Hi folks -

I know this has been discussed many times, and it has happened to me before, but I have a few specific symptoms that I wanted to run by you.

First, the car will not start on the first turn of the key. It will crank, but won't catch. Turn key off, turn back on, it will start right up.

Second, when driving along at 55-60 mph highway speed, the tach needle will bounce or tick-tick-tick. This is the same thing that would happen last time, before it died on me while driving a couple of times, and then ultimately wouldn't start at all.

Last time it was the ignitor, which was replaced. (I had previously replaced the main fuel relay, based on some advice from a local guy. This had, I thought (or perhaps imagined) taken care of the problems. As I indicated above, it ultimately had not.)

My question is: Just how short is the lifetime on the ignitor, or, for that matter, the MFR? Should I just lay in a supply of these things? I'm getting a little concerned. :-( - Pat ('90 LX, automatic)

PS - I also have an occasional problem with the TCU, with the result that the car won't shift out of 2nd, and the "S" light stays on, with an ominous buzzing from the left side of the dash. Solvable, at this point, by pulling the negative cable off the battery and resetting. Aargh.)