2.7l 3RZ no start

I have a 2.7l 3RZ distributed motor, was driving and it paused like a miss for a split second then kept going just fine till it would do it one more time. Got to my destination and put the clutch in and it started to die so I hit the gas and it made a weird and backfired out the intake. Now it won’t start just cranks. Found the valve cover gasket was bad so replaced it and o rings, spark plugs, and wires. Still no start. Distributor cap and rotor are also new and still look new. Any help would be great.

 

What year and how many miles?

Does it crank at normal speed?

Did you check fuses?

Assuming 'yes' and 'all good', I would start by checking fuel and spark. Get a can of starting fluid, and have a friend crank while you spray that in to the intake. If the engine starts and dies, than you have spark, and are likely chasing a fuel issue. If it doesn't start at all, than pull a plug and see if it's wet. If it's wet, than you're probably chasing a spark issue.

 

Motor has about 55k miles and it’s sitting in a 1st gen 4runner. We tried spraying into the intake and didn’t work. Pulled the plugs and they were wet so bought new ones and wires and still no start

 

Okay, so it's a reasonable assumption it's a spark issue. Step one: Confirm. Pull one plug, ensure it's well grounded on the block and have a helper crank the engine while you check for spark. Assuming no spark, you need to work backward to find out where you "lost" the spark. Not especially familiar with this unit; does it have a single coil feeding the distributor, or a waste-spark system?

 

I confirmed it does not have spark. Has new plugs, wires, cap and rotor so I’m gonna assume it’s the igniter and give that a try today. If that’s not it then I’m gonna move to the distributor and try that. If it’s neither of those then I’m lost.

 

Rather than assuming, I would suggest testing & verifying first. Agree that it's very likely the igniter, but is it the module (again, very likely), but what if it's corrosion in a connector, chafed conductor, etc? Firing the parts cannon is a less than optimal (and expensive) way to repair your vehicle.

 

I checked for corrosion and also checked for bad ground but everything looks good