Hijet Wont Start, what to check next?

As the title says I'm having issues with my Hijet not starting and am at wits end as far as what to check next. Looking for any ideas to check next, I work at home but this is my daily driver and its been out of commission for a couple of months now.

So the problem started after changing the oil, that makes no sense right? Well ill have to tell on my self when I lifted the truck I bent the crossbar holding the engine up a little. So I take the bar off and straighten it, in the process the engine drooped a little but the bar is straight and bolted back on with the engine back to its original spot. Since doing this the truck does the common screaming like a banshee out of hell when it starts, if it starts. When it does start it smells rich and has been throwing out black crap onto my garage floor from the exhaust. (O2 Sensor)? Ill list the things ive replaced and checked so you guys know where I am at.

Replaced:

-Carburetor
-Distributor Cap & Rotor
-Manifold to Carb Insulator
- 80% of vacuum lines (Cleaned out my local shop, waiting for more to finish)

Checked/Cleaned:

Spark Plugs : strong spark
Battery terminals
Cleaned all grounds for strong contact
Cleaned Carb inside and out (air compressor & carb cleaner)
Lubed the choke mechanisms
cleaned O2 sensor

P.S. prior to this issue the truck ran perfectly, smooth, and never had the slightest hiccup.

P.S.S Thanks in advance for any help, my wife is going to kill me if there is another vehicle that wont run in the garage!

 

I'd check for an wiring which may have been stretched when you dropped the engine. Make sure to closely examine any place where any stretched wire may connect to as well. Kinda sounds like you may have an intermittant open. Cheap multi-meter and/or test light invaluable. Check your grounds, bad grounds cause all kinds of weird problems.

Fred

 

As Fred said, look for things that may have been stretched to the breaking point, or a loose vacuum line, that might have been pulled off.

I’m more inclined to think along the lines of an open vacuum port. that would lower the manifold vacuum, and result in teh carb getting a low vacuum signal and rich ending up.

Also, check the distributor cap for any hair line cracks, and the resistance of all the ignition wires including the one from the coil to the cap.

 

Brandon,
I agree with Fred, and Jigs both! It's okay to tell on yourself, stuff happens! Yeah, as you know now you have to really be careful, and select the right jacking points! These little things are pretty light duty, to keep the weight down. I would definitely check and clean all the grounds, and apply a little Di-Electric grease to them, to keep rust and corrosion at bay, and then you won't ever have to re visit those down the road. The bent cross member might have tilted your engine and tweaked the fan into the shroud, or something, just enough to give you the noise that your hearing on start up! I went back and re read your post, and I see that you addressed the grounds, sounds good, on that one. Like they were saying, you could have stretched a wire, or connection, just enough to aggravate something, and cause a problem! I would check the belts for the screaming also! Did you possibly slightly bend, and tweak the exhaust, loosening some black carbon inside the exhaust system, and when it runs it's forcing it out! Just a thought! When I chase things down like this, I make a check list of what I did, and re think my moves through my list. It really help me from doubling back, especially when I get interrupted with other things as life does to us! You never know how long a project can last, until we solve it, sometimes! Good Luck!
Limestone

 

Appreciate all of the help guys, when I get a chance today ill get into all of the nooks and crannies and double check for anything that might have snapped or slipped off.

2 Questions:

1: Is there a S100/S110 vacuum diagram floating around anywhere? I have a manual for S80's since I cant find one for the S100 and it is close on most things but not on the vacuum diagram. 99% sure the lines are in the right spots but want to double check.

2: I read somewhere on the forum that the "little plastic vacuum line filters" are one-way valves??? This I am not so confident that they went back in the same orientation as before replacing the carb. Maybe mine are worn off but I cant see and defining marks on them showing which way they should be orientated.

 

So did not see anything that looked torn or broken, also did not see any bare nipples ( insert joke) or empty electrical parts so that's a good sign. I'm waiting on an electric fuel pump and fuel filter to be delivered so I went ahead and took the old fuel filter off and disconnected the mechanical fuel pump. What is the protocol to bypass that mechanical pump? Connect the in and out and plug the overflow? Also to my excitement it took about a minute of high pressure water to unclog the old fuel filter, must have been pretty stopped up!

