Reedy

Ive got a 94 EX with a B18C in it. A few months ago it started acting up. While driving down the highway with the cruise set the car would miss/stutter and then go along as if nothing had happened. This eventually got worse and it would die on me. I put the clutch in, cranked the key and it would fire up again. This got really bad one day and the key no longer would work, so I popped the clutch at 70mph and bump started the car. This got me about another 10 minutes down the road then it died completly. I put a used distributor on it and that solved the problem for about 3 months, then that one took a crap on me. So this time I got a new one. Except it was for a USDM car and only had the single plug on it. No big deal, all the wires matched the JDM one, so I soldered the two plugs onto the new distributor bolted it up and NOTHING! No spark at all! Engine cranks over fine, but no spark.

PLEASE HELP!

boxeocampeon

the whole distributor is new? and it could also be your spark plug wires or spark plugs

ramtyper19

wow havent been on ht in forever...

umm check your MAIN RELAY also.

lemme know

Good luck

Former User

OP: Double check all your rewiring and soldering of the distributor connector. Multimeter test the distributor wires for a short or open.

Reedy

Yes, the whole distributor is new. Plug wires are MSD and I checked for spark with a brand new plug. Distributor wires checked out ok as did the main relay. Im starting to wonder if it could be an ECU issue or something with the ignition switch.

Thanks for the help guys, this one is a real puzzle.

anothersickhatch

you said the distributor has a single plug and the jdm harness has two plugs?

what year is the motor?

Reedy

Couldnt tell you the exact year of the motor, got it from H motors online about 4-5 years ago. One plug only has two wires going into it and the other I think has 6.

anothersickhatch

well it sounds like theres a difference in the plugs because the distributor is obd-2 and the engine harness is obd-1. that could be your problem.

im not quite sure if the wires line up exactly, even if you put them in the right places. i remember trying that once and it didn't work out.

Reedy

The wires all match as far as colors goes. Still think this could be the issue? Ive got 2 more "old distributors" that were not working. Maybe I should just transplant the the distributors guts into one of those.

anothersickhatch

why cant you take back the new one and swap it for a 94 del sol vtec distributor?

Reedy

I traded some other parts I had for it. It was still sealed in the box and I didnt notice the plug untill I went to bolt it up. Plus I already cut and soldered the plugs.

I think Im just going to open it up and transfer the coil and ignitor into one of my old distributor housings with the right plugs on it. BTW, what are the 3 magnets inside the dizzy for? Do those comonly go bad?

anothersickhatch

the magnets dont usually go bad.

Reedy

Didnt think so. I had a chance to check voltage last night. Ive got 13V at the plug going into the distributor and 13V at the 2 wires going into the ignitor. However when I plug the wires into the ignitor the voltage drops to almost nothing (.4V). This is a brand new freakn ignitor although its for a OBDII car. Well I think ive narrowed the problem down.

Another quick question. Someone told me the Honda ignitors are all the same. Is this true? If so Ive got a good D series distributor laying around and Ill just save myself the $175 at Napa.

Simkin314

Just for some info. I had an intermittent igniter module issue a while back. When I replaced the distributor with a NEW OEM distributor, the ignitor went out within 5000 miles. This happened (I studied it quite a bit) due to thermal stress on one of the leads on the ignitor module.

Let me explain... When the world (or a lot of it for that matter) went ROHS compliant along with the use of Lead free solder, the electronics industry tends to suffer from QA problems such as solder whiskers, weakened solder joints, and the like. (That was the primary purpose of Adding Lead to the solder alloys in the first place).

Anyway, long story short; the problem with my ignitor module was simply the solder joint weakening and breaking causing intermittency with the engine firing. This is most common during the winter due to the large change in temperature.

I would advise opening up one of your ignitor modules and checking it out (i.e. see if you can fix one like I did).

Reedy

Thanks Simkin Ill look into it. BTW how did you open up the ignitor module? Mine seems to be sealed.

Simkin314

Yep, I just pried the plate off and took a gander.

anothersickhatch

ignitors shouldnt go bad that fast. just buy the correct distributor.

Reedy

Well I figured out the mystery. The reason I was not getting any spark was because the distributor was not turning. The distributor was not turning because the cams were not turning and the cams were not turning because the TIMING BELT BROKE!

Ran a leak down test on it and it passed with flying colors, so it looks like the valves are ok. Have a new timing belt on order and should be in within the next few days.

Pabs626

Wow!

Simkin314

x2

jpro

im having the same problem!!! i have a 98 viviv ex with a b16a jdm swap and iv had it for about 3 weeks and i replaced the distrubitor cause the old one went out and still no spark my timing belt is good my wires are set up right they get 12v power wtf should i do i need my car to workmy wires are good i have compression my ignission is good too anyone know what going on

carlitos2603

i have the same problem with a 2000 civic ex b16,new distribuitor and im still dont get spark.PLS HELP...

Hondabois

I was driving home and my car died when I came to a stop, I already went through 2 ignition coils so I got a whole new distributor and still no spark, it cranks but still won’t generate spark, the wires were still new and I checked the fuses they seem fine. Anyone know what could be the problem?