Car shaking, loosing power, belts?

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I have a 1987 Toyota Supra NA. A month ago, it started shaking on acceleration and losing power on acceleration. I just wouldn't go. So, I thought it might be just spark plugs, so I changed them along with new wires (it's such a pain to change spark plugs on a Supra :nut: )

BUT, nope... it just came back the very next week. It didn't do this this summer? I think it's because it's cold now and the belts are starting to crack. Do any of you car experts know if it's just my belts? Maybe my timing belt? Or more like my fuel injectors?

The car's got 200k on it... so, it might go pretty soon... but I'm trying to salvage what I can of it for as long as I can, until I get out of college and get a job and get a new car.

Please help :angel:

Also, some more details:
When the car is just started for like 10 minutes (cold) - On starting acceleration it floor the gas, but it goes like only 15mph, and if i keep my foot on the pedal, it revs up to like 5,000rpm.

When the car has warmed up (after about 5 minutes of driving) - Everytime I get near 40mph, it struggles to change gears (it's an automatic tranny) to get above that speed.

Looks like 1 or more of your cylinders is screwed. Happened to my friends prelude.

So, what do you suggest? Getting the cylinder checked out? What are other symptoms of a busted cylinder?

What would cause a busted cylinder? I don't race or nothin', it's just a daily driver...:tongue:

This happened on my celica, the car would shake alot too...anyways check your intake piping after the air flow meter check for cracks, holes, if there is any holes or such. then replace or tape it up because unmetered air is going into the engine and the ECU is sending the wrong amount of fuel. Hopefully that helps!

It's is visibly/audibly possible to see where a crack might be? Basically, can you hear or see where the air would be coming from... it doesn't seem like I see anything obviously coming out of intake.

its visual, toyota makes acordian style intake pipes so its hard to see, but yeah check the pipes throughly for holes or cracks, if thats not the problem. check the timing belt (right tooth), ignition timing, check fuel system. If those arent the problem....could be the tranny itself!

hahahah dont listen to mx6gtturbo. that kid never knows what he is blabbing about. anyhoo, yea, are u mechanical at all or not at all? i think the best thing u could do is grab a cheapie manual from crappy tire and troubleshoot from there, or maybe talk to a friend that is good with this sort of thing.

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Originally posted by GTS Jeff
hahahah dont listen to mx6gtturbo. that kid never knows what he is blabbing about. anyhoo, yea, are u mechanical at all or not at all? i think the best thing u could do is grab a cheapie manual from crappy tire and troubleshoot from there, or maybe talk to a friend that is good with this sort of thing.

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stfu man, my friend had one of those symptoms on his prelude. SO this guys might be the same problem. who knows? ur not a mechanic yourself so thanks for coming out.

Thanks guys... i'll check intake... then timing... do you guys know how difficult it is to change timing belt? Would you guys say it's difficult for an amature like myself? I've never done that before. I know basics like changing oil, changing spark plugs, changing brakes/tires, etc.. ( actually, i even change the master cylinder myself).

Doing the timing belt is easy if your mechanically inclined. If your a amateur when It comes to cars I dont reccomend you going ahead with replacing the timing belt, the engine has to be at the right time and stuff like TDC on the #1 cylinder....and if its not right you can lose power or damage the engine if its out of time. If you really want to do it, get a haynes manual for your car and buy a half decent timing gun and good luck :thumbsup:

Umm, perhaps we all wandered a little off the problem here. Not trying to be rude, but losing power does not sound like a timing belt problem. If it has a rubber or plastic intake boot(s) and/or manifold (I work mostly on german cars, sorry), it's quite possible it's a vacuum leak, it could be a fuel delivery problem, may want to clean the injectors (if it's fuel injected, I noticed it's N/A, but I don't know if it's f.i.), my other thought, is if you have some spare time, test the compression on it.
Some things to look at, is the oil pressure normal? Fuel pressure? sounds stupid, but what's the air filter like? how's the cap and rotor?
It's sort of tough to be able to diagnose the problem without being able to see the car.

Could me the distributer? mine went last year some time. Started makine really high pitch squeaking noises and finally just seized!

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Originally posted by xvang
Thanks guys... i'll check intake... then timing... do you guys know how difficult it is to change timing belt? Would you guys say it's difficult for an amature like myself? I've never done that before. I know basics like changing oil, changing spark plugs, changing brakes/tires, etc.. ( actually, i even change the master cylinder myself).

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ok, what u need to do to check for vacuum leaks is simple. just get some tb cleaner and spray it all over the place. when u spray on the leaking area, the idle should fluctuate. for timing, find out the stock timing for your car, loosen the dizzy (if u have one), use the timing gun (instructions on gun manual), and just move the dizzy around until the timing is back to stock. tighten it back up and u are good to go. on your supra, u might have to do something to the ecu before u set the timing. other things to check would be the o2 sensor, see if u have any codes, pull them and maybe replace whatevers gone bad. but dont pour in too much $$ cuz by then u can just find a mechanic to fix it for u for less hassle. :)

as for u mx6, most of your damn posts in this section are "my friends prelude had a hose fall off so maybe that is why....". id be surprised if uve ever touched anything under the hood or even own a car at all. i dont know a lot about mechanical stuff (in fact i hate working under the hood) and i dont pretend to, but i dont give advice when i dont know jackshit the way u do. :thumbsdow

When was the last time the fuel filters were replaced? Like GTS Jeff said, if you know how do a basic tune-up on the car, if that doesn't work start looking at other things. Problems like this are usually (but not always) something simple, or a combination of simple things.

The runs OK when cold, craps out as it reaches operating temp??

That would be the O2 sensor.

The O2 sensors input is ignored when it is cold. Once warmed up, the ECU will start using that input.

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Originally posted by GTS Jeff
as for u mx6, most of your damn posts in this section are "my friends prelude had a hose fall off so maybe that is why....". id be surprised if uve ever touched anything under the hood or even own a car at all. i dont know a lot about mechanical stuff (in fact i hate working under the hood) and i dont pretend to, but i dont give advice when i dont know jackshit the way u do. :thumbsdow

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who said it was a hose? we took it to a mechanic who put it on that scope machine and he told us the cylinder was fucked. I have owned a couple cars before and worked on alot of shit under the hood. but that doesn't concern you. so back on topic

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Originally posted by Mx6GtTurbo


who said it was a hose? we took it to a mechanic who put it on that scope machine and he told us the cylinder was fucked. I have owned a couple cars before and worked on alot of shit under the hood. but that doesn't concern you. so back on topic

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uh what???

ha-ha!