bloody car randomly wont start

[Paulio]

so my ae92 levin has been sitting around for a while, i start it every few weeks and take it for a drive with no issues.. solid 4age but now randomly it doesnt want to start.
first thing i checked was spark and noticed that i would get 1 spark then nothing after that.
ive checked all fuses with a multimeter and theyre all good. put a voltmeter to the 2 wires running to the coil and it starts with 12v then when i crank the engine over it drops to 2.4v.. im sure this isnt normal?

paul

[xsspeed]

Battery caught winter AIDS?

[Paulio]

the battery is the only thing ive changed since it hasnt started, ive started it from an almost dead battery many of times so i didnt think it would be a problem.

[whynot]

Try putting a test lamp on the wires to the coil, if you watch it closely you should be able to see it blinking when you crank. that would suggest the coil may be dead. otherwise it could be the ignitor or dizzy/ecu. you should be able to check that by using a long handle screwdriver and listening to the injectors while cranking. if you hear them "ticking" then I would go back to the ignitor as the likely culprit.

The only 2 things I had fail on my ae92 in the 8 years I had it was the coil shorted out and took the ignitor with it so it may be a common fault.

[Paulio]

thanks mate ill try that. from what ive checked i think its something to do with ecu or ignitor not powering/signalling the coil.. and may be as simple as a loose wire somewhere. hopefully have an auto sparky comming this weekend to look at it.. wiring does my head in!

[MilfHunter]

I had a similar issue with a 3SGE in a Celica.
After much frigging we discovered that water had got into the harness leading to the dizzy and corroded some of the wires internally near the dizzy plug.
How I found it was if you moved the harness then it would fire up and run for a couple of days, I can't tell you how many dizzy's, CDI's and coils we tried. Each would work for a while and then spark would mysteriously dissappear

[Paulio]

thanks for your reply, may be getting warmer.
i checked for diagnostic codes the other day and got #6 and did a quick search but couldnt find that code for my year of engine, but after a search now it comes up under the older 4age from mr2 and ae82.
"6 RPM signal/no-signal to ecu from distributor ("ne" or "g") after engine has been cranked: distributor/circuit; starter/signal circuit; igniter/igniter circuit; ECU"
i guess thats correct because thats the sort of problem i have, so ill try have to check of all that wiring