MR2 3SGTE - another No Spark - problem identified and fixed.
Recently my car went from occasional cut-out, followed by worst case, a 3 minute cranking at the traffic lights :o( .. , to a complete No Spark – luckily in my driveway.
Went through web threads, and the BGB troubleshooting, measuring resistance at the ECU plugs and everything seemed fine. Much frustration. Many similar threads are solved by swapping out entire ignition systems and the cause is never identified. My final investigation (because I found it) was to test the distributor, both that it was rotating and that it was receiving voltage. As I tried to unplug the connector at the distributor, I found the wires (not plug leads) were pressing hard against a rubber line directly beneath the dizzy and the wires were bending 90o to get passed that line, which is not good for any wiring. Also green insulation tape, not very well applied, at the bend. I got the connector off, pealed away the tape and saw that all 4 wires had a crack in the insulation at the same level and 2 had another crack 10mm further up. Hmm I think this is the problem. Sure it passes the resistance checks but I bet voltage is leaking.
So, I looked at the rubber line and saw that I could move it a few mm from directly below the dizzy and then reroute the wires so they would come up to the dizzy straight. Then retaped the wires properly and reassembled everything, hit the starter and immed Vroom. Nice.
In hindsight, the cut-outs started soon, but not immed, after adjusting the timing. I remember the dizzy did not rotate as easily as I expected – (wires pressing against the rubber line!).
Also a minor problem from before the timing adjustment, my remote control security system had been troublesome which I thought was the battery connections in the little plastic remote. Tapping it or reinserting the battery would make it work - but annoying.
Problem 3) recently I started getting a slight tingle when I put my hand on the door rail and foot on the ground to get out, engine running. Not a static charge, but I knew I needed to investigate the earthing.
Well fixing the dizzy wires fixed all of the above. Easy to understand the tingling. As for the security system, the problem was not in the plastic remote but at its brain, but with the engine not running !! – so I don’t really understand that one, but the remote works 1st push every time now. yay!
I would not have solved any of those 3 things if the intermittency had remained. Glad it went to full No Spark. Car running very nicely now….I can move on to diagnosing it’s richness. Happy days are here again.