 

Wow! That's pretty bad when you encounter a fuel filter that blocked up! Filters are made to catch dirt and debris, it's always better to change earlier than later! I realize this is the way you got it, this is the reason Iorder more than one when I'm ordering filters!
Limestone

 

Limestone, your not kidding, I ordered a back of 10 fuel filters to keep me going for awhile. It does however make me wonder what the bottom of my gas tank looks like, if something got knocked loose big enough to clog up the fuel filter like that!!!!!

 

Brandon,
On mine, there's a sump area at the bottom of the tank, about 3inchx 3 inch square, with a drain plug in the middle of that area, and it makes it a lot easier to drain the tank. Just be prepared, with a large enough drain pan, or tub, in case you can't get the plug back in easily! That little sump area, I'm sure was meant to catch more debris and dirt, so it doesn't slosh around, as easily! Might be time to really drain the tank empty and get a good look inside it and go from there! I dropped mine last year and completely went through the whole system, knowing exactly what I had going in! Good Luck!
Limestone

 

I posted a new thread with the S110, EF-NS vacuum diagrams a few moments ago.
The little canisters can be one way check valves, or they can be two way, or they can be jetted to allow air to slowly go back and forth. All depends on the color. The second diagram in the Vacuum diagram thread shows the canister colors, and orientation.

I have been looking for the Toyota Factory manual for the 20R engine in my venerable 77 Hilux. It contained a table which broke out what colors meant what.

I had a room mate, who was a line mechanic at a Toyota dealership, he specialized in the emissions, carburetors, and fuel injection systems. He had the chart memorized, and could tune the emissions by change what little canisters were where.

 

Jigs,
I remember one of your past posts with that colored diagram!
Limestone

 

Awesome thanks Jigs, ill be archiving those diagrams! When I get a chance ill take a picture of my mechanical fuel pump and see if you guys can tell me how to plug/ set it up for decommission. (Its the stock one) Ill at least get a picture of what I currently did to it and see if its right. Finished changing out the new vacuum lines and wires up a switch setup for the electric fuel pump. Hopefully ill be able to get that hooked up in the morning and see if fires up.

 

So here are two pictures of how I currently have the mechanical fuel pump bypassed, please let me know if this is correct. In the pictures, the 2 lines with the temp plug on them wrapped in green electrical tape are what I think is the overflow. In the other picture I have what I think is the in and outs connected to each other with fuel line. Everything is wired up and ready for the electric fuel pump if UPS decides to bring it today!

 

Update: Electric fuel pump and new fuel filter installed, wired to a temporary toggle switch. Carb is definetly getting fuel now but still wont start. I have new spark plugs, ignition wires and air filter on the way that will be here in a couple of days. If that does not work then I guess ill order a new ignition coil, but after that ill be out of ideas again. I guess im leaning towards a weak spark now even though they looked normal, maybe they are just not getting the power they need under load?

 

With your fuel filter that blocked up, is it possible that some of the crap got into the carb and plugged it up as well ? To check, try starting with some starting fluid. If it does start, you will know that it is a fuel problem.
Another possibility is valve clearance. As the valves wear, the clearance reduces to the point of not allowing full closure, hence not enough compression on turn over to start. Don't give up, or she will kill you.

Cheers

 

The valve thing is something ill have to research, never had to adjust them in a vehicle before. Is saw a good thread on here about checking/setting the timing on a Suzuki Carry im assuming the same steps will work for the hijet. Although my flywheel doesnt have a "T" on it, all I see are 2 different color dots, metal color and pink. Do you guys have similar markings? Im guessing the pink one is for setting timing.?

 

At least you don’t have to set them hot on the Hijet. Being able to set them cold makes it lots easier.

