Hi all newbie here

I am driving my mothers AE82 Corolla and it has a rattle in around the distributor. It wont idle properly if at all and has flat spots all over the acceleration cycle.

 I thought I would consult the brains trust on this forum before I start spending money on the wrong parts.

The rattle is not from the engine and sounds to me like the dizzi fly weights or a loose wing nut around the carby area. Its not a regular mechanical knock.

 See picks 

have you checked all inside the dizzy? The dizzys cog thing may be shot and so not making a proper connection.

This 4A is equipped with electronic ignition not points.

Ill pull the distributor today and check it out.

How many Km has it done?? I'm wondering how worn the dizzy drive on the cam is..

Finding the noise should be easy, you can get a long screwdriver or any metal rod and hold it against your ear while touching various parts of the motor while its running and rattling.  You can buy little mechanic's stethoscopes for exactly that job.

Check how much play there is on the rotor when you turn it back and forth. Poor idle can come from a lot of slop in the timing.  Rotor in good condition? Dizzy cap not damaged? Grab a timing light and put it on the coil HT lead, so it reads all 4cyls and see how much the ignition mark jumps around. That also tells you how good the dizzy drive is.

The flat spots will be harder-  fuel supply, air leaks, carb problems, and then the whole igniton and dizzy setup again, so find the noise first and see if it is important.

Sound advice the rattle is definately in the dizzy 

Pulled out my trusty old hawk timing light only to find the neon has died

So ill start with dizzy and keep all apraised

 

See electronics section re the outcome of this thread

Ok so I have more questions.

 I would like to replace the rear drum brakes with disc units did any of the AE 82 models come with a rear disc arrangement.

 If so where can I find them ?  

They rarer then hens teeth, but you can find them. you need the master cylinder too, or attempt to re-balance the one you have.

Now if I recall correctly, they are on the AE82s with the bluetop in them. and the large "Twincam" across the doors.
 

you could get the ones off the AE101, but thats a complete headache and fabrication to get them to fit..

Keep an eye on the trading sites, ebay, gumtree, etc..

On 7/22/2017 at 7:22 PM, MaximusPsychosis said:

They rarer then hens teeth, but you can find them. you need the master cylinder too, or attempt to re-balance the one you have.

Now if I recall correctly, they are on the AE82s with the bluetop in them. and the large "Twincam" across the doors.
 

you could get the ones off the AE101, but thats a complete headache and fabrication to get them to fit..

Keep an eye on the trading sites, ebay, gumtree, etc..

AE82 Twincams aren't rarer than hens teeth, yes they're getting harder to find in good condition but there are plenty of them around.  The rear disc conversion using AE92/AE102 gear is pretty well documented though, not expensive and not difficult at all if you're halfway competent at working on a car.

well I'm not looking hard enough then, most scrap yards around me have nothing from the AE82s..

I'm sure you needed an adapter to fit the disked hubs off the later models, or swap the caps off the hubs to make em fit.

18 hours ago, MaximusPsychosis said:

well I'm not looking hard enough then, most scrap yards around me have nothing from the AE82s..

I'm sure you needed an adapter to fit the disked hubs off the later models, or swap the caps off the hubs to make em fit.

Twinkies are getting too old for wreckers to care about, still plenty of enthusiasts around that have parts or are wrecking spares cars etc.  Best way for the brake upgrade is to simply grab everything you can off the donor car (hubs, calipers, rotors, lower arms, handbrake cable, bias valve etc) and it'll all swap in - it is when you try and mix-n-match that things might need to be modified.

http://www.toymods.org.au/forums/threads/142-AE82-AE92-and-AE101-Brake-Upgrade-Guide

 

There's even a complete AE102 rear disc conversion on eBay at the moment for $200

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toyota-Corolla-AE102-7-1994-7-1998-Rear-Disc-Brake-Setup-Conquest-Ultima-/263101635721?hash=item3d42145c89:g:3ioAAOSw5UZY~Igo

Edited July 25, 20179 yr by Hiro Protagonist