mastapw7

What's a good brand for a replacement distributor cap, rotor, & coil?

My '91 DX of four years, Delilah (she's lovely, she's dressed in red, and she can turn on you when you least suspect it), would occasionally not start in warm weather: starter would turn the engine over, but engine wouldn't fire up. After going to some mechanics and reading up on Civic EF ignition problems, I installed a new distributor 7 months ago. Problem mostly solved, although still the occasional failure to start in warm weather (particularly funny with the girlfriend in the car with no a/c).

The car would ALWAYS start up in the cold, but last week in freezing weather, she didn't. Starter would crank, but no spark (tested for it). I replaced the Main Relay, but no dice. No ECU error codes. Took off the distributor cap to find the coil burned out along with the winding that connects it to the distributor.

This was a new distributor (7 months old), but a cheap one (Dorman brand). I also didn't replace the spark plugs or spark plug wires along with replacing the distributor, which I've heard can lead to COP problems. I also had my car stereo jacked about 5 months ago; the wires were exposed, and before I could tape them up, they shorted out and blew my main fuse. Wires are now taped and I replaced the fuse, but there was still a burning smell in the cabin as I was trying to start the car before seeing the burned-out coil.

This time around I'm replacing the plugs, wires, coil, and the cap. Anyone have good recommendations on reliable brands? I've bought a Standard Motor Products coil on sale and a "Premium" Airtex-Wells cap and rotor. Should I go with offical Honda replacement parts? Should I replace the whole distributor again?

Thanks any feedback. This forum is great.

P.S. I observed an interesting phenomenon while testing to see if the distributor was getting power from the battery and if the ECU wires were good. When disconnecting the negative battery cable, I heard a rattle from the driver's side door. Took off the door panel to look for something shorted out/burned out. Didn't find anything, but whenever the battery cable was barely making contact with the terminal, this little red lever inside the transparent plastic seat belt retaining assembly would quiver. I figured it was related to whatever's supposed to happen with the seat belts if the car gets in a wreck or something and not problematic. Also, the passenger side fasten seat belt alarm used to beep unprovoked. Instead of properly fixing the problem, I tore out the blue plastic alarm from its connections from behind the rear view mirror in a fit of rage. Could I potentially have some kind of short or electrical problem that contributed to my distributor burning out?

mastapw7

P.P.S Timing belt was replaced 200 miles ago.

zrickety

iTrader: (1)

I had a similar thing happen last week. My distributor is less than a year old, but it is from an ebay seller. I replaced the control module inside, and was able to drive it home. Honda parts are great, but Wells is a good name as well. To be honest, I just bought the airtex-wells cap/rotor and some NGK wires. I would also check the timing again, it may have jumped a tooth.

KINGVEM^^ED6

iTrader: (1)

Oem cap and rotor and autozone coil

Ngk wires n plugs

EL Vap133

Just go OEM, you can't go wrong.

mastapw7

Would a timing belt that's off result in no spark?

singlecamsaint

i think its your main relay, the reason is you say its doing it when it gets warm out. there was a manufactuer's defect in some of these main relays dealing with a soldering job on some of the contacts inside, when it warms it could be causing an open circuit. if nothing else works try it. im pretty sure there was a thread about fixing your main relay somewhere here