Spykerwolf's 1992 SW20

[Benckj]

It could be fuel filter, pump or wiring but not octane used. Fueling issue will surface when car is under load such as hills or highway. Could always do a running test with FP and B+ jumpered to bypass the resistors & relays. Have you noticed any difference when tank is empty or full?

[Spykerwolf]

At the moment it's sitting at half, so I'll fill it up with 95 today and see if it behaves the same.
So jump FP and B+ and drive around like that?

[Benckj]

Yes can drive with jumper installed.
With tank at half I doubt it is a FP issue unless its really on its way out.

[Spykerwolf]

Been sick for the last 3 weeks so decided to take the 2 to the shop.
They replaced the spark plugs.
I took my fuel filter and they replaced it.

I also topped up the car with 98 to see if it improves anything.
The car was fine on Friday - drove to work and back - thought problem was fixed.
Drove to work yesterday and it was fine...but unfortunately the issue came back whilst driving home.

The mechanic did say one of the high tension leads weren't seated properly, so I'm thinking maybe one of them's faulty?
I inspected them but couldn't find any physical damage.

Also is the igniter the same as the ignition coils? I few people had the same issue and replacing the ignition coils fixed the issue. I have a spare igniter that I'll swap in, but how the heck do you remove the existing one? I had a look last night but it was getting dark, but didn't look like it could be reached from the engine bay. Feeling demotivated AF

[GDII]

Coils can fail but it should fail under load every time if it is due to it producing a weak spark. The spark plug leads can look fine but be bad. Have you replaced or tried know good ones?

People replacing coil packs is a bit different as we only have one coil. Coil packs sit on the engine and get heat damaged which is why replacing these tends to work.
The igniter could be failing and that is bolted to the underside of the coil. Does your tacho jump around or drop right off when this happens?

I forget what ignition components you have replaced but starting at the spark plugs (which you have just done) then moving to the dizzy rotor and cap then to the spark plug and coil leads. If that doesn't fix it then the coil or igniter could be looked at. Try borrow some know good ones to test rather than buy if the cost is high.

See how you get on with that.

[Spykerwolf]

Replaced Igniter + Coil this weekend and also filled up.
Car was fine on Saturday, and also today driving to work.
Also got some new wipers because Auckland

[Spykerwolf]

Car had the intermittent issue on Wednesday, but only for a few seconds and it passed.
Car was fine on Thursday, went away for the weekend and only came back Monday.
Drove to work today - fine with no issues.

[Spykerwolf]

[GDII]

Back in the MR2 game! Awesome!

[Spykerwolf]

The water temperature gauge has been all over the place, but most of the time under 1/4 or on 1/4.
Removed the temp gauge sensor plug and grounded it - the gauge spiked to max.
Replaced the actual sensor and now it's working fine

[Spykerwolf]

The central locking was working intermittently, so found the following and fixed it up.
It worked for a while, but unfortunately it stopped. I'll be looking to replace the door switch next.

[Spykerwolf]

Unfortunately after not driving the MR2 for a few weeks, I started it only to be greeted by 3 warning lights.
Having read before this points to the alternator I thought I'd drive it to work in any case.
Lost all power very close to my work, so parked it there for the day.
Checked volts and was receiving 12.6V on the battery, but only 11 (and dropping) when idling - got AA to tow it to a nearby location.
Luckily another MR2 member had a spare alternator, but unfortunately it was a turbo one (without the accompanying different bracket).
The new alternator didn't quite fit the new bracket, so with the help of Logan and co we made it work.
Unfortunately don't have a good photo of the bracket at the end, only a work in progress:
Been driving it ever since and seems to be working 100%

[Benckj]

On the door loom make sure you check all the wires by pulling on each end. Often they are only held together by a couple of strands and can't carry enough current for the likes of window motor operation. When I pulled my ol NA apart I found two wires broken like you have but seven were on the way out. Biggest problem was the main earth wire that had half the strands broke. Check that one carefully.

Alternators can be a royal PITA. Best to rebuild what you have as there are several varieties of physical dimensions which can be hard to sort out. Even installing another wrong can lead to problems with open circuits on the internal bridge rectifier. I now buy new (not refurbished) alternators and adapt them to fit my bracket.

[Spykerwolf]

On the door loom make sure you check all the wires by pulling on each end. Often they are only held together by a couple of strands and can't carry enough current for the likes of window motor operation. When I pulled my ol NA apart I found two wires broken like you have but seven were on the way out. Biggest problem was the main earth wire that had half the strands broke. Check that one carefully.

Alternators can be a royal PITA. Best to rebuild what you have as there are several varieties of physical dimensions which can be hard to sort out. Even installing another wrong can lead to problems with open circuits on the internal bridge rectifier. I now buy new (not refurbished) alternators and adapt them to fit my bracket.

Yeah I'll have to recheck the wiring when it stops raining one day! I can lock/unlock it using the button on the door panel though, so a poor man's workaround at the moment.
I still have my 'faulty' alternator that I need to clean & diagnose, might do that this weekend.
Haven't really done anything to the car except driving it as my daily

[Spykerwolf]

Sold my 2003 Nissan Maxima, as it was a 3L which isn't ideal in Auckland, so driving the MR2 daily now.

- Installed the exhaust crossmember mount:
Lost my crossmember mount, but luckily got a spare from a friend.
Still have an annoying rattle @ idle sometimes, but I suspect it might be coming from the catalytic converter shield.

- Loose shifter cable play
Noticed some play in the shifter cables, so added an extra washer - much better now, but still not quite right.

- Oil / filter
Never replaced the oil/filter since I repurchased it, so it was long overdue. Added 20w-50 (Gulf Western Oil).

- Handbrake cable
Adjusted the handbrake cable, but it is still not holding like it should. It only holds on the last click, and useless otherwise.
Will have to inspect the calipers next.