Both my GTS and my daughter's MR2 are starting to show signs of distributor pickup coil flakiness - occasional tachometer madness and random acts of roughness. I see on Ebay several 4AGE pickup coils, with prices from $45 to over $1000, although they all have the exact same image (i.e., I expect they are the exact same product).
Has anyone ever used any of these coils? I am concerned about how long aftermarket electronics will last. Is there an issue gapping from the rotor shaft?

This link... http://mr2.org.nz/docs/AW11BGB/BGB-09-Ignition.pdf
... has the test procedures for the AW11 ignition system. The reluctors (pickups)
have no moving or wearing parts, and are generally as reliable as a rock. The weak
points are the wires where they leave the distributor and are subject to a lot of
flexing. Check for broken or shorted wires close to the distributor. Check the dissy
shaft for play as if the bearing is done, the shaft will move around and affect the
pickup gap.

Cheers... jondee86

Interesting. Thanks, I'll check.
I know my 4ac pickup coil was fried with the symptom of occasional wild tach needle flopping + intermittent spark, especially warm. My buddy said he had the same issue with his 4Runner. In both cases, the problem was intermittent, so all the checks showed normal 99% of the time.
My 4AGE's seem like the exact same thing, but aren't stranding us yet.

Well, about dissy coils, but not 4ag's, I just unexpectedly lost the distributor coil in my '91 Landcruiser last week.
But this was a new twist - the wires got hung around the rotor and made a big fuzzy bird's nest around the rotor.

I've never heard of that happening lol...thats a new one. Did your cap melt?