89 Supra Turbo wont start- HELP

Hello,
I have an 89 Supra Turbo and have a starting problem. Sometimes the car will start right up perfectly other times it wont start at all. It wont even crank over or try to crank. The only thing that happens is the dash lights come on but nothing else. Other times it starts right up. Sometimes if I go somewhere, park the car and come out it wont start, so I wait about a half hour sometimes more and then it starts right up. Other times its just sitting in the driveway and the next day I go out and it wont start. This is sooo very frustrating and 3 mechanics I have taken it to cant figure out why it does this. The starter has been replaced, the starter solenoid replaced , has a brand new battery, brand new spart plugs and brand new starter relay and still the same problem. One thing I noticed is this seems to be on warm days outside, mind you the car is not overheating because it merely is sitting in the driveway at times it does this. The only thing I noticed is that the minute you hook a battery charger to it , it starts right up immediately without having to wait for the battery to charge. This problem is so frustrating and I love the car so much but its left me stranded many times just going to the grocery store around the corner and not wanting to start back up for a half hour or so, so I am afraid to drive the car any distance for fear of being stranded. Other than that this car is awesome. Please can someone help me with this. I would appreciate it so very much. This is my first time posting here.
Hugs,
Lisa

Are you saying it randomly won't even crank over, or it cranks but won't start. If it doesn't even crank the problem is most likely the starter contacts, SOGI has had a tech tip for replacing them out forever...
http://www.supras.com/04/resources/index.php?id=68&q=starter
Replacing the entire starter and solenoid should have fixed the problem, since it did not go make absolutely sure that the "mechanics" didn't rip you off by using your old one. If it cranks but won't start it could be alot of things, heat soak in the fuel rail, heat soaking of a bad coil, pulling the codes could narrow it down. Also one simple thing to check is the battery terminals, take them off and clean the posts very good with a wire brush, replace the positive and negative cable ends if they are badly corroded.

Hello ,
Thank you so much for getting back to me. It is a random problem and it wont even crank over, wont make no sound at all, just dash lights come on. I can even turn my headlights on so I know its not the battery. But you may be right in saying its the cable ends. That makes sense since if I put the battery charger on it starts right up instantly with the charger only charging it for a second. Its so confusing to me. The starter was replaced twice. The second "mechanic" thought I might have gotten ripped off so he replaced it and both times the solenoid came with the starter. So for the most part the car is now parked cause I am afraid it will leave me stranded. Its so random that it wont start..but does it all the time so its not random meaning once in awhile, its random meaning all the time then randomly will also start like its brand new. Also and this is weird but sometimes and this is not always but if I put the key in and turn the car on to start and leave it completely turned there and its silent no cranking sound , sometimes in 5 seconds or so the car will turn over. I am wondering if thats an indictation of where the problem might be? And why only when its warm outside. Thats very strange of maybe the weather is a coincidence?
Hugs,
Lisa

Sounds to me like your battery cables might be too loose. I had the same problem with one of my cars, it would randomly not crank but the dash and headlights still worked. But with a 15 year old car you never know, could be like 10 different things. None of the mechanics said anything about the Igniter or Ignition Coil? Connections there could be loose too. But it doesn't sound like anything major, just a loose or weak connection somewhere.

89 turbo owner I once had a problem like you have and I tryed everything one day I put the car on jack stands and found a loose wire
connection on the starter not the the big wire on the starter but the little connector I think it has two wires and a brown plastic connector that plugs in to the starter mine would jiggle loose and it would do what your car was doing every thing but start a dap of glue and my problem fixed
GOODLUCK
RICH.

hey, i've been having the exact problems too, so i hope someone finds out what is wrong with it. im confused too so, o well.

I have a 87' NA Supra. This car is in excellent condition, however, I am experiencing the same cranking issue.

I have also had the starter replaced and the engine went over with a fine tooth comb, with no resolution.

However, I have come to the conclusion that the problem lies in the FACTORY ALARM SYSTEM. Why, well if I do not activate the alarm by locking the door, the problem doesn't occur. This is of course not the answer to the issue, because it means the valuables such as the sound system could be stolen.

