I'm having an intermittent starting problem in my 1984 22R 2WD pickup. Not too intermittent today, just won't start. I'm getting spark from the coil but testing with a spark plug touching the engine case, the spark doesn't look real strong. Sometimes the engine will fire a few times when I turn it over but not enough to start. There's gas squirting from the accelerator tube, and I've also tested with starting fluid...so I don't think it's a fuel problem.

Yesterday after I pulled the plugs and cleaned them (they weren't wet) the engine started right up and ran great for 20 minutes. When I tried it an hour later it wouldn't start.

I'm wondering if the ignitor/coil could be weak, just weak enough to keep the engine from starting, but giving enough of a spark to cause it to fire once or twice. And how to test for that. Should the spark at the spark plug be bright white, or is yellow ok? I'm unfamiliar with this ignitor/coil combination and don't know the different ways it can fail. Any ideas about this?

jc

Start with new cap/rotor/plugs/wires and see what you get after that.

After that, the starter contacts might be worn. Scope out the writeup in our Toyota section above.

That should be a nice bright spark.

Your coil can be a little bit bad and you'll get a weak spark. Measure the resistance of the primary and secondary coils and check them against the values in your manual.