Had this happen only 3 times I went to start the car in the last 6 months or so but it is doing it right now so I figure no better time to test parts than when it is actually happening. As I said it does this VERY irregulary, I almost daily drove the car this summer and it's only the 3rd time.

I have noticed a few things though, no tach bumping while the starter is turning the car. When I turn the key to start the tach jumps once then dies. I have a fuel cut which obviously does nothing when I have no spark haha but I can flood the car easily when this is happening...I know fuel delivery isn't a problem. Once when I had this issue it seemed like disconnecting the battery for ~10 minutes fixed the issue....could it be ECU?

My TPS threw a fit a few months ago and refused to work for 1 day so I unplugged it....plugged it back in the next day and it works fine, but that shouldn't cause this?

Anyways thanks for reading and any help is appreciated.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I checked all the voltages to ECU/and all fuses a few weeks ago but at that point the car was starting fine.

 

could be the airflow meter. ive had a similar problem and the only way for the tach to bounce is if the trailing coils are fireing. in this case they are not.


here is a simple test. run through all the things with the spark related problems in the haynes manual, and if everything checks out ok, and there is still a problem, check to see if its a faulty airflow meter by unplugging it.

 

Lost my haynes when I moved last year, gonna pick up a new one this week. In the meantime I unplugged the MAF and still no go. Thinking it is a wiring or coil/igniter problem so once I get the haynes I will go through everything next time the problem occurs. I just unhooked the positive battery cable for 5 mins and it's starting and running great now. I just don't get it haha. But thanks for the input and I'll post back once I get the manual and check everything out.

 

Ordered a new haynes online, waiting for it to arrive but I think I have found the problem. I was tinkering with the car and just pushed the plastic connectors for the 2 coils and the CAS together really tight. Car fired right up after this, had tried it right before and it was dead. So it looks like I have a loose connection there, gonna clean em up and see if I need to replace any of them. I'll run through the haynes when it gets here anyways. Thanks.