Hi all,

About a month ago the 3SGTE my 1992 SW20 GTS decided to stop working, we were out on a club run (first time driving since purchase) and the car suddenly lost power, it would only idle. From then on it absolutely refused to work, we could get the engine to turn over but a few seconds later it would just die, we were however able to rev the engine in the time before it died.

So far we have replaced the ignitor, ignition coil, fuel filter and spark plugs, none of which made any difference. Originally we thought it was an ignition issue, however the plugs are all sparking fine and in the right firing order. I got a guy from Lubemobile to come have a look, he was 99% sure it was the fuel filter, unfortunately it wasn't, his next guess was the fuel pump, however we doubt the pump could be the cause of the issue as there are no fuel issues during ignition, additionally we once were able to get it to idle for 5 minutes before dying.

We now think it might be the fuel injectors causing the issue, but we have no way to be sure.

Has anyone here experienced anything similar? Any insight into this problem is greatly appreciated!

Cheers

The Circuit Opening Relay may be something to have a look at. When you turn the key for ignition it initially bypasses the COR which could be why its starts for a bit and then dies not long after. Easy to test if that is the cause; grab a multimeter and check the FC wire (Green/Red) at the bottom of COR in the engine bay fuse box. This wire should have a solid 12v across it to fire the fuel pump. 

Quite often issues like this are a lot simpler than you would think.
 
- Have you confirmed your air flow meter is working correctly? Best way is to borrow a known working one and see if it makes any difference.
 
- Is your ECU showing any error codes? If so, what are they?
 
- Have you checked integrity of all vacuum and intake hoses?
 
- Have you checked wires to spark plugs? Again, borrow known ones.
 
- What about distributor cap and rotor?

Does the car idle with the AFM disconnected?

I just gone through this problem to find the ECU died, yes they do die. Do a fault code test first. let me know the fault, if no fault code. Check my post Motor won't run.
 

Been through this with a 1uz soarer/ls400.

Was the ecu. Idle'd for 3 seconds then died.

Thanks for all the help guys

So far we've had time to check the COR and AFM and a few other minor things, unfortunately no fix yet. Luckily we found that there is no issues with sparking, and that the fuel pressure builds up as it is dying, possibly giving us a lead to the cause of the problem. When we have some more time we shall go through the other fixes, definitely checking the ECU, at last we seem to be making some progress.

It is normal for the fuel pressure to rise when the engine is dying as the vacuum in the inlet manifold is deceasing. Normal function controlled by the fuel pressure regulator.