Honda Car Forum

I cannot start my 1988 Acua Integra. Well, I got the engine ruunning
after trying the ignition many times, but the engine and muffler
vibrate a lot and the exhaust smells very bad and not like normal
exhaust. Last month I had the battery checked but it was fine.
What could be the problem?

How are your spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor?

"john" <john@nomorenewspamin.ca> wrote in message
news:e1ockv00pg7442fh1gacgqv1ko2lebsfoa@4ax.com...
> I cannot start my 1988 Acua Integra. Well, I got the engine ruunning
> after trying the ignition many times, but the engine and muffler
> vibrate a lot and the exhaust smells very bad and not like normal
> exhaust. Last month I had the battery checked but it was fine.
> What could be the problem?
>
>

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 21:37:24 GMT, "ttppll" <tomlo@popmail.com> wrote:

The last major tune up was 4 yrs ago. That time the spark plugs, rotor
head assembly, packing head cov were replaced, but I think the wires
were not replaced.

>How are your spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor?
>
>"john" <john@nomorenewspamin.ca> wrote in message
>news:e1ockv00pg7442fh1gacgqv1ko2lebsfoa@4ax.com.. .
>> I cannot start my 1988 Acua Integra. Well, I got the engine ruunning
>> after trying the ignition many times, but the engine and muffler
>> vibrate a lot and the exhaust smells very bad and not like normal
>> exhaust. Last month I had the battery checked but it was fine.
>> What could be the problem?
>>
>>
>

john wrote:
> I cannot start my 1988 Acua Integra. Well, I got the engine ruunning
> after trying the ignition many times, but the engine and muffler
> vibrate a lot and the exhaust smells very bad and not like normal
> exhaust. Last month I had the battery checked but it was fine.
> What could be the problem?
>
>

Did you recently fill the tank? Has it exhibited this problem before?
What were the conditions when you were trying to start it?, ie: car had
been running and was still warm, cold start in the morning, just after a
rainstorm...

How responsive is the engine to throttle? Does it rev well once it
starts? Will it keep running? What speed does it idle at?

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 23:35:10 GMT, "E. Meyer" <e.meyer@ieee.org> wrote:

>On 8/24/03 5:39 PM, in article bibeqq$pr0$1@peabody.colorado.edu, "Franz
>Bestuchev" <fbestuchev@n05p4m.userealsugar.com> wrote:
>
>> john wrote:
>>> I cannot start my 1988 Acua Integra. Well, I got the engine ruunning
>>> after trying the ignition many times, but the engine and muffler
>>> vibrate a lot and the exhaust smells very bad and not like normal
>>> exhaust. Last month I had the battery checked but it was fine.
>>> What could be the problem?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Did you recently fill the tank? Has it exhibited this problem before?
>> What were the conditions when you were trying to start it?, ie: car had
>> been running and was still warm, cold start in the morning, just after a
>> rainstorm...
>>
>> How responsive is the engine to throttle? Does it rev well once it
>> starts? Will it keep running? What speed does it idle at?
>>
>
>Any chance its bad gas? Did this start a day or so after a fill up? The
>symptom sounds like Diesel in a gas engine.

Probably not related to the gas I put in a week before.

On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 16:39:20 -0600, Franz Bestuchev
<fbestuchev@n05p4m.userealsugar.com> wrote:

>john wrote:
>> I cannot start my 1988 Acua Integra. Well, I got the engine ruunning
>> after trying the ignition many times, but the engine and muffler
>> vibrate a lot and the exhaust smells very bad and not like normal
>> exhaust. Last month I had the battery checked but it was fine.
>> What could be the problem?
>>
>>
>
>Did you recently fill the tank? Has it exhibited this problem before?
>What were the conditions when you were trying to start it?, ie: car had
>been running and was still warm, cold start in the morning, just after a
>rainstorm...
>

When the engine was cold at first and then became warmer as I
restarted again and again.

>How responsive is the engine to throttle? Does it rev well once it
>starts? Will it keep running? What speed does it idle at?

Well the rpm at idle was at 300-400. Is this too low? The warmer the
engine the lower the rpm gets.
I noticed that at park position, as I step on the brakes, the rpm
initially dipped a bit, and then went back up to 400rpm.

I think it has to do with spark plug wires. Sometime ago a mechanic
checked them out and found one of the wires had a higher resistance
than normal. What could that mean?

John wrote:

> On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 16:39:20 -0600, Franz Bestuchev
> <fbestuchev@n05p4m.userealsugar.com> wrote:
>
>
>>john wrote:
>>
>>>I cannot start my 1988 Acua Integra. Well, I got the engine ruunning
>>>after trying the ignition many times, but the engine and muffler
>>>vibrate a lot and the exhaust smells very bad and not like normal
>>>exhaust. Last month I had the battery checked but it was fine.
>>>What could be the problem?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Did you recently fill the tank? Has it exhibited this problem before?
>>What were the conditions when you were trying to start it?, ie: car had
>>been running and was still warm, cold start in the morning, just after a
>>rainstorm...
>>
>
>
> When the engine was cold at first and then became warmer as I
> restarted again and again.
>
>
>>How responsive is the engine to throttle? Does it rev well once it
>>starts? Will it keep running? What speed does it idle at?
>
>
> Well the rpm at idle was at 300-400. Is this too low? The warmer the
> engine the lower the rpm gets.
> I noticed that at park position, as I step on the brakes, the rpm
> initially dipped a bit, and then went back up to 400rpm.
>
> I think it has to do with spark plug wires. Sometime ago a mechanic
> checked them out and found one of the wires had a higher resistance
> than normal. What could that mean?
>

Well, a new set of plugs is gonna be both good for your car's ignition
system (especially if they're 15 years old) and a dead simple thing to
swap out.