Is it a Bad Coil?

[Sockeyewillie]

My '85 4runner just started doing this a few days ago. At the top end of every gear, around 2700-3000 rpm, It keeps cutting out, sputtering. Is it a bad coil? or should I be looking at something else. It's worse when the engine is cold, and when its snowing, which feels like every day in Maine lately. My old Volkswagen used to do this when the distributor cap was bad. Cap looks good here. Thanks for the help.

 

[stevec5000]

My '85 4runner just started doing this a few days ago. At the top end of every gear, around 2700-3000 rpm, It keeps cutting out, sputtering. Is it a bad coil? or should I be looking at something else. It's worse when the engine is cold, and when its snowing, which feels like every day in Maine lately. My old Volkswagen used to do this when the distributor cap was bad. Cap looks good here. Thanks for the help.

Sounds more like a fuel problem but a coil is pretty easy to check then you can eliminate it.

 

[92-SR5]

Is the fuel filter plugged?

 

[tor-redneck]

mine did this some times. my problem was in the harness from the ecu to the engine, has a pos factory butsplice going to the injectors that is known to fail. i took the loom off and resodered the wires. badvision helped me find that problem...

 

[Sockeyewillie]

Thanks for the responses. Guys at work ask if this has a crankcase sensor, they indicate that could be a problem location if it exist. Yesterday driving home in blinding snow it was a very big problem, cutting out consistently. This morning, still snowing, driving to the wife's business to shovel out, it was still snowing good, same problem. 2 hours later, stopped snowing, sunny almost, ran very well on the drive home, later driving to work, dry out, ran perfect.?

 

[Sockeyewillie]

It has to be a coil or distributor cap. It has been sunny and dry for two days and its running great. My weekend starts tomorrow and I'll try spraying some water on it to test. I'll also take a look at night for any arcing. Anything else? So it's Monday and dry but humid last night. On the way to school this morning, again the stuttering. On the way home a bit better, by the time I got home it was running well. Ideas?

 

[Sockeyewillie]

Okay, after several days of nice weather and care free wheeling, it snowed on my way home from work and it ran like hell. I mean like constant stuttering. It's only two miles home and I wondered if I would make it. So when I got home, midnight, I grabbed a light, popped open the hood and looked around. Dry inside, wires, distributor, coil, all dry. Began looking around and found the horn, yes the horn, an after market German thing, was loose on its bracket swinging back and forth rubbing the wires bare against the body. Tightened it up and took off driving again, the snow had stopped, it ran great. Go figure. I still consider it a mystery.

 

[Sockeyewillie]

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