 

So with starting fluid the truck will start for a second or two, that's a good sign! Took the carb apart and rigged up some stuff so I could test if the float was letting gas through, it was not. Adjusted the float so it is now filling up with gas, put the carb back on and hooked up all of the lines wont start. I know the fuel bowl has fuel and the carb was squirting out a nice stream in the manifold direction testing the throttle linkage with my hand. Ive heard that due to combustion temps or whatever that starting fluid can combust on a spark that is not strong enough to ignite gas? I did check all of my electrical connections today and hit them with contact cleaner. Put the dash back in so I could check the dash lights when turning the key and they do dim significantly when turning the key. All lights disappear when turning the key except for the "muffler on fire" light haha.

P.S. Already ordered the Pertronix 1631 Iginitor with flamethrower coil 40611 thanks to information I saw from Jigs and Limestone in another thread

Also have a 60amp fusible link on hand and ready to go but I cant find the damn old one

 

Brandon, the float is supposed to be set so that it is parallel to the top of the carb when you hold it upside down. And there should only be a flow of fuel into the airstream when there is air flow, or you have cycled the throttle and activated the accelerator pump.

And, the EF-NS in your truck has an electronic ignition from the factory. The Pertronix unit is designed to work in distributors with points and replace them.

When I ordered the one I sold Limestone, I wasn’t sure the ignition module in my truck was good or bad, and I felt pretty confident that I could make the switch over to the Pertronix unit, which is readily available, and costs far less than buying stock parts for the the tiny trucks out of Japan.

You have spark. You need to sort out the problems with your carburetor. Carbs work by pulling a fuel vapor into the airstream using vacuum. they are not fuel injectors which work by shooting fuel into the airstream, through a small nozzle to atomize it.

Admittedly, the carbs on these trucks are probably the most complex I’ve ever worked on, in about the fifty years I’ve been playing with things with wheels. But they are pretty straight forward once you figure them out.

 

Thanks jigs appreciate the information, ill pull my carb again in the morning and reset the float for parallel, stupid on me for assuming I had points as well, guess it cant hurt to have extras on hand or replace the stock for something newer. What would you be focusing on to get the carb squared away? I dug and found your detailed post about these carbs and tuning them but where to start if it wont start?

 

Sorry, I’m off work with a sinus infection, kind of groggy, and nodding off. I just wrote you out a detailed instruction on how to rebuild teh carb, and nodded off before I saved it and lost it. I’ll give it another try tomorrow morning.

For starters, try setting the idle mixture screw in all the way in until the screw bottoms out, and then back out 1-1/2 turns. If your in a warm shop, 70F or so), set the choke to the index marks. And back the throttle screw out until it just touches, and then in two turns. Hopefully that will get you running.

 

Not a problem thanks alot man, where I live it hardly ever gets below 70 F year around. If there was a way to completely bypass all the choke crap I would do that in a heartbeat.

 

I lived in Vegas for thirty years, and needed a choke even there. Chokes are fine, but they can be a bit niggling to adjust even if you understand how they work.

 

So far nothing has helped out my hijet so I went ahead and decided to check the timing belt hoping that it snapped! But it didnt, while I have the covers and pulleys off, with the "F" a the top of the pulley my distributor rotor is pointed at spark plug wire #3. Im looking through the forum trying to verify the information but I think I read that the rotor should be pointing at #1? So will by truck not start because the timing is off?

 

Brandon,
I know that you want to find out what your problem is but be careful what you wish for. I'm not so sure that a broken timing belt would be a good thing, especially on these little trucks! You could wind up with more than you bargained for! With that being said. I went back and re read your O P. If your vehicle was running before and now it's not, your timing belt isn't broke, and assuming the belt hasn't jumped a tooth or two, your timing shouldn't be off ! I was wondering what your compression was on each cylinder, out of curiosity! Even a cold engine can give you a decent ballpark on the compression. Again, I'm trying to simplify this in my own mind and not chase this thing down the wrong path, but I've been there with my own, and until you test everything and compile your own checklist to eliminate things, your going to stay frustrated! Try to keep it simple, and keep asking yourself why it won't light? Mechanic's go through this daily, and keep reminding yourself, what does it take to start a combustion engine? Power,(juice, or spark), to the plugs, naturally, clean fuel, with the right carburated, air to fuel mixture, going to the plugs! Too much fuel will show wet plugs, getting too much fuel. Sounds like your getting good strong spark, as I re read your, OP, once again, to try to understand your problem. Will it light with just starting fluid? If so, that should tell you that it's a fuel issue, and your spark and power is up to snuff! I've even squirted starting fluid in the spark plug cavity to test for these issues in the past, just to eliminate things. Remember, too much starting fluid in this application is not the healthiest, as there is no lubricating qualities in starting fluid and too much can cause piston scoring, and damage to your engine! This would just be a quick test and not a long term solution to making it run! Trying to determine your problem and eliminating other possibilities. You've re placed a lot of parts trying to eliminate and solve your issues, and remember just because you put in a new part, it doesn't mean it's working properly, that why we test everything, to verify! I just don't know how much is coincidence, jacking it up verses it not starting.
Limestone

