FJ70 that just wont go!

[Kempy]

Can anybody help me out?

My landcruiser FJ70 has been having some on and off problems with the engine not firing up and this time it appears to be of a more serious nature. The engine is getting spark and by the looks of it there is fuel going to it aswell.

Any reason why it might not be firing up?

Cheers,
Kempy

[mickey]

ballast resistor may be faulty.
also check all connectors are tight.eg: no loose or dodgy connections.

[Kempy]

Ballast resistor? Never heard of one of them. Where do you reckon it would be located? Is it possible to test it?

Cheers,
Kempy

[coxsy]

they are used on high power coils

[mickey]

ballast resistor goes between the ignition wire and the coil to reduce voltage to the coil under normal use.
to test, short circuit the resistor.
a typical ballaster resistor fault is the engine firing when cranking but dying when starter is released.
theres a lot of things that can go wrong, you should expand on the symptoms a bit

[SMOKEY]

This reply could take a while, and has as many questions as answers .
Questions:- Has it suddenly happen, has anything been altered or added, is it just not starting, if you tow start does it run OK. Has someone put Diesel in the TANK . Lets get some answers before any more questions .

Now lets start here :- Check battery voltage, 12 volts at battery, 12v @ + terminal of ign coil, you say you have spark, the spark should easily jump from a spark plug lead 6--10mm to an earth and be a nice blue colour. Fuel ( petrol ) should be visible half way in the sight glass on the carby, with the air cleaner off the top of the carb and motor stopped when you operate the throttle you should see fuel spray from the accelerator pump nozzles into the throat of the carb this will tell you that it is getting petrol and should start. Now we have fuel and spark but they have to get there at the right time and you need to have compression, remove plugs and do a compression test. Next :- To check the timing, the valve timing and the ignition timing can be done together , while the spark plugs are out, turn the motor over until the ball bearing that is located in the flywheel and can be seen through a small inspection cover just above the starter motor lines up with the v at the bottom of the inspection hole, when this is aligned remove the distributor cap and the rotor should be pointing at number 1 or 6 depending on what cyl is on firing stroke, if this all lines up your timing should be near enough to run. Check the starter is not drawing to much current and not leaving any for the ignition, it should still tow start. Try this out and we will go from there.

YOU CAN STILL PHONE A FRIEND OR GO 50/50,

FITZY.

[SMOKEY]

It was getting late last night when I wrote my last post and I should have added :- The 3F motor has a problem with the Ignition contact points closing the gap, this is caused by the fiber rubbing block that sits against the distributor cam wearing out. Clean or fit a new set of contacts, add a small smear of grease to the rubbing block, set the gap to .020 ". I hope you have some mechanical knowledge or these posts won't mean much .

FITZY.

[Kempy]

Alryty,

Im gunna go and try this stuff out and see where that gets me.
Ill let yeah know how it goes.

Cheers,
Kempy

[cornfarmer]

Buy a diesel, and take that bloody dog for a walk.

[Kempy]

I did some tweaking and did some testing and next thing ya know my truck lives again.
Petrols seem to be able to fix themselves. Now to ascertain what the problem actually was.

Cheers for the help,
Kempy

[Kempy]

Haha i spoke to soon,

Last night it drove and started up fine multiple times. This morning it ran, i turned it off, i turned it on.. it ran, i turned it off again and now it doesnt go..again. So the problem remains.

Checked spark = spark there and it jumps a 6-10 mm gap
fuel = fuel going to the cvareby and its visible through view glass
timing= close enough to run
coil= gets 11v at positive terminal
battery = has 12v of charge

This is the 3rd time my truck has done this now. It started doing it for the first time about 8 months ago.
So im unsure what the problem is. It just seems to go when it feels like it. Maybe its the ballast resistor thing, only prob is i dont know what it looks like where its found or if its even the problem. Considering the truck sometimes runs im stumped as to what the issue could be, perhaps a loose connection or something.

Anyone got ideas now that there is more information on the table?

Sorry about the spelling Im in a hurry.
Cheers ya'll,
Kempy

[cornfarmer]

When it runs does it miss or run like a bag of arse?

[turoa]

have you tried a different coil?