Hey there old yota heads. First time here on the forum. Got an ignition electrical problem I can't get right. Thanks in advance for any feedback. Got a 77 PU with the 20r. It's lost power intermittently for awhile, kills, backpops, and usually goes. Recently it took a turn for the worse and does this now consistanly.... When it's cold, it starts, and runs for about a minute and a half, then kills. Can start it again and it runs for about 30 seconds, then kills. 5-10 seconds, kills. Then won't fire anymore. A new symptom since it quit being intermittent, is that when the key is in the on position ,the charge, oil, lights on the dash don't come on. When it starts the charge light comes on, and the oil light flickers on a little. Here are the components I've changed out, starting from most recent... Female part of ignition switch. Coil. Starter. (was grinding and needed changing) Alternator.(about 6 mo ago... retested ok) Voltage regulator. Most of the imput I've got sound like the ignitor is either go or no, not much in between. (so I haven't changed that.) Haven't done the distributor either. I'm going to recheck more thouroughly, the wires from the ignition switch to the coil. Kind of getting ticked off at this point, as it's my daily driver. Any ideas appreciated. Thanks, Preston.

 

You getting spark?
Something electrical is definitively going on.
Make sure your battery cables are clean. Black is grounded to bare metal, they aren't corroded from the inside out, etc.
Look under the dash as well. Look for for any old breaks in the wires or where people have wired stuff in or where insulation has rubbed off. Solder any sketchy or non-factory connections like that if you can. Pull all the fuses, clean each fuse holder with sand paper, bend it if it's holding on weak, etc. I'd get a multi-meter and start testing parts instead of just replacing them.

 

Thanks for the suggestions... I was just about to take it to an auto electric place. I call a local guy to see what his schedule was like and he told me to check all my ground points. I did the battery to motor and the firewall one and whallah... back on the road. Thanks again for the imput. I wouldn't have thought a ground issue would give such symptoms. Live and learn. Preston.