Toyota: '91 Tercel: strange ignition problem

I have an intermittent no-start problem with my '91 Toyota Tercel. Every
once in awhile, the engine turns over, but will not start. When it does
start, I have no drivability problems such as stalling, lack of power, or
rough idle. The car runs like a champ.

If I remove the distributor cap, there is a small amount of oil pooled in
the side of the cap, so I guess I have a small oil leak in my cam or
distributor seal. I'm not sure if this is the root cause of the problem.
If I crank the engine with the cap removed, I hear spark jumping between
the coil in the distributor and ground. I'm not sure if this is normal, but
it proves there is spark. When I put the cap back on the distributor, the
car starts right up and runs fine.

Could the oil leak be affecting the electronics in the distributor? If
that's not likely, would the problem be the coil or some other component of
the distributor? I'm not really interested in throwing a new cap, rotor,
and distributor at the problem as a blanket fix. I'm looking for some
direction in troubleshooting this problem.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Jim

"Jim" <delthis.com> wrote in message
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Everything you described is normal. Once you remove the cap the coil has
nowhere to allow the EHT voltage to go,..except to ground via the most
directpath, hence the cracking noise.

That small amt of oil means very little,...I suspect your intermittant
starting is a funcrion of the state of tune of the vehicle.
It is 13 yo, has it had an engine analyser on it recently?

Jason