When its raining out my truck gets no spark until you crank on it for a while - anywhere from 5 seconds to a number of minutes. Then its really boggy - usually after 2 minutes of running it goes okay.

Today it died at the bottom of my road. I finally got it started again and it was boggy for 3 miles. By boggy I mean it feels like bad spark plug wires and wont do anything but lug under 3k rpm. - this is new, usually it runs fine by the time I get to the bottom of the long hill I live on (idling the whole way down).

I dont think water has any way to get into my distributor.

In the last 2 years I've replaced cap, dizzy, plugs, wires, CSI switch.

Where is the water/humidity going that is drowning my spark?

 

There was a thread a while back about water leaking through to the cpu. causing same symptoms.

Try and search that see what you can come up with!

 

Grab a clean spray bottle. Fill it with water. Wait until dusk.

At dusk or in a low light situation, spray water all over your plug wires. Take a WELL INSULATED screwdriver, touch any good ground on the motor, and lean it in toward the plug wires. See sparks jumping to your grounded screwdriver? Replace your wires.

I have alligator clips that I hook directly to the battery and to a long handled screwdriver. I just hook it up, spray my wires, and hold the screwdriver close to the wires. Sparks = wires are shot and water causing them to ground out.

 

Good advice above. It could also be as simple as putting a good coat of dielectric grease around all the plug ends. I had a similar problem a while back because I neglected to do so after having the dist off.

 

i had a problem before and it was the ignitor if i remember..

 

I never could figure my problem out. Never happened after being washed, only when raining.

 

Thats a good trick. I'll do it tonight. They're like 2 years old so I hope they're not bad. Will also use up a tube of dialectric grease on the plug caps.

IDEA: could I attached my timing light to each wire while cranking on a rainy morning and verify there is at least spark from the distributor? I bet I could...

 

Are they OEM wires or aftermarket parts store wires? If aftermarket, I'll bet they're toast. I made that same mistake. Got the second set of wires for free because I threw a fit that they only lasted me just shy of two years. If I have to replace them again, I'll go with OEM.

As for your idea, you can certainly hook the timing light to any wire you want. If you get a flash, you know you've got spark to that cylinder. Whether that spark is making it to the plug or grounding out first is a whole other game, though.

 

Damn - lousy. Usually the parts I get at my local spot are okay. Obviously OEM is best. Although I like WIX filters I've even been trying to put Toyota filters on, since I have to go the the dealer anyway for the new cardridge style ones for my girlfriends corolla.

The last time I had an issue with wires was on my tacoma back in highschool. It felt like this - but all the time. I dont see why the wires would be affected by rain unless, as stated, they're grounding out.

 

Had an 89 Pick up that did this, wound up being the ignitor, but seemed be coincidental in relation to the 'rain', etc..... But MAN, you could've fooled me! lol. There are a couple tests for that, but if you will have new wires here to try, that's good advice as a place to start.

 

Damn - two votes for ignitor. I guess I don't know what that is. Not an ignition coil or a switch? I googled it: is this it?

http://www.autopartsnetwork.com/shop...shoppingengine

I'll crack into my FSM pdf and see if I can track down a way to test it before replacing, assuming its not the wires which I'll test first.

 

Yeah, Vermont, that's the Ignitor...But, PLEASE,.... DO NOT throw parts at this thing.... especially that part, it's not a cheapo.... and I wouldn't recommend aftermarket(I just can't, as I don't know the results people've had...... But I do know guys who've put in 24 year old ones from the Junk Yard, at 200K, and now have 450K on one of them... same ignitor).... Not saying <<< that's the Toyota Bible truth.... lol... But I also don't want you to waste your money without verifying that it's bad/going bad, ya know?

Far as checking the wires... yeah.... Doesn't matter which you 'CHECK' first, but check them both, and even much more if necessary, before slapping any new parts in, in an effort of trying to rule out things.

You'll find it, man..... don't worry! Can only be so many things, right?(Trust me, I KNOW how frustrating this crap is, lol.... I DO KNOW! haha) .

PS> Try Dealerdirectparts.com for a set of wires(there are other sites, just an example)... see what you can save. I mean, if they're aftermarket and really old.... can't hurt to slap new wires in there.

PSS> Far as the ignitor.... maybe ask a yard what they want for one, then try to track down someone on Yotatech, etc., that might let you swap in their working ignitor as a process of elimination source, ya know?

 

I sourced an ignitor/coil pack for my 3VZ-E at a local yard for $35 but I didn't end up needing it. Sounds like it's time to bust out your ohmmeter and start testing!

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...12onvehicl.pdf

Edit - here's the 22R-E version...must be Friday.

http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1993/ignition/4onvehicl.pdf

 

Sometimes a dist. cap will develop a hairline crack causing moisture too enter. Try another cap (even an old one) Much cheaper than an ignitor.