My car's failed to start 2 or 3 times in the past few months. The first

time it didn't start after cranking for 4 seconds; I waited 5 seconds and

tried again and it started after a second's cranking, the same instant I

tapped the throttle. So I was thinking TPS, but it was like a bad dream

or something -- no repeat episodes for at least a month. But then it

happened again, and the retry did not help. I raised the hood and wiggled

(un-/re-plugged) every connector I could get my fingers on. Got in, turned

the key, car started OK, though it was clear there'd been some gas in the

cylinders that needed clearing out. Oops. Check engine light came on,

code indicated rpm sensor, which I duly noted.

The next time it did not want to start after 3 4-5 second tries, I decided

it was time to replace the distributor cap and rotor, which had been laying

around awaiting duty (it's not a particularly easy job on these cars...).

When I was done I turned the key and it started fine and ran fine (slightly

improved, as if new spark plugs had been installed when the old ones were

well worn).

The car had not yet failed to start again since. Time will tell. I've

not replaced the rpm sensor the ECU told me about, and there are no

symptoms presently.

In my experience, the worn-out dirty cap and rotor seem to have affected

starting, with no other apparent symptoms, despite what may have been an

anomalous err code. Or so, with winter coming, I hope.

So how long have your slowly-wearing ignition system parts been in service?

- Dave; '95 854T, 101K mi