I have an 89 Montero 3.0 that I love. It has been reliable up until last year. It would start fine and then after running for a while, if I stopped for say, 1/2 hour, it would not start again. Cranked fine. No fuel smell. I'd let it stand for an hour or so and it would start up ok.

Greg's Japanese here in Seattle diagnosed it as an ignitor problem and replaced the ignitor module. Evrything ran fine for about 6 months. Now the problem has reappeared. I first noticed it when driving at highway speeds... the engine would cut out momentarily, maybe 1/2 second to as much as 2 seconds then continue running. This last week it has died twice in traffic. Same story... after about 1 hour it would start again.

I replaced the ignitor again and it still died. Any ideas? Greg's had the car but could not duplicate the problem, sent me away. Next day I'm stuck in traffic.

I found an article about the ECU codes and am going to get a read out in the morning but I'm not sure if that will tell me anything.

Has anyone seen this problem or have any idea how to troubleshoot it?

Thanks..

Jim

 

your symptom is 100% identical to my friend's problem.
in his case,its the ECU that needs to be replaced.
when he send it for repair,the mech could not find anything wrong.
only thing different is his ride is an Honda SM4.

 

Hello -

I noticed that this is an old thread so I am hoping the problem was solved by now. If it was I would really like to know what solved it because I have had the same issue for years and no mechanic has yet come up with an answer. The engine in my 89 Montero is the 2.4L four cylinder version. Possible reasons that were explored to no avail were: plugged fuel filter, vapor lock, failing fuel mechanical pump, vacuum advance issues, fouled plugs, cracked distributor cap, failing plug wires.

mjenko

 

Hello -

I noticed that this is an old thread so I am hoping the problem was solved by now. If it was I would really like to know what solved it because I have had the same issue for years and no mechanic has yet come up with an answer. The engine in my 89 Montero is the 2.4L four cylinder version. Possible reasons that were explored to no avail were: plugged fuel filter, vapor lock, failing fuel mechanical pump, vacuum advance issues, fouled plugs, cracked distributor cap, failing plug wires.

mjenko