Tuesday, January 7, 2014

A New Year

So it has been 3 weeks and still the problem could not be resolved. All we know is that the E.C.U. is running on safe mode and hence the rev cut at 7,000 rpm. My dad is getting restless and his friend have finally agreed to take the car to sell. Also, coincidentally a potential buyer texted me and so I have to bring the car back for the buyer to view. I took the liberty to search on a famous Celica forum and found somethings but it was useless too. I have no choice but to exchange the Celicas and bring mine to the office for viewing. So, I went to exchange and when I was almost home, something major happened and if I know my luck well, it is usually not a good thing. The car stopped and I was stranded for 3 hours by the highway.

Left the temporary ride for my own ride.
End of manual experience
After 3 weeks, finally get the best mileage for 15L of petrol
It was the first time I have experienced such an event. I was driving along a highway not far from my place and I was hitting around 130 km/h and suddenly I felt a sudden loss of power where there is no response when I hit the accelerator. I remember having experienced something like this once when I was driving around 185 km/h and the speed cut came. So, the car started to decelerate at a high pace and I was fearing the car behind me would hit me. Since there was no response from the accelerator, I tried downshifting. Still with no response, I put it back to Drive and then the rpm needle went haywire, downshifting and upshifting on its own will and rpm going up and down crazily. I have no choice but stop by the road side and although the car was not moving anymore, I felt the car vibrating and the engine started to choke like the engine is going to die off and it did. I then try to restart the engine but it took me almost 2 minutes to start. I thought my nightmare was over when it started but the idle rpm could not even go past 1,000 rpm and slowly chokes with whirling sound in the exhaust. It died off again and could not restart. I even saw some white smoke from under the hood.

Location of petrol tank 

All empty out
I remembered my mechanic friend told me that he changed almost everything mechanical that he could think of in order to fix my rev cut problem. That is why I could not think of any problem and I panicked. I call my mechanic friend to hurry over to fix my problem. By the time he arrived, I was already very sweaty like in a sauna and he tested the ignition coils, spark plugs and injectors. He realized that the injectors were not injecting any petrol and then he went and took a look inside the petrol tank and realize it was as dry as a desert. I could not believe that it was this empty when the petrol gauge shows there is still petrol left. This gave us a hint that the meter cluster that might be malfunctioned and could be the source of the rev cut problem. However, that is the least of my thoughts because I was wondering how on Earth could I get some petrol. My friend called his friend to bring some petrol and I was on my way back home but I realized there is a problem with the aircond compressor and hose. The next day, my dad's friend came and took the car. I was told that the aircond compressor is done and needs replacement. Lucky I do not need to deal with that. In a way, the Celica gave  me another lesson as a farewell gift. I finally know how it feels when you are out of petrol. It was not pleasant but definitely memorable.

Could be the last time I see this view and look at the special guest behind. Lucky shot.