Mechanically naive woman needs help!

I have a 96 Tacoma Xtra cab. Yesterday it died suddenly about an hr. from home. It died infront of a garage and the guys there spent about an hr. trying to figure out the problem. It turns over but there is no spark at the plugs. They were baffled. Seems to be electrical at least that's what everyone thinks. Mechanic at home can't look at for a week. What can I check? I'm not overly mechanically inclined but I am a pretty serious do it yourselfer when it comes to my house- I have done electrical work and plumbing and I own power tools lol. I have just not ever bothered much to learn about auto mechanics. Any suggestions?

 

what exactly did they troubleshoot. if you tell us what they tried we can narrow it down some.

 

I'm confused. Your title says "mechanically naive woman" but you list your gender as male?

 

x2.

tranny??

 

He used that as a ploy to get quicker responses

 

we need to know what you/or other mechanics have tried.

 

This!

 

no, first the most important question is what gender are we dealing with

 

This thread is awesome

 

Tile says "Mechanically naive..."... that says it all.

Frank

 

Check your ecu fuse.

 

Mechanically naive WO Man. Man is in woe over this.

 

Truck be damned... OP is naive about his/her own mechanics...this was certainly not meant to be disparaging to the fairer sex in the least. I just noted the unintentional pun the OP create. lol

Frank

 

wut?

 

I am a woman! I didn't even notice an option for gender so it must have been preset to male- interesting. I have yet another mechanic coming this morning. I'm told he can fix anything. He is too busy to actually fix it but is going to try to determin the problem. I will post what has been ruled out if he also fails.

 

Go out there and check you ecu fuse. it is under the hood in that fuse box.

 

The first 3 guys to look at it said that either ecu b had no power or ecu. One did and one did it. It wasn't the fuse- there was no power when they pulled it. I don't remember which one did and which didn't. I'm thinking ecu b had power though.

 

By mechanically naive I mean that until wed I have no idea what Ecu was and actually still don't as the most I have ever done to my truck is change the oil and a tire once which is more than most women have done. Oh - I also replaced my battery terminals, but that's about it. I was stating that I was naive so when given ideas on what you check you would all know to use simple terms and realize that if you tell me to check the ecu I would likely not know what the heck that is. And again.... I assure you... I am positively a woman not that that should really matter much as I really just need help to diagnose the problem so I can get someone to fix my truck or if it's something I can do - fix it myself.

 

It was my crank shaft sensor. Problem solved!

 

Good Job and welcome to TW