This past weekend, when my dh went to attempt to jump his truck, he killed my 4runner when he put the ground onto his battery. The engine will crank over but will not fire up. So far there has been a new coil, distributor and rotor installed. A new battery was installed a few days prior due to the old one crapping out. The next thing to replace is the igniter and that part is $450 Most likely this is the problem to get it back on the road but $$ doesn't grow on trees. So are there any other igniters that can be substituted to get my yota back on the road?

 

What about the EFI fuse?

 

Check the EFI fuse like jagger_snitt said. You have the right idea, just start with the cheapest parts first. What year, and model is it?

I have also seen that there is a wire that runs through the intake manifold and the block that ground out as well.

 

check all your fuses for sure, both under dash and under hood.

And where did you get a quote of $450 for an ignitor? Is your truck a V6 or 4cyl?

 

It is a V6 and that price was online. I checked around the junk yards here and they don't have any. I found a used one for $150. I don't even want to call the local dealership as they wanted to charge me close to $300 for a fuel pump assembly of which I just needed the pump but they would not sell me just the pump.

As for the model, it is an '88 4runner SR5.


**Update** All fuses checked good. Took distributer cap off to see if it moved but it stayed put. Suspect bad timing belt, not the igniter. Not ruling out the igniter is bad BUT this is more doable, just more work.

 

Why would you suspect a bad timing belt if it was an electrical short? How does crossing the battery cables cause a timing belt to fail?

IMHO, you need to take it to a mechanic becuase you are spending a lot of money on parts that dont even need to be replaced.

 

Crossed battery cables = (usually) blown main fuse, or EFI Fuse.

 

It was just a fluke that the yota died when he attached the ground to his truck. We got it home and he took off the cover for the timing belt and it was a broken mess. For once, he knew what was wrong...haha.

Is there a trick to getting the crank shaft pulley off without using the pulley tool?

 

Yes - several - search

basically bump start with a breaker bar against the frame rail..