 

Brandon,
Just an additional thought, re check your timing order on your plug wires, as I see that you re placed your distributor! Did you re place the wires one at a time when you re placed the cap? Just a thought!
Limestone

 

Limestone,
So I was mostly joking about the timing belt lol, but its def easier to fix something if you can see its broke! When I replaced the distributor cap I did do it one by one, (made that mistake on an old wrangler years ago).
Just took compression reading, #1 = 170 #2 = 160 #3 = 150.

 

I think that the #1 and #3 plugs are one engine revolution apart, and if you rotate the engine a full 360-degrees, the distributor will be pointing at #1.

The hardest thing to get squared away is the carb.

Like Limestone said make a checklist and work your way through it. You need three things: Compression; Spark; and, Fuel.

Compression: Get a compression tester ($30 on Amazon), and see what compression you have. If you have a source of compressed air, get a cylinder leak-down tester ($40 on Amazon), instead and use it instead of a compression tester. The leak-down doesn’t tell you what the compression is. It tells you how much air you’re loosing, and where it is going. This lets you isolate low compression to the source and decide how to address it.

Second check the ignition system, just because troubleshooting it is more straight forward, than the fuel delivery system. Get a good multimeter. Check the resistance on the coil. Check the voltage to the coil. Check the resistance of the leads from the coil to the distributor, and distributor to the plugs. Double check the timing, With the electronic ignition on your truck, I haven’t figured out a way to check the timing statically, But if you pull all the spark plugs, you can spin the motor fast enough with the starter to actually check the timing with a timing light. Check the distributor if you rotate it against the advance springs and release it does it rebound? Check the vacuum advance unit, if you apply vacuum does the timing plate move? If you release the vacuum does it rebound. Is there any corrosion, cracks or other signs of issues.

Fuel delivery: Get a vacuum fuel pressure tune up gauge. ($20 on Amazon.) Check the inlet pressure to the carb. It should be about 2-psi. Double check all the initial settings from previous posts.

 

Updates as of 1/30/21

· Compression: #1 170, #2 160, #3 150

· Fuel: after cleaning the carb several times and setting the float I replaced the fuel filter which was clogged and installed an inline electric fuel pump 2.5-6psi.

· Fuel: installed a pressure regulator between the electric fuel pump and carb regulated between 2-3 psi. (I know it is getting fuel, gas will run out of the air intake port of the carb if the fuel pump is switched on). It is currently wired to a toggle switch but ill wire it into the ignition so that it comes on with the key once everything is squared away.

· Ignition: Rechecked today and I have zero spark. Nothing on spark plugs, nothing using a plug tester on the new wires. Via multimeter nothing coming from the coil and nothing coming from the wiring harness plug that plugs into the coil. I have power coming from both sides of the plug which runs from the battery up under out into the cab underneath of the emergency break.

· Checked all fuses which look in good shape to the naked eye. I do have a coil and ignitor on the way that I ordered last week.

· I am attaching a picture of the fuse box cover, for the life of me I cannot locate the 15A “gen” fuse and 30A “power” fuse that is pictured on the left side of the cover. Would either of these have killed power to my ignition system?

· When I first started this troubleshooting process, I had strong spark and now that I potentially fixed the fuel issues I was having I have no spark to test if I fixed them!!!!! So is life though

 

Check the ground strap from the engine to the chassis. Make sure its got clean mounting areas on both sides. I have seen many electrical issue solved by cleaning the ground contact.