DerrickS.G.

Im guna keep this short and hope to get some good replies. Bought a 90 4runner with bad 3vze. Started it up heard it run for a couple seconds. Bought a used 3vze that i heard run and sounded great with low miles. Swapped em out. Now i dont get any spark out of the coil. It cranks perfect and i can smell gas and hear pump working. Tested coil, ignitor, ecm and distributor in buddies 90 3vze 4runner and all worked to start his up. Put them all back in mine made 100% sure all connectors were hooked up and everything. There are 3 terminals in the ecm (BATT, +B, and +B1) that get power from the battery thru 15amp efi fuse and efi relay. They are all getting 12 volts to the ecm. Tested with the tester light. Also their are 3 engine ground and 2 sensor ground terminals in the ecm. These are all grounded. Tested these with tester light too. Im getting 12v to the coil and igniter with ignition ON also.

I dont know what else to test or why in the heck all that checks out and it wont get a spark. Whats wierd also is that whether the all the wires are plugged into the ecm or not the vehicle reacts the same way even though i know it gets power and is grouned when it is plugged in. And the check engine light doesnt come one with ignition ON like it is suppose to. Im not sure if this is because the bulb is burnt out or what because i didnt check before i did this swap.

Im hoping I can get some help in here and get some good advice about what to do next.

iamsuperbleeder

hrmmm...

how about the fueses in the box under the hood on the passenger side?

DerrickS.G.

All the fuses were good.

toyotabull

Now, I believe that motor has a knock sensor, but does it have a crank or cam positioning sensor, you might check that

95ScoreRunner

I am having the exact same issue. After replacing the HGs it started up and ran rough, went to pull it out of the garage. As soon as I touched the gas it died, havn't gotten spark since. I have replaced plugs, wires, dist. cap and rotor, coil, igniter, and bought a used ecu. Everything seems to check out, just can't get spark to the distributor.

Only thing I don't know is if there should be any voltage going to the distributor. Can anyone shed some light on this?

DerrickS.G.

I dont think there is any voltage going to the distributor. The only connector has 4 wires and they all go back to the ecu as control signals so that the ecu can send out the right signal to the igniter. I've been reading a lot about all this and i haven't seen anything in the wiring diagrams about the distributor recieving any voltage.

95ScoreRunner

Yeah, I havn't found anything on it either. I can't for the life of me figure out why im not getting spark.

DerrickS.G.

There are three Pickup coils located inside the distributor and these are their functions:

PICKUP COILS
The NE coil detects the crankshaft position, and the G 1 and G2 coils detect the camshaft position.

So this leads me to believe that there are no actual sensors because the pickup coils replace the sensors. But the distributor started the old motor, and a friends motor recently and now its in the new motor and i cant get a spark. So I cant see how the pickup coils would have went bad when they were just working in two other motors.

lonecountryboy

Just a thought have you checked the dist timing? As in put everthing to TDC and make sure that the dist is on #1? and its not 180 out or a tooth off?

95ScoreRunner

Even if it is off a tooth I should be able to turn the dist. enough to get it close. I am going to pull the dist. out tonight just to make doubley sure it is in correct.

DerrickS.G.

Here is another piece of the puzzle but i really dont think it should matter but if someone does know for sure if it does matter or not i would like to hear about it. The motor i got to put in my 90 was out of a 95. But i switched everything over that had to be switched out to make sure my engine wiring and connectors would hook right up and i would still be able to use my ecu and harness. This included the distributor, knock sensor wire, and the few connectors on the back of the intake manifold that screw onto the back as 1 whole piece. Every connector is hooked up along with anything else that needed to be switched out. Im begining to wonder if the 90 distributor is good to go in the 95 motor even tho its fits right in there no problem and the rotor spins when cranking and everything.

If anyone can help I would really appreciate it.

DerrickS.G.

If the distributor was off a tooth or out 180 would it really be such a problem that it would cause there to be no spark? I know it would be out of time and run like crap but i didnt think it would cause there to be absolutly no spark?

DerrickS.G.

I Made sure the rotor in the distributor was facing the No.1 spark plug wire in the cap. I made sure the mark on the crank shaft pulley was set at 0. and i removed the spark plug in No.1 cylinder to make sure the piston was at the top of the stroke. Everything lined up great so i dont think its out 180 or off by a tooth. But with all that lining up could it still be out?

lonecountryboy

And you are sure the timing marks line up on the t-belt when everything is at tdc? Actually did you pull a plug and ground it to see if there is any spark? It sounds as if you have voltage to everything so something has to inhibit the ecu from sending a signal to the ignitor. As far as the dist goes it's no problem I have put in newer 3.0 in older vehicles such as a 95 3.0 into a 90 4runner without any problems just make sure you use the dist that was originally in to begin with. Without being on site it is really hard to come up with an answer, I would make sure the signals from the dist are getting to the ecu but you would need a o-scope to look at the pulse trains and then you should monitor the output of the ecu to the ignitor or however the ignitor gets the firing signal that would narrow it down. But I would doubly make sure the dist is in correctly because sometimes it will make you think it is a no spark condition when it is just set incorrectly.

williamt.

i had the same kind of problem, but mine died at a stop light and when i got it towed... checked everything, igniter coil dist ecu and all that but i was not getting any spark to the plugs. took it to a freind of a friend whos a auto electrician expert and the maf sensor took a .... maybe try testing that...

good luck man.

thedanned

As country boy said, you did verify that there is spark at the plugs? The 'ol screwdriver to ground trick?

DerrickS.G.

Well Im not even getting spark thru the coil so i know im not getting a spark to the plugs even tho i havent tested that far down the line yet. I think its a bad sensor somewhere but somethin wierd happened. The check engine light is suppose to come on with ignition ON but mine does not. So in the trouble shooting procedure the first step is to ground ECM terrminal W (which is the wire that comes from ignition to gauge fuse to light bulb to ecm), to the body. and if that turns the light on check wiring between ECM terminal E1 (which i already tested with a test light while disconected from the ecm) and body ground. Well considering i already tested it to the connector that plugs into the ecm and it turned the light on i figured theres no way thats the problem. But i grounded out terminal w and sure enough the check engine light comes on.... well terminal w somehow gets grounded from terminal e1 in the ecm but when all conected my light does not come on. Since terminal w being grounded to the body turns on the light the only thing left to be bad is the wiring between terminal e1 and the body ground which is grounded on the right side cylinder head in the back or the ecm but i already tested the ecm and it worked in another vehicle and the ground is working all the way from the ground point to the connector that plugs into the ecm. So idk what to do now. Im sure thats pretty confusing but if any one gets it then... got any advice? I have plenty of wiring diagrams and trouble shooting procedures and system description on my computer to share with anyone who really wants to try n help or understand what im talking about

95ScoreRunner

I understand what you are talking about because mine is doing the exact same thing. I can find no reason via testing but still no spark.

I checked my distributor tonight and indeed it was off a tooth but once I fixed it it still is not getting spark. At least that is fixed tho. Anyone else have any ideas?

95ScoreRunner

Does the VAF meter have anything to do with spark? That is about the only thing that I have not tested.

yoterr

anybody try what william said...the maf sensor? would be something to check i suppose