Honda Car Forum

I just recently tried to replace the distributor cap and rotor on my 94 Integra LS (non VTEC). There was nothing wrong with them, I just felt that it was time to replace them. The replacements looked identicle for both parts, but when I put them on, the engine would crank but wouldn't fire. There was no spark getting to the plugs. Or if there was, there wasn't enough juice to make them fire. I double-checked the firing order, left the old rotor on with the new cap, the old cap on with the new rotor, and then finally put the old rotor and old cap back on, but still no go. I would havbe at least expected it to fire with the old parts back on there, so what could have happened? The plug wires appear in good condition and the ohm reading is well within the limitations listed in the Haynes manual. Did some part pick out this PERFECT time to go out? Any ideas as to what I should check out next?

Maybe you knocked a wire off the ignitor? Are you sure you are getting 12V to one side of the coil, for one?
"BigBadBob" <themightymutt2000@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:Rb-dnVZzroIkWoHfRVn-rg@sedona.net...
I just recently tried to replace the distributor cap and rotor on my 94 Integra LS (non VTEC). There was nothing wrong with them, I just felt that it was time to replace them. The replacements looked identicle for both parts, but when I put them on, the engine would crank but wouldn't fire. There was no spark getting to the plugs. Or if there was, there wasn't enough juice to make them fire. I double-checked the firing order, left the old rotor on with the new cap, the old cap on with the new rotor, and then finally put the old rotor and old cap back on, but still no go. I would havbe at least expected it to fire with the old parts back on there, so what could have happened? The plug wires appear in good condition and the ohm reading is well within the limitations listed in the Haynes manual. Did some part pick out this PERFECT time to go out? Any ideas as to what I should check out next?

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 11:13:12 -0700, "BigBadBob"
<themightymutt2000@yahoo.com> wrote:

>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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>I just recently tried to replace the distributor cap and rotor on my 94 =
>Integra LS (non VTEC). There was nothing wrong with them, I just felt =
>that it was time to replace them. The replacements looked identicle for =
>both parts, but when I put them on, the engine would crank but wouldn't =
>fire. There was no spark getting to the plugs. Or if there was, there =
>wasn't enough juice to make them fire. I double-checked the firing =
>order, left the old rotor on with the new cap, the old cap on with the =
>new rotor, and then finally put the old rotor and old cap back on, but =
>still no go. I would havbe at least expected it to fire with the old =
>parts back on there, so what could have happened? The plug wires appear =
>in good condition and the ohm reading is well within the limitations =
>listed in the Haynes manual. Did some part pick out this PERFECT time to =
>go out? Any ideas as to what I should check out next?
>------=_NextPart_000_0006_01C51998.A9949EA0
>Content-Type: text/html;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
Start from scratch and make SURE the timing order is OK.

Make sure the coil wire is properly seated on BOTH ends.

Good luck.

Yeah, I'm getting 12V to the coil. I also registered 1 ohm across the primary terminals; the Haynes manual says that it should be between 0.6 to 0.8. The secondary registered 15.3 ohms, which is just fine. But since the primary reading was high, does that mean the coil is bad? Also the wires that run the tachometer (?), yellow/green and blue, had no continuity between them regardless of the ignition being on or off, but there was continuity between the blue wire and chassis ground. According to the manual, this means there is a short "somewhere". (yeah, thanks Haynes, that's real helpful) However, since both of those wires connect to the ICM, does that mean that the ICM is bad? There are no blown fuses anywhere, so I'm not sure about a short in the ignition.
"remco" <whybcuzREMOVE@THISyahoo.com> wrote in message news:sF4Td.19799$ZY6.5352@fe08.lga...
Maybe you knocked a wire off the ignitor? Are you sure you are getting 12V to one side of the coil, for one?
"BigBadBob" <themightymutt2000@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:Rb-dnVZzroIkWoHfRVn-rg@sedona.net...
I just recently tried to replace the distributor cap and rotor on my 94 Integra LS (non VTEC). There was nothing wrong with them, I just felt that it was time to replace them. The replacements looked identicle for both parts, but when I put them on, the engine would crank but wouldn't fire. There was no spark getting to the plugs. Or if there was, there wasn't enough juice to make them fire. I double-checked the firing order, left the old rotor on with the new cap, the old cap on with the new rotor, and then finally put the old rotor and old cap back on, but still no go. I would havbe at least expected it to fire with the old parts back on there, so what could have happened? The plug wires appear in good condition and the ohm reading is well within the limitations listed in the Haynes manual. Did some part pick out this PERFECT time to go out? Any ideas as to what I should check out next?

You're sure you aren't getting spark, right? You did check your rotor? The ends are not worn off, are they? The center of the distributor cap has a spring action contact -- that's there and working properly?

It is pretty hard to see the difference between 0.8 ohms and 1 ohm with a regular multimeter. That is really only a static test - perhaps take it out and see if you notice any discoloration on the plastic as this is an indication of hardline cracks and possible arc through.

