94 4runner v6 throwing a code 12 (rpm signal)... ignition coil tested out good, put in a new ignitor. no change. still takes about 2-3 keyturns till it fires up. loss of power, and misfiring. pulled the dist. cap and rotor off to check the air gap between the signal rotor and pickup coil... fsm states it needs to be from .008 to .016 inch feeler guage. smallest guage i got is .010 which doesnt fit. the tooth of the rotor and pickup coil are very close together and judging by the way it looks, i dont think an .008 would fit either. can the signal rotor be adjusted or is my distributor going south?

 

I had a coil that checked out according to the spec's in the FSM but was still bad.

 

The picup coil is adjustable, they can also go bad causing a miss or causing the engine not to start, ive replaced one before and its easy to do.

 

how do i adjust the pickup coil?

 

Just loosen the screws and adjust it were it needs to be and tighten the screws back down. If i remember right, the one i replaced i set at .010 and it ran good.

 

pic 1, checking air gap between signal rotor and pickup coil using .010in guage feeler. doesnt fit between. rotor and coil nearly touching.
pic 2, signal rotor and pickup coil lined up

 

myyota,.. i came across 4 screws. loosened them and tried to get it to where i can fit the guage in between but no luck.

 

im sorry to but in but what is a pickup coil? and who it cause a engine to stutter really badly at lower rpms? but eventually clear out after about 2grand?

 

pickup coil is in the distributor. remove the dist. cap and rotor. look at pic 2 where the tooth of the rotor is lined up with another metal piece. that metal piece mounted on the black part is the pickup coil... there should be a gap between that and the rotor tooth. from what i've read, if its not within specs then it could cause your vehicle to sputter at low rpms.

 

Do you have a 3.0 ?, if so then maybe its not adjustable, on my 22RE it is adjustable.

 

yup its a 3.0... doesnt appear to be adjustable at all.

 

UPDATE.. so i picked up a used distributor for $65 and compared it to mines... when i removed mine from the vehicle and turned the rotor by hand it had a clicking like sound. the teeth was making slight contact with the pickup coil. the used one that i just got does indeed have and air gap between it and turn freely by hand without contact. installed it and my engine fired up as normal. however after pulling the efi relay im still getting a code12.. gonna try again tomorrow and disconnect the battery to see if the code is gone. sounds good so far though.