m.hedrick

Hey guys,

I've got a 1999 Honda Civic CX 1.6L with 177K miles, that recently started having an intermittent rough idle issue. It sounded like an engine miss/cylinder misfire, so after doing some research on the forum and on youtube I found out about some of the test that could be done to identify the problem.

I started by trying to unplug the spark plug wire from cylinder one to see how that affected the idle/shaking of the engine; when i did the car stalled.

Now the car wont start back up again (turns over but wont actually start) and i'm wondering if I've either blown a fuse/relay (even though I've checked all the fuses) or if disconnecting the wire was the last straw for the ICM/coil?

I do have fuel at the cylinder, after cranking the engine i pulled a plug and have gas present. I can also hear the main relay engage and the fuel pump turn on.

What I've done so far: Checked for spark at the plugs (nothing), checked for spark at the coil (nothing), i do however have power at the + and - terminals of the coil.

Could it just be that i need to replace my igniter? Ideas on how to test the igniter? Any other ideas or tests that i can perform would be much appreciated, thanks in advance!

-MH

tony_2018

Check the Sticky FAQ section.

m.hedrick

Yep, I'm doing that right now. Lots of good stuff in the FAQ, I've also checked out some of ericthecarguy video's on youtube for ignition tests. I'm thinking that its probably the igniter. My MM shows about 11 volts to the coil and I tried the test where you connect a test light to battery positive and touch the negative terminal of the coil, had a friend crank the engine and didnt see any pulsation in the light, which according to the forums means ICM/switching issue.

Sounds legit, but i'm wondering if there are any other tests i can perform before replacing the igniter. I'll pull it today and take it to autozone to be tested first. Any other ideas?

tony_2018

Download Honda Helms Manual and follow there test.

TanEJ1

Check to see if the wires are getting spark remove a plug and stick it in the end of the wire, test them out....

Did the car stall like when you unplug the map sensor..?

MadVladCivic

Go here for testing procedures upstream relative to the coil tower:

Part 4 -How to Test the Igniter, Ignition Coil Accord, Civic, CRV, and Odyssey

m.hedrick

MadVladCivic - This is by far the best step by step diagnostic instruction set I've found for upstream ignition testing. I'll try this out after work and report back. Thanks so much.

-MH

m.hedrick

Alright, slight update for you guys. I was unable to perform the "testing the igniter for the triggering signal" because i only have a test light, not an LED light, which I've read is needed for an accurate test.

Is there a certain LED test light you all would recommend?

I also pulled out the igniter and coil out of the distributor to have them tested today and i noticed that the back of my igniter was covered in oil. After further inspection it seems that the distributor itself has a small pool of oil in bottom of the pan. I will replace the o' ring between the distributor and the block. I'm hoping that i can just clean the whole distributor, put it all back together, and get back to driving.

Feel free to send over any dizzy cleaning videos, or if you think i should just say screw it and get a new dizzy altogether.

Thanks!

MadVladCivic

Radio shack Model # 276-270 @ 2.49 each

If you browse thru that link I provided earlier, the author actually
describes how to build the test light and gives a pic of this particular
LED.

m.hedrick

Alright guys the weekend is here so I can finally get some work done. I went to the store and pick up an LED light tester like Vlad said above and I performed "Test 6" from the link above which basically checked my ECU to make sure that it was sending the correct signal to my igniter. Because it was performing correctly that basically confirmed our thinking that the igniter or the coil pack in the distributor were bad so I took both out and got the igniter checked out at AutoZone, it passed as well. I performed an ohms test on the coil and found that while the primary side was in spec, the secondary was not.

I went ahead and replaced the internal and external seals for the distributor and distributor shaft to prevent the internal dizzy leak. You can find these NOK seals for sale at amazon, I think it cost 16 bucks for both. Put a new coil in and she started right up!!

Thanks to everyone on the thread for their help!

-MH

chazor

glad you found the issue if you ever have issues with no spark another thing you can check for free is your grounds ive had grounding issues before on a crx