's done 97,000k
69steel, Mar 2, 11:55pm
Car used very regularly,will check levels!
jasongroves, Mar 2, 11:57pm
Check if the oil and water is mixing.
This will be evident by a milky looking substance underneath the oil cap or excessive foam in the radiator coolant.
69steel, Mar 3, 12:21am
Water and oil are perfect. I should also mention that the mechanic had to weld part of the exhaust from where the water had corroded through. Since then it seems to be coming out the exhaust more.
foxdonut, Mar 3, 3:02am
Italian tune up - find a long quiet stretch of road and blast the shit out of it in low gear for a few k's.

Fixes 90 percent of problems.
thejazzpianoma, Mar 3, 4:18am
Is this EFI being a 97! (I ask because the starlets seem well behind the times)
It sounds like it could possibly be a MAF sensor issue to me.

Also, with it doing that I would be checking to see what state the catalytic converter is in, probably not the cause of the issue but it could wellbe gummed up because of it and impede performance.

Also, I am assuming that the plugs and airfilter have been changed when they should. If not get these sorted before you go further, and check on the rotor and distributor cap while you are there. Even though this is probably not the root cause it pays to start with things in order.
fiatracer, Mar 3, 4:34am
sounds to me like it does lots of short runs, and as a result has condensation [or water] in the exhaust. When you rev it, some fires out the back mixed with soot. A long run on open road should dry it out.

Simple things first, eh!
69steel, Mar 3, 6:08am
My dad took it for a 4 hour drive up north then back and didn't make any difference. The mechanic said the catalytic converter is fine(couldn't remember the name to tell you!)It's had a full service sothe filters have been changed
69steel, Mar 3, 6:08am
How do you check the MAF sensor! The mechanic said it would take hours to diagnose the problem if that helps.
johnf_456, Mar 3, 6:14am
Just because its a full service does not mean it has been changed and in no way does it make it good. A full service varys person to person.
69steel, Mar 3, 7:48am
Okay I will check the invoice and make sure about the filters etc. Any other ideas anyone!
jasongroves, Mar 3, 8:35am
Take it to another mechanic!
jasongroves, Mar 3, 8:38am
Any warning lights on dash!
Temperature normal!
Where was the water coming from that corroded the exhaust!
thejazzpianoma, Mar 3, 8:52am
There are a few things you can do to diagnose one, have a google and look at the "how to's" on youtube to get detailed instructions but here are the basics.

1. Get a can of MAF sensor cleaner (You MUST use the proper stuff) and give it a clean first and look for improvement.

2. Unplug it and see if anything improves, especially if its surging at idle this may stop when unplugged.

3. Grab a multimeter and use it to monitor the output. Ideally this is done with an analogue gauge type one so you can see if the gauge moves nice and smooth as you rev the car etc.

4. If you have a compressor do as above but with the sensor removed but still plugged in, use your air duster to blow through it at different pressures and look for a smooth change.

5. Tapping the MAF sensor with the handle of a screwdriver while the car is running and the sensor is in place. If the tapping results in a change of engine note/speed then the sensor is Kapput.

Best of luck with it all.
thejazzpianoma, Mar 3, 9:02am
BTW, the biggest clue from what you have said, that its the MAF sensor is the revving up and down erratically. Other signs can be if the car is low on power, performance is erratic and sometimes small changes like turning the air con on at idle will have an unusually large effect on the engine. Hard starting and a poor idle may or may not be apparent as well.

It would flow on that if the MAF sensor is bung then you could have instances where the engine is getting a really rich mix. You shouldn't get moisture from that but you could well get a lot of carbon which could then be very apparent coming out of the exhaust with condensation when the engine is cold etc.

The funny smell could be this very rich mixture as well. If it was atrociously rich I guess you could have some raw fuel causing the moisture but its unlikely a MAF sensor could put things that far out, as EFI systems generally have fail safes to stop that much variation.

Its a theory anyhow and something fairly easy to cross off the list yourself. Won't hurt for it to have a clean etc anyhow.

Also. MAF sensor problems are super common with that age group of vehicle. If it does turn out to be crook make sure you replace with a genuine one (I.E Bosch etc thats correct for your car, dosn't actually have to come from Toyota) not a chinese no name brand from ebay.

http://www.youtube.com/results!search_query=testing+a+maf+sensor&aq=f
jasongroves, Mar 3, 9:17am
Pretty sure they have a MAP sensor, not a AFM/MAF;)
thejazzpianoma, Mar 3, 9:22am
You could be quite right being an older one. The only thing that made me think it might have a MAF is that Toyota had to get sorted with OBDII pretty quick as they exported to the States. that said they probably didn't export the Starlet!
thejazzpianoma, Mar 3, 9:31am
69steel,
If it does turn out to only have a MAP sensor if the MAP is crook it can still cause much the same problems as a faulty MAF.
MAP sensors don't tend to fail as often as MAF sensors but its still worth checking. Have a look at the car and if it does not appear to have a MAF sensor in the air intake before the throttle body then move on to testing the MAP sensor. Incidentally, often its not the MAP sensor thats at fault but the vacuum hose leading to it thats fallen off or perished, so thats a good place to start.
You can always come back for help if you need.
jasongroves, Mar 3, 9:42am
I would be checking the ECU for fault codes.
Its very easy to do, simply bridge terminals E1 and TE1 on the data link connector (looks sort of like a fuse box) and is beside the strut tower under the bonnet.
Count the flashes on the MIL (engine light),
Post back with results;)
thejazzpianoma, Mar 3, 9:45am
+1 Sounds like a great plan.
jasongroves, Mar 3, 9:52am
There will be a 0.5 second gap between flashes for the 'tens', so flash, gap, flash, gap, flash would be 30.
Then there will be a 1.5 second gap, then more 0.5 second flashes.these will be the 'ones' , so flash, gap, flash, gap, flash would be 3.giving a code of 33.
kevymtnz, Mar 3, 10:00am
take it to a track and give it a bit of a blast
short trips are a killer on engines
believe it or not driving round like an 90yr old kill chokeup yr motor