I too look forward to someone coming forward with a workable resolution. At this moment, I am considering disabling the FACTORY ALARM SYSTEM.

Cheers

Starter cylinoid, possibly

try this if the car is an auto try wiggleing the shifter when its
in park of shift in down then up. it could be you nuetral start
switch thats causing all the problems or just crappy wireing.

i had the same exact problem guys...with a 90 turbo supra but the problem turned out to be that the battery wasnt screwed in tight enough...hope that helps

Like 87Turbo, my car does the same thing. I just push the shifter up a little more and it starts right up. One day I will fix it.

my 89 supra 7mge has this problem.... I put a new battery on and the lights in the car and the alarm work, but my gauges won't cut on, or the radio, and when I try to crank it up, i don't hear the starter clicking or the fuel pump turnin on, so I looked into the fuse box and one fuse was blown, so I replaced that, but I'm not sure why the car doesn't still cut on!!!??? I also dunno how to check the big fuses that are in the box to see if they work or not? does anybody know was wrong with my car. I needed to get it running soon again, because I need to find a better job, please if you have any clue let me know.


LETS PRAY FOR THE TSUNAMI VICTIMS....

It has nothing to do with your starter my friend. If your turn the key and all the lights come on, but no crank, thats not your starter, especially if you have changed it twice!! Good rule of thumb, 99% of the time. If you here 1 click, it's the battery. If you here multiple clicks, it's your starter solenoid, of course this is all while turning the key in attempt to start your car. Why?? Well when your turn the key, your battery sends a pulse of electricity to your starter solenoid so your starter gear will turn. If you here 1 click, and no more, that means pulses arn't getting to your starter, meaning the problem lies within the battery and respective connections. If it's multiple clicks, that means that your starter solenoid is receiving the electricity, but not engaging the starter gear, which means the problem lies within the starter. Open your hood, You have two cables, a ground(black) and positive(red). Follow the cables to their places and make sure they arn't loose. What you need to do next is take them off your battery, and use a steel brush and clean your battery ports, just scrub that shit clean, next scrub the inside of the battery connections, make sure their clean and shiny as well. Next bolt those suckers on TIGHT. I hope this helps you and the other fellow. Good luck!

i did all that, but I forgot to mension that i accidently put my negative on my positive and vise versa, I think that fried my fusable link, because I don't even hear one click. So I bough a new one and I'm gonna try and install it today, I hope that was it, I just hope my ecu isn't fried. I also had to replace a crap load of busted volts....

whats ur opinion on this?

I am not to familiar with supras, but I personally have reversed polarities on the battery, and all that happens is your main fuse goes. I doubt your ECU is fried, but it is a possibility, I guess. Their should be a black box in your engine bay that holds the main fuse for the bat, the link will be split like all other fuses, I think it is a 60volt fuse, not too sure. Let us know what happend! Good luck!

my 89 supra has this problem to sometimes but lately its been starting pretty well

i recently had a problem with mine. On my way to school it started to overheat, and all I've had in my radiator lateply has been mostly water. well... to make a long story short, i stoped, checked the hoses and it seemed fine, but the side of my engine was steaming like crazy and I saw radiator fluid dripping from the side and close to my oil filter, does this mean I cracked my block, or blew my head gasket, or what?

i recently had a problem with mine. On my way to school it started to overheat, and all I've had in my radiator lateply has been mostly water. well... to make a long story short, i stoped, checked the hoses and it seemed fine, but the side of my engine was steaming like crazy and I saw radiator fluid dripping from the side and close to my oil filter, does this mean I cracked my block, or blew my head gasket, or what?
yeah dude, you should get that checked out asap. When you drive, does your car run bad? Does it profusely smoke out the tailpipe? Try and locate the leak, if its coming from where your head meets the block, you might have blew a head gasket, most likely. Dude, it is MUCHO IMPORTANTE' that you keep 50/50 mix of antifreeze and H2O in the engine my brotha. Not only does the anti freeze lower the freezing point of the water, but also raises the boiling point to 265 dergrees!! Very important, if your engine only has water in it, I think the boiling point of water is 212 degrees. Good luck!

