Wingsforwheels

Yeah she is pretty neat! Obviously some rust removal and a respray goes a long way. The last owner put these pics up on the sale ad, I'll have to take some of my own soon. Thanks for the advice guys. After half a can of carby cleaner and resetting the idle mix and speed screws, she's now idling steadily but backfiring a bit. When I spray some carb cleaner round the base of the carb the revs go up a bit, so I am thinking there is a crap gasket somewhere near there. Going to take out the carb and try to rebuild it hopefully this weekend, so fingers crossed.

Thanks Banjo, that's what I figured. I've put caps on the ports without hoses, and plugged in the vacuum hoses to mirror the diagram on the bonnet as best I can. I've also sprayed carby cleaner in solenoid and idle screw holes, and played around with the idle mix and speed screws as Altezza suggested. It's still idling very rough or cutting out completely, and when it does idle it backfires a lot. I'm thinking now I'll take the carb out and maybe put a rebuild kit through it. I've ordered a Gregory's manual hoping that'll walk me through it, since this my first real dealings with a non-EFI car... Does that sound like a good next step before attempting to set points, timing and tappets?

OK, thanks Altezza, I'll have a go tomorrow at cleaning the jets and adjusting the idle screws. Looking at the carb it also seems like there are a few vacuum hoses have come off. Could the idling issue be because of that? Thanks!

Now that I've removed the solenoid I can see why there is no click, etc--looks like a past owner has disabled it like Altezza has suggested. I guess one option is to replace the solenoid, but if it has been cut all along would that suggest that it's not the cause of the idling issue? Cheers

Woops sorry I meant to say in that last comment that it didn't work--no click :(

Thanks for the replies Banjo and Altezza. I stripped the remaining 1 cm or so of the solenoid connecting wire, and connected it to the battery positive terminal while the solenoid was still attached to the carb (I assume this has the same effect given this is where the solenoid is supposed to function, and the engine is negatively grounded). I did it there because it was quite stubbornly in place screwed into the carb Is there anything else worth trying before changing the solenoid?

Thanks for the quick reply! The wire has been cut right near the solenoid end, so I think I'll have to find a replacement. Can a new one be found somewhere and bolted on?

Should clarify, it's a totally stock 4k, stock carby, etc.

Hi all, I'm pretty new to this, thanks in advance for bearing with me. I've just bought my first corolla, beautiful 1981 ke55. It drove the two hour trip home without too much hassle. One issue though: with the choke on, it idles just fine (high of course). But no matter how warm she is, as soon as I back the choke off, she shakes and stalls. Also backfires when I take off the choke, and will stall with the clutch in without choke on even at highway speeds. Having a search on rollaclub, people suggested it could be an unplugged fuel solenoid causing the issue. Looking at my carb, it seems like the wire on the end of the solenoid has been cut, and the corresponding green plug in the engine bay isn't plugged into anything. Should I be looking at the solenoid at this point? Thanks for having me, looking forward to getting her running nicely, and learning the basics. cheers