Andy A

Last Wednesday morning was headed home from work and the truck just died while in route. It was instant, not a gradual death. Got it off to the side of the road and all it would do is turn over but not start. I had a paperclip with me and ran a quick code scan and it showed code 14. (igniter). So I have the truck towed home and here are the things I checked.
1) I have 11.6 v to the coil
2) Resistance of coil is in spec both primary and secondary.
3) checked air gap on distributer. in spec.
4) checked resistance of ignition coil to distributer wire, in spec.
5) bypassed fuel pump to make sure running. Definitely runs but have no way to check pressure.
6) replaced igniter still no spark.
7) if I check spark by pulling coil wire from distributer and turning motor over I get NO spark, with both old igniter and a new igniter.
8) checked fuses in both fuse boxes that I could and all are fine.
9) If I go to page EG2-195 of the manual it says to check for no voltage between ECM terminals IGT & E1 and for voltage between IGT and ground, but according to the directions the truck should be idling to check those and I cannot get it started.
10) checked resistance of signal generator, in spec.
I'm clueless as to where to go from here.
1994 SR5 V6 4x4

881stGenRunner

How confident are you in the replacement ignitor you have?

Andy A

New, so confident

881stGenRunner

Ahh gotcha, that sucks man. I had the same code where my engine would just turn and turn and turn with no luck. Replaced the coil and ignitor with one from a junk yard and it has been great ever since.

881stGenRunner

This was the thread I started a few years ago for it.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...e-14-a-131241/

Andy A

Thanks will check it out a little later, have to head to work now.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Remember a Igniter code is the complete circuit with all the wiring.

You were just driving and it quit you had nothing else happen when it did??

No hard bumps or big water puddles.??

Just what brand new igniter ?? Bad out of the box??

No connections came apart or got damaged??

I would say your next move is to look at the ecu if you have no spark at the plugs

Andy A

Correct, only replaced the igniter after performing all the steps listed in the FSM.

Correct, just cruising along at approx 45mph and just quit right in the middle of morning traffic, yeah happy happy joy joy

No, just nicely paved 4 lane roadway.

Airtex, could be, it does happen, story of my life. OEM is just to pricey.

None that I know of. Last real work on the truck was maybe 3 + yrs back, typical headgasket replacement.

Is there a test procedure to check the integrity of the ECM? Hopefully sometime today I will check on the "no spark at the plugs" again just to make sure. Is there anything else in the chain that can cause a no spark condition, like the TPS or VAFM. In doing some further reading I find that the VAFM can cause issues also so I will test that when I get home.

Andy A

Tested the VAFM and I get these values

E2 to VS = 366 ohms, spec says 200 - 600 ohms, so that one seems okay

VC to E2 = 278 ohms, spec says 200- 400 ohms, so that one seems okay

THA to E2 = 3.05 k ohms at 57 F degrees ambient temp and 59 F degrees when VAFM is shot with my handy dandy laser thermometer

THA to E2 = 2.74 k ohms at 63 F degrees ambient temp and 64.5 F degrees when VAFM is shot with my handy dandy laser thermometer


the value is getting lower as temp goes up which is what it is supposed to do. Will try to hit it around 68 F degrees and again later as it is supposed to get 81 here today.

still need to test it off the truck with vane opened/closed

Spec for THA to E2

1) 10 - 20 k ohms at 4 degrees F
2) 4 - 7 k ohms at 32 degrees F
3) 2 - 3 k ohms at 68 degrees F
4) 0.9 - 1.3 k ohms at 104 degrees F
5) 0.4 - 0.7 k ohms at 140 degrees F
I will test it later today when it gets warmer outside and see what THA to E2 test out to again.

scope103

The easier way to check for spark is with a $20 timing light (a tool you should have anyway). Clip the inductive pickup on the wire you're interested in; if it flashes you have spark.

So you could use that method to see if you have "spark" both going to the plugs and going from the coil to the distributor.

VAFM, no matter how bad, should not be a cause of "no spark."

This page goes through the wiring ECM/Igniter (though the diagnostics don't help much). Are these the diagnostics you described above?

881stGenRunner

Saw an ignitor from a 95 4runner at a junk yard in hoffman, nc for $65.

go to car-part.com and check there. im not confident in that ignitor.

Andy A

Scope, tried the timing light suggestions as you suggested and nada, nothing. Tried it off of a couple of sparkplug wires and the coil wire. Also tried using an old toyota sparkplug cable with a sparkplug in it and nothing there either.

Those 2 pdf's are the ones I used. the first one 86troubles .pdf states that the truck needs to be idling which unfortunately is not happening at the moment. The 12 onvehicl .pdf are the diagnostics I followed before I decided to replace the igniter.

Right now I am stuck and don't know where to go from here. Tomorrow I am not sure I will be able to spend any time on it, but I will have all of Thurs, Fri, & Sat to look at things per anybody's suggestions.

Andy A

Thanks for that 881stgenrunner, just hate to buy used, but I will check it out. That yard is not to far down the down the road, about 20 min. I believe it is Wallace Salvage. Just cannot afford to throw money at parts in the hope that one item may fix the issue


Why are you not confident in the replacement igniter I purchased?

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

For some strange reason these Toyota`s can be picky when it comes to sensors and electrical parts . They just like Toyota parts.

Andy A

No doubt, and I always try to buy toyota parts when I can which is most of the time, but this is one of those rare cases where there is just to much difference in what toyota wants for the igniter vs the aftermarket.

There has got to be something more I can test but not sure what that is yet, as mentioned prior I will have some time this weekend to dedicate to it.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

This is so simple I tend to forget.

Have you at any time checked to make sure the rotor is turning .

I have had distributor drive gear shear off the roll pin holding it.

I have had the shaft just break.

Either one will cause your problem and is part of the igniter circuit.

Good luck!!

Andy A

No I have not but will this weekend, excellent tip, thanks. Quick question, does the distributor still turn on the 3vze if something happens to the timing belt? I have thought about pulling the front cover and checking the belt just in case even though I replaced it (Toyota belt) approx. 3yrs ago.

scope103

No. The timing belt turns both cam sprockets; the distributor is driven by a helical gear on the camshaft. There is a roll pin in the helical gear on the distributor; if that pin is sheared the cam can turn, which will turn the distributor gear, but the distributor won't turn and the igniter will get no signal to "fire."

Don't bother with the front cover; just remove the distributor cap and look at the rotor as you turn the crankshaft. If it does not turn, then pull the front cover, as a sudden failure like yours could be due to a broken timing belt.

While you have the cap off, check that the rotor seems to point to plug #1 when the crank is about 10° BTDC. Don't worry (right away) if it's 180° off; the crank turns twice each time the rotor turns once.

Andy A

Will do Scope. I will report back later today on results. Thank all of you for your time and suggestions.

Andy A

Checked the distributor today and all is well there, rotor pointing to #1 @ 10 degrees BTDC, that is a relief.


Sooo, I do have good news to report, at some point in my testing I must have had a major synaptic malfunction . I decided to retest the resistance on the signal generator and the coil. The signal generator passed with flying colors, but the coil on the other hand was only showing 4.71 kohms on the secondary. Hmmm that's not good, and I could swear when I checked it last Thursday it was in spec, will teach me to write stuff down. So I went and picked up a new coil and installed it and it started right up, yeah!!!! Hard to say if the ignitor was bad along with the coil or it was just the coil all along. I guess I could try the old ignitor and see if it works, but right now it runs so I am not going to mess with it. Need to change the oil as I have probably washed all the cylinders down with fuel pretty good.


881stgenrunner, wyoming9, and scope103 thanks much for your help & support.


Cheers