I have checked ignitors with a scope, but someone on the honda group taugh me a neat trick that is a lot less involving:
He suggested using a small light bulb, but I used an LED and a 1000 Ohm resistor (both radio shack items). Notice the polarity: the LED's Anode goes towards where you measured 12V (black/yellow on my schematic). Tie the cathode to the resistor and the other side of the resistor to the ignitor's output (.
In effect this circuit is placed across the coil's primary. When you start the car, you should see the LED flash. Some LEDs are brigher than others, so you may need to look carefully. If you do not see the flashes, your ignitor or whatever drives your ignitor is most likely bad. A bad ignitor is a pretty common failure mode in Hondas -- not sure why it would happen, swapping the cap, but maybe that is just coincidence.

If you do find you need an ignitor, check out http://www.carpartsamerica.com/partslookup.jsp
Dealer prices are rediculous so that is where I got my ignitor.

If you install it, be sure to put a small blob of heatsink compound under the device as it helps getting rid of generated heat.

Remco


"BigBadBob" <themightymutt2000@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:h9adnfIwUIf3eoHfRVn-hw@sedona.net...
Yeah, I'm getting 12V to the coil. I also registered 1 ohm across the primary terminals; the Haynes manual says that it should be between 0.6 to 0.8. The secondary registered 15.3 ohms, which is just fine. But since the primary reading was high, does that mean the coil is bad? Also the wires that run the tachometer (?), yellow/green and blue, had no continuity between them regardless of the ignition being on or off, but there was continuity between the blue wire and chassis ground. According to the manual, this means there is a short "somewhere". (yeah, thanks Haynes, that's real helpful) However, since both of those wires connect to the ICM, does that mean that the ICM is bad? There are no blown fuses anywhere, so I'm not sure about a short in the ignition.
"remco" <whybcuzREMOVE@THISyahoo.com> wrote in message news:sF4Td.19799$ZY6.5352@fe08.lga...
Maybe you knocked a wire off the ignitor? Are you sure you are getting 12V to one side of the coil, for one?
"BigBadBob" <themightymutt2000@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:Rb-dnVZzroIkWoHfRVn-rg@sedona.net...
I just recently tried to replace the distributor cap and rotor on my 94 Integra LS (non VTEC). There was nothing wrong with them, I just felt that it was time to replace them. The replacements looked identicle for both parts, but when I put them on, the engine would crank but wouldn't fire. There was no spark getting to the plugs. Or if there was, there wasn't enough juice to make them fire. I double-checked the firing order, left the old rotor on with the new cap, the old cap on with the new rotor, and then finally put the old rotor and old cap back on, but still no go. I would havbe at least expected it to fire with the old parts back on there, so what could have happened? The plug wires appear in good condition and the ohm reading is well within the limitations listed in the Haynes manual. Did some part pick out this PERFECT time to go out? Any ideas as to what I should check out next?

nat_mann@yahoo.com (Natman) wrote in
news:421ce3b4.18774456@netnews.comcast.net:

> On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 11:13:12 -0700, "BigBadBob"
><themightymutt2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>>
>>------=_NextPart_000_0006_01C51998.A9949EA0
>>Content-Type: text/plain;
>> charset="iso-8859-1"
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>>
>>I just recently tried to replace the distributor cap and rotor on my
>>94 = Integra LS (non VTEC). There was nothing wrong with them, I just
>>felt = that it was time to replace them. The replacements looked
>>identicle for = both parts, but when I put them on, the engine would
>>crank but wouldn't = fire. There was no spark getting to the plugs. Or
>>if there was, there = wasn't enough juice to make them fire. I
>>double-checked the firing = order, left the old rotor on with the new
>>cap, the old cap on with the = new rotor, and then finally put the old
>>rotor and old cap back on, but = still no go. I would havbe at least
>>expected it to fire with the old = parts back on there, so what could
>>have happened? The plug wires appear = in good condition and the ohm
>>reading is well within the limitations = listed in the Haynes manual.
>>Did some part pick out this PERFECT time to = go out? Any ideas as to
>>what I should check out next?
>>------=_NextPart_000_0006_01C51998.A9949EA0 Content-Type: text/html;
>> charset="iso-8859-1"
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>>
> Start from scratch and make SURE the timing order is OK.
>
> Make sure the coil wire is properly seated on BOTH ends.
>
> Good luck.
>

Yeah,and turn off your HTML,and set line length to less than 80 char.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Thanks for the replies. It turned out to be a bad ignition coil. Not sure why it happened at that exact time. Thanks again for all of your help!
-BBB
"BigBadBob" <themightymutt2000@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:Rb-dnVZzroIkWoHfRVn-rg@sedona.net...
I just recently tried to replace the distributor cap and rotor on my 94 Integra LS (non VTEC). There was nothing wrong with them, I just felt that it was time to replace them. The replacements looked identicle for both parts, but when I put them on, the engine would crank but wouldn't fire. There was no spark getting to the plugs. Or if there was, there wasn't enough juice to make them fire. I double-checked the firing order, left the old rotor on with the new cap, the old cap on with the new rotor, and then finally put the old rotor and old cap back on, but still no go. I would havbe at least expected it to fire with the old parts back on there, so what could have happened? The plug wires appear in good condition and the ohm reading is well within the limitations listed in the Haynes manual. Did some part pick out this PERFECT time to go out? Any ideas as to what I should check out next?