Celica Forums General Discussion Engine and Performance How can I fix a GTS 03?

Hello everyone, first I'm new in this world of car fixing by myself so saying this I need a lot of advices.

I bought a celica gts 03 manual, when I did the test drive the car ran good but the owner told me that has a misfire problem (some Spark plugs) and he told me that he did recently rebuild the engine.

Ok after that I drove the car to my house but in the halfway the engine stopped. I tow the car to my house.

I did check the spark plug en replace it all of them for a new OEM sparks plug.
I bought a new battery.

After all the information the car still no runs. The car cranks but don't run the engine.

Some friend told me to check the timing belt and I did. The timing belt is defaced.
Another friend told that I should buy a new timing belt and replace it. The car has 150k miles
I saw one on Ebay but you know is Ebay so I'm not sure and there is another page that I don't know if is good and what option should I get.

I left the links below. What do you guys think? Thank you, any advice is very welcome.

As a gift I left the 2000-2005_toyota_celica_repair_manual
https://celicahobby.com/forums/ubbt...gen-toyota-celica-repair-manual-1-2.html

Timing belt kit:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Timing-Cha...lica-1-8L-2ZZGE-DOHC-16V-L4/252798134998

Or the Part Number: 7988-07134131 option number 6
https://www.partsgeek.com/.../2003/...al/timing_chain.html?rp=timing_chain_kit

Gasket set (I think the second option comes with everything that I need):
https://www.partsgeek.com/.../2003/toyota/celica/engine_mechanical/engine_gasket_set.html

This is another website for the gasket set
https://www.carparts.com/details/To.../2003/GTS/4_Cyl_1-dot-8L/DNJFGS9016.html

This is much cheaper but I don't know if should I buy it from here.

Hey, welcome.

Let be begin my saying DO NOT buy any essential engine/drivetrain parts from eBay please. You might get lucky once or twice, but your luck will run out. It may be nice saving money at first, but it will end up costing you in the end. Buy OE only for those kind of things.

Now, before you undergo some huge engine overhaul, consider the other possibilities. Remember, you did say that the previous owner just rebuilt the engine. Unless he's a dummy, he probably put a whole new timing set up on.

Those other possibilities, for a car that cranks but won't start, could be fuel pump, crank sensor, cam sensor, even a blown relay, etc. Consider those less intensive options before doing a whole timing job.

Thank you for you reply.

well I checked the fuel injectors and looks good at first inspection but the only thing that I'm not sure is that when I was checking them and I just moved them a little bit they start leaking gas front the top I don't know if the O rings(I think that's the name for the seals of the fuel injectors) are bad or is just normal.

Also all the fuse are good and relay too. I'm going to check the engine a little bit more this Wednesday.

And by the way just in case that I need the timing belt what do you think about this website
the Part Number: 7988-07134131 option number 6
https://www.partsgeek.com/.../2003/...al/timing_chain.html?rp=timing_chain_kit

Or should I just go ahead and buy an OEM parts

Your injectors should not be leaking anything. That is potentially dangerous.

Check the fuel pump too. And all the related relays and fuses. Check for resistance and continuity of the parts I mentioned above.

I would still go OEM for a timing kit, but it may be worth having a shop diagnose it before you dive in.

Hi, after long time my car still in the body shop, my car finally drives after changing the timing belt, water pump, battery and gaskets but has this 2 problem

Burn a lot gass and white smoke
One cylinder is not working

My mechanic recommended to buy a new engine.
What do you guys think, should I buy a new engine or there is a better solution?

Update of what happened.

I replace the engine because the mechanic told that was more cheap than try to fix the original. After that my car was running fine but then something happened, I was driving my car really fast and I did late gear change, at that moment didn't show me any problem but at the next day the car starts idling low revolutions even with the gas all way down no matter the gear where was it at, and now finally the car starts but idle poor and turns off after 2 seconds of start.

I checked the fuses and they are good
I replace the massive air flow
The sparks coils are good
I reset the ICM
And I check the fuel pump to see the ohms and the guide said that should be 0.3 or 0.4 but is showing 0.8
Someone knows if I have to relearn the throttle body and if it, how can I do it.
Or any ideas that what could be the problem.

Looks like over revving may have cracked the head. Check coolant and oil to see if they mixed, indicating cracks in engine.

Did you check compression at the cylinders?

You may have to do both the dry and wet compression checks to find out if the leaks are caused by cracks, worn/bad piston rings or valve stem leaks.

If there are no cracks and compression is low at any cylinder, it may be caused by debris, carbonized residues which cause compression leaks through piston rings or valves' seat. You can dissolve carbonized residues with Automedic's Gunk ($6 Walmart). Add it to oil, idle 5 to 10 minutes. Replace with new oil. The dumped oit will be black and sludgy like tar with the dissolved residues. You may have to flush the engine a couple times to dissolve all residues and improve compression.

It looks fine at least for me.

I don't know how to do it but maybe with some YouTube tutorials I can do it.

But the bad thing is that the car doesn't run, it just starts for 3 seconds and it shuts down automatically.

Do you think it can be a bad catalyst? Coz before this happened it was showing me that my catalyst was bad.

You replaced the timing chain and other expensive parts and then engine crapped out.

You swapped in another engine and it crapped out too?

This is very unusual as the 2ZZ engine is very strong.

You should bring it back to the mechanic who swapped the engine and make him fix it. he may have bought a bad engine.

Also by overreving you may have bent a few valves, therefore have not enough compression for cylinders to work. engine would start and run a few seconds then die