Was wondering any of you could help. I have a '88 MR2 T-Top. Unfortunately over the past few months it will not start for several hours after it has rained or when parked on wet grass from morning dew. Obviously something is not right. I've replace the distributor cap, spark plugs, wires and checked fuses, but still having same problem. Heard might be ignition coil, but unsure where it is and if any easy job to replace. Could that be it? If so, how much should I expect a mechanic to charge to do it? I can drive cars, raced formula cars for several years, but not much of a mechanic. Thanks for your help in advance.
The ignition coil and ignitor assembly is directly to the right of the engine, just follow the wire from the distributer cap. It would be more likely that a wet ignitor would cause a loss of spark then a wet coil. However, this is kind of weird. After raining, where in the engine bay is it wet? The next time it wont spark you can test the ignitor coil/problem by pulling the wire from the distributer cap and holding it next to the engine block while somebody turns the engine over. If it sparks it is not your ignitor/coil. The next step would be to take out a spark plug wire, insert a screwdriver into the boot and position the metal part of the screwdriver next to the block, if there's spark there then your ignition system is not to blame.
Well it might have to do with your intake getting wet, sometimes when it rains really hard water gets into mine and it takes like two tries for it to start
Has your airfilter box been removed and replaced with a cone filter or something, becuase if it hasn't, I can't see how water could get in there from rain. If it has I have heard of guys putting a plexigas plate over the filter.
Hey MR2-Good-4-u, How does the magnets work? Sounds interesting.
As for the air filter, switch, take much work? What all do I need to do it? With 165K miles on the car, don't want to spend to much, but do love driving it.
Well my dad was down this weekend so we looked at the car. We looked at the ignition and spark plugs and they seem to be working fine and the air intake/file is of stock variety, so ruled that out. After listening to the car as we tried unsuccessfuly to start it, the latest guess is it's a fuel problem. Thinking something getting wet or water in system. Anyone have any ideas what we should look for? Thanks in advance for any ideas/help. You guys have benngreat so far.
Do you mean code 5, that's your oxygen sensor. I think yours is a heated sensor, so you should replace them every 60000. It's easy to do, here's some instructions
However, a bad o2 sensor will not stop your car from starting. It could indicate a fuel problem (which you've pretty much narrowed it down to already). But if your o2 sensor is old you really should get a new one anyway, they are too often overlooked. Last time I changed mine it wasn't bad enough to trigger the check engine light, but it gave me an extra 5 mpg.
Anyway, here's what the toyota manual says to do when you get code 5:
Check for air leaks in the intake system
Check fuel pressure
Check installation of oxygen sensor
Check operation of oxygen sensor(just get a new one)
Check wiring between oxygen sensor and ECU
Replace oxygen sensor
If you change your oxygen sensor, reset the ecu by removing the fuse for a few seconds. If you still get a code 5 later you will need to investigate your fuel system further.
Hey jmill89, once again thanks for the info. I'm going to look at changing my oxygen sensor. That being said the diagnostics code was #25 "Air-Fuel Ratio Lean Malfunction". Looks like taking to mechanic and looking over trouble areas.
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