REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

Psykopathik · 01-20-2009, 08:30 AM

93 civic not starting.

drove the car out. suddenly stopped. couldnt start it again.

JDM GSR motor and Hondata s200.

engine cranks, have battery power, have fuel ( i can smell it out the exhaust/hear fuel pump/fuel pressure gauge)

does NOT seem like i have spark. stuck a screwdriver in and a spark plug into the wires and laid it near a ground. cranked motor, no spark.

no blown fuses. battery is brand new

any ideas? dead distributor? using resistor box on injectors, but using factory injectors.

no CEL, but when i check for codes i get code 20 (ELD) using civic ecu so no ELD in car at all anyways.
car ran fine for the last 2 years.

!SG · 01-20-2009, 08:37 AM

check distributor cap

check distributor rotor

check distributor selenoid

check distributor coil pack

if all else fails, take off valve cover to make sure u didnt snap what i hope u didnt snap...

Psykopathik · 01-20-2009, 10:43 AM

nothing physical broke i was cruising to a stop when it shut down. anyone have a 95 GSR distributor i can borrow?

Super Dipper · 01-20-2009, 02:33 PM

dead coil.

replace the coil and ignitor while you are in there, bc once one goes, the other is sure to follow shortly.

ncrx · 01-20-2009, 08:26 PM

ignitor is my guess, honda ignitors are made from recycled envelopes with the plastic clear screen torn out. ignitors were notoriously bad on EF's and early b16's and didnt get a whole lot better. Keeping them inside the distributor with all that heat doesnt do it anygood. typical symptoms, crazy tach, engine cuts out, can't restart. if it cools down, it might fire here n there.

brine04 · 01-21-2009, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Super Dipper

dead coil.

replace the coil and ignitor while you are in there, bc once one goes, the other is sure to follow shortly.

+1

Psykopathik · 01-21-2009, 01:31 PM

i was using an external coil and ignition amp. i tried hooking back the oem (unused coil) and nothing. so it may be the igniter unit.

any idea where i can buy one? i mean besides Acura

again, thanks for the help guys.

brine04 · 01-21-2009, 03:56 PM

Any parts store like Lordco etc has them.

blkgsr · 01-21-2009, 04:56 PM

check your rotor and dist cap

if they look at all messed...replace them

bcrdukes · 01-21-2009, 04:58 PM

You can try www.hondadistributors.com

Psykopathik · 01-21-2009, 05:34 PM

k i checked the internal coil. the primary resistance is 0 ohms??? (should be 0.6-0.8 ohms) think its dead?

secondary seems ok 16 ohms (should be 12.8 - 19.2 ohms)

HOWEVER i was using an external coil anyways, and not the internal one.

off to check the ignition control module now

k just tried this: using a 12v probe. aligator clip to 12V+ and probe to - on coil the probe lit. when engine cranked. probe light did NOT bling but stayed solid.

also with coil hooked up to ICM, i detected ground to chassis.

so bad coil / internally grounded (like it says HERE) or bad ignition module?

Puck Luck · 01-21-2009, 05:43 PM

put a test light across the + and - terminals of the coil and have someone crank it over. If the light flickers, the igniter is doing its job. (triggering the coil on and off) the coil should have constant power when the ignition is turned on. The igniter triggers the ground (through the ecu)

Psykopathik · 01-21-2009, 06:20 PM

the clip was on chassis (ground). when i touched either terminal on the coil, the probe lit up, which tells me both terminals are 12V+.

i got the new coil and didnt install yet. i measured the resistance of the coil and its almost identical to my old one

icm @ lordco costs $400

Puck Luck, i did your test and the probe gloed faintly. when the motor was cranked, no flickering happened. it just stayed dimly lit.

Psykopathik · 01-21-2009, 08:32 PM

k tried the coil. nothing.

looks like the ICM is fried?

anyone have a spare i can borrow/buy??

a whole distributor?

!SG · 01-21-2009, 08:54 PM

Also, where is ur external coil located?

make sure its not accidentally getting pre ground. we had that happen cuz whomever installed the external coil put it way too close to another module and thus when the lights were off, u can see the external coil leaking!

Psykopathik · 01-21-2009, 09:21 PM

the external coil was mounted on the wheel well. a good 24" away from dist cap. however it ran fine for years where it was.

my thoughts:
ignition (with ignition amp) was working with external coil.
when car died, i got no spark. internal coil wa NOT connected. so unlikely internal coil is bad.
ICM controls spark. no spark with either external coil/amp OR internal coil
replaced internal coil with new unit. still no spark.

seems to me the only logical thing left is the ICM

correct?

blkgsr · 01-22-2009, 02:03 PM

[QUOTE=Turbo E;6238075]
icm @ lordco costs $400

QUOTE]

what??? try $115....$80 my cost

you could probably buy a whole new distributor from HONDA for less than that

Psykopathik · 01-22-2009, 03:19 PM

from honda the whole dist unit is like $1000

if you can get the ICM for $80 hook a brother up!

thanx

Puck Luck · 01-22-2009, 03:34 PM

I think the honda igniters retail for about 120-130

alex.w *// · 01-25-2009, 08:56 AM

could be main relay

Psykopathik · 01-25-2009, 02:44 PM

ordered a new distributor from eBay for $100

Puck Luck · 01-25-2009, 04:01 PM

Main relay won't have any affect on the no spark issue.
Make sure your new distrubutor includes a new ignitor

Psykopathik · 01-27-2009, 06:35 PM

not the Main relay. i have a spare

Psykopathik · 01-30-2009, 08:18 PM

UPDATE: New distributor fixed it!!!!!

i guess it was the ignition Control module after all

THANK YOU ALL!

!SG · 02-01-2009, 08:23 AM

cools! it feels great to solve something on the car doesnt it!!