Imdominant

1992 3zve 3.0L 4runner , 5 speed. I have been driving this thing off and on for years. it always starts easily.. it could have set a day or a month, hot or cold didnt matter. always starts easily.

About two months ago my gf was having trouble with her maxima battery degrading and it just seemed to not hold a charge like it should... so not wanting to fool with buying a new battery i put my 4runner battery into her car, and hers into my 4runner and her car (of course) started fine.. my 4runner would also, but first start of each day it would turn slower than normal... but it would still start. after that first start of the day the battery would have more juice and it would crank and start as easily as ever.

Well yesterday i went to start it and it seemed to have even less juice and it would barely whirl over at all (battery degrading further i supect).. i kept on it because i figured it might go ahead and start but no , it was just too low. i had somewhere to be in it so i put jumper cables on it and it would whirl over really well but would not freaking start or even sound like it was 'hitting' at all..

since then i have not only charged battery but ive also checked to make sure fuel pump was running and it is.. 12v at b+ and at fp with the key on plus you can hear fuel rushing thru the ?pressure regulator? (front of drivers side fuel rail) into a line with regular hose clamps which i assumed was the return to tank line..

I also took a hose and listened directly to injectors while cranking and i could hear a distinct clicking typical to an injector opening sound.

another thing i done was clamp the rubber return line with locking pliers to not allow fuel to return to tank to make sure and give the rails pressure (in case pressure regulator may be bad) , with the mindset of if there is good pressurized fuel in the rails and the injectors are pulsing the cylinders must be getting fuel.

ok , so next i diagnose the spark system starting at coil first.. coil thru the coil wire to ground sparks a large quick spark although it is red/orange. put that back on and take a plug wire off and it sparks from that wire to ground less often but still DOES spark and it is still red/orange.. i even put a spark plug in it and grounded it and the plug sparks and color is red/orange.

I have read the coil with a GOOD multimeter (i know how to use the thing i am a master electrician) and the coil reads within spec... the doubter that i am i still went and got a coil from the parts store and it does the VERY same thing.. orange/red spark....

I am about to try an igniter i guess but i had to order it.. i do not know its function in the system or if the coil would even spark if i were bad but im gonna try one anyway tomorrow..

I have taken out the EFI fuse in the under hood panel and left it out for 10-15 mins hoping to clear the codes, and then put it back in and tried to start the truck (cel was on before cranking and during).. then i turned off key, put the jumper in from Te1 to E1 (not 100% on that being terminal names i am not looking at the truck, going from memory) and turn the ignition to watch for codes... the cel flashed fast well over 100 times until i lost count! i was thinking this means no codes.

I need help... keep in mind this truck ran the same for the last 3 years even up to when i pulled into my driveway and shut it off friday. It was the next day, saturday when the battery was low and all this started

I dont know what to do next besides plugging in the new ignitor.

scope103

Hmmm. You have no codes. (Flashing at a uniform rate means "no" codes and the CEL is working.)

It's almost certainly not your ignitor, because you're getting spark.

Were the plugs wet when you took them out? If you're getting fuel that isn't igniting, the plugs should be wet with fuel.

Did you try to start it with FP jumpered to B+? You could have a bad COR that is not starting the pump when you crank it.

Have you checked the ignition timing? (A timing light costs less than that extra coil you bought, and it is a very simple/reliable way to check for spark.) The spark has to be at the right time or it won't start.

Imdominant

I only took out one plug but yes it was wet with fuel... I did test battery voltage at b+ and I put a jumper in to fp during cranking as well just to be sure that there were no interruptions of fuel flow. You can physically hear and feel fuel pulsing thru the rubber return line...

I haven checked timing at all I'm not even sure how to do this reliably while an engine isn't running but the thing that bothers me is I drove the vehicle into the driveway and parked it business as usual on Friday , shut it down and then on Saturday my ignition timing is off?

What components would effect the start timing ? One that would just fail during start up...?

TNRabbit

If you have air/fuel/spark it should start. The only thing left is timing. That includes electrical as well as timing belt. If you're getting spark, then the distributor is turning so the belt is intact. That leaves belt or spark TIMING out of whack. I've never seen a belt skip enough teeth to not even hit a lick.

Perhaps the tensioner broke?. I'm guessing here....

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

If your plugs are wet it will not start.

It is the vapor that ignites under compression.

You dumped a lot of fuel in there trying to start the engine .

If you had a extra set of plugs I bet it would have fired right up.

Could be a timing issue but I go with wet plugs.

Back in the olden days this happened a lot it was not uncommon to pull the plugs and far from the vehicle use a lighter to dry them.

Let the cylinders dry out for a good half hour if we could.

Good luck in any case.