Engine problem - need to buy distributor / coils (1 Viewer)

[pavel]

1994 FJ-80, 4L-6-cyl gasoline engine.

Problem: When hot the engine misses at all speed ranges, stalls at idle, and behaves terribly . Check engine light went on periodically with code 12.

Action taken: Replaced spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor, checked all wiring for possible shortages. Took it to the dealers and they could not find the cause .

Finally I found it! I re-measured resistance on pick up coils and found that one of them shows drastically VARIABLE resistances when either hot or cold. I looked inside the distributor again and found that this poor coil developed some play on the inner rod, moved toward the rotating magnet and got grinded by it. I pushed the coil back, secured with a thread locker (did not have anything better), the connectivity got restored magically, and the engine runs better than ever .

However, because the coil was quite damaged, I need to replace it sooner or later. The dealers want to sell me a whole distributor assembly for $450 , whereas junk yards offer the same for $150 . IS THERE ANY PLACE TO GET JUST COILS? I do not want to mess with the replacement of the entire distributor because the replacement of pick-up coils is a 15 minutes task including the air gap adjustment (yes you can adjust it), which is essential when the temperature is around 40F below.

Any suggestion would be appreciated!

 

[powderpig]

Call and ask dan for a new one, you may save your self lots of money. I do not know a source for just the coils. I would look for a newer one(if buying used), I have seen a few of the earlier 93-94 distributor fail and have replace them or help owners with the early version of this distributor. Junk yard one can be a deal sometimes, but getting one from dan is better. later robbie

 

[pavel]

Looked through the threads and figured who is Dan. Computer literacy pays off. Thank you!

The engine stalled at idle this morning again, so I need to replace the coils ASAP.

 

[RavenTai]

are you sure the bearings in the distributor are good? to much play can cause the pickups to crash

 

[pavel]

I have not rule this possibility out yet. I did not mention any play when I adjusted air gaps. Only one of three pick-up coils was damaged. What would be the signs of worn bearings?

are you sure the bearings in the distributor are good? to much play can cause the pickups to crash

 

[RavenTai]

grab the rotor and wiggle it side to side. if it moves more than a little the bearing is worn.

I would say since your air gap has a .008" tolerance that is a good point for max play in the bearings.

had this happen in another vehicle (niasan) problem did not show iteself until the shaft was very loose. this was 10 years ago but IIRC the inner target had doug into the outer by about an 1/8" (.125)

 

[pavel]

I drove on that faulty distributor for 3 weeks. Basically, I just did not have any time to work on that and the engine did not show any apparent problems. Moved to another place, all tools are still in boxes, which are piled randomly around the house.

The truck waited until the last thing was moved and then died. It simply would not start after a brief stop. I howled its lifeless body home, measured resistance on pick up coils, the faulty one had no connection (1 Om). I took the freaking coil out, grinded off epoxy from the top, cut the wire systematically starting from the outermost layer inward and measured resistance. At some point I found the one which had good connection with a resistance slightly lower then specified, but still OK (225 OM warm). Soldered it directly to the connecting wires and covered everything with a thick layer of wife’s nail lacquer (did not have either time or epoxy available). Put everything back, adjusted air gaps. It runs again. The temperature was -20C, so it was not too bad.

Now I am waiting for a new part from Dan. Hope that it will arrive soon.

Merry Christmas to everybody!

 

[dfmorse]

Pavel;

Great fix
...

 

[IdahoDoug]

Agree - sweet field fix..

DougM

 

[pavel]

Thanks to Dan, the distributor housing with coils arrived! I replaced the old one, adjusted timing and the truck runs better than ever before. Thanks to everybody for support! Dan, you are great!