Lucihale

Hi all, this is my first post so please inform me of any rules I mess up on. I did read the FAQ and I used the advanced search option to try and find my problem, however, it came up with nothing. Here we go:

The car
I have a VTEC 1.6L that I bought with 200,000+ miles on it. The previous owner had installed (unless it's stock?) an MSD external ignition coil on the left side of the engine compartment (when looking in from the front of the car). Some "premium" ignition wires, and a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel filter. There's also an aftermarket exhaust, but I don't see that being related. Otherwise, my understanding is that it is a stock civic.

The Inception
Approx. 3 months ago, I hit a bump in the road harshly at 60mph. On that same trip home I felt that my front tires were slipping in the snow under acceleration, however, I discovered that it was actually a hesitation (or stumble) in the engine between 2k-3k rpm. This only occurs on harder acceleration, if I'm more gentle on the gas, then the problem seems to be alleviated. It is more likely to happen and happen more if there is more torque required. (going up hills, etc...)

Steps Taken
Firstly; I changed my fuel filter and checked my gauge. (39psi)

Secondly; I checked to see if the filter bad had fallen off of my fuel pump, as I read in one of these posts that it's happened before. All was intact.

Third; I checked my air filter.

Fourth; I checked my plug wires, one of which, when I pulled it free from the plug left the metal clasp attached to the plug which I then pulled out, and re-crimped. New plug wires are now on my list.

Fifth; I checked my plug gap, which on my crappy ramp or coin style gapping tool read .050. I then gapped them back to .043 and the care loped at idle. I gapped them back up to .047 and it ran happily again. I know the gap is from .039-.043 in my Haynes (I prefer Chilton but it came with the car) but I think my tool is too shabby to be accurate.

Sixth; I used my digital multimeter to check the ignition coil, and to my surprise the manual said the positive to the secondary should have 13,000 to 19,000 ohms. HOWEVER, that was for a different model of ignition coil. This one only measured 3,000 ohms. I cannot find the specs for this test on this coil anywhere, but I'm thinking it may be the culprit.

Summary
Have other's experienced this and fixed it with something I missed? What resistance should an MSD coil give? Any help, including pointing me to another thread, would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.

94EG8

MSD coils on Hondas are well known