thank you so much man, I know that our year supra is known for going through head gaskets like a fat kid through cakes, thats the only thinks that sucks about it, but I got a friend that can find an engine for me with a few mods done to it for cheap, but Ive also talked to japanese specialist about just going ahead and doing the turbo swap, but the only problem is that they say is better to just buy one that is turbocharged and upgrade the turbo, what you think?

oh haha that one problem with the car not starting that sounds like the problem i had i had to sand off the battery cable connectors and the lil stand things on the battery they prolly have a very bad connection and doesnt get enuff juice to start for awhile if nothing is wrong with the starter and soil.

You know my 88 NA Supra does the same thing. But Ive noticed that if you have on a lot of your accs.(heater, radio, ect.) it wont start, but by shutting them off allows the car to start. This happens to me on cold days even with a brand new 770CCA battery. What I am thinking is the Voltage regulator is bad, which you cant get away with replacing it directly since its housed inside the alternator. The reason I think its this is because at night when all of the accesories are running and its just idling the volmeter drops to 12V or below, but if I rev the engine around 1500-2000rpm the dash lights get brighter and the voltermeter reads 13+V. I just purchased a used alternator and when it arrives Ill swap it and let you know if it worked.

As to disabling the factory alarm, that didnt help the situation because I yanked the fuse because it also controls the horn, which seemed possesed and would randomly just come on.

hmmm MAF

My 89 Supra has had similar issues. I think the occasional clicking and not turning over has been isolated to the battery cables.

However, I am still having other issues. The car is turning over just fine now but it wont fire.... Still working on the issue so I can drive the car home.

The previous owner said he had it checked at one point and the ECI was diagnosed as the issue. I don't buy that cause its an intermittent issue and the car runs fine when it cranks.

I am hoping to just get it somewhat dependable to get it to tire shop, parts store, etc. Though that sounds kind of funny reading the previous sentence.

Any suggestions?

Anyone have any valuble links to replacment parts and/or hop ups for 1989?

Owning a 1988 Toyota Supra with a 7M-GTE and being a Toyota mechanic, I have experienced the same problem, all lights and accessories worked, but the starter made no sound when trying to crank. My Supra is auto, and with a few small tests with a test light, I narrowed the problem down to being the neutral start switch. On the starter motor there are two main cables going to each side of the starter. There is also another smaller wire going to a connector, this is the signal that the neutral start switch sends to the starter motor to tell it to crank. When checked with a test light, no power coming from this cable while attempting to crank the engine means your starter won't work. The neutral start switch is around AUD$195, and the closest genuine Toyota one to me was in Japan... It is possible to bypass this, however not recommended. All I did until I could afford to buy the part was hook a small wire (it doesn't need to be anything big) from the + terminal on the battery to a small 7.5amp fuse then to a switch in the dash, then from the switch to the neutral start switch signal terminal on the starter motor. I turned the ignition to on, flicked my switch and the engine cranked perfectly, no more problems. (Note: when the NSS was on it's way out, the starter would sometimes click. My starter motor was brand new. When the NSS died forever, there was no sound from the starter. Obviously when the switch is on it's way out, the noise can be confused for starter motor problems.)

i just had to sign up bc i got the same prob wit my 89 7m-gte
it seems to be the brown wire to the starter as described earlier
i disconnected it and reconnected it and tried to start it and it turned right on and i been tryin jumpin it and chargin the batt for two days and its less than a yr old so if it happens again just mess with that wire and it should work
best of luck

I got a 87 Supra, it has been sitting for about 1 year and a half. I can't get it started. I changed the oil, checked the fluids, checked the spark plugs, i hear the fuel pump when i turn the key before i crank it, i changed the battery, i put fuel booster in the fuel too but i still won't crank. I turn the key and it turns over but i doesn't crank. From what i hear now compared to when it normally starts it seems like it is having a hard time cranking it. It just sounds weird when i am trying to start it, like it doesn't have enough power or something. I need help. Any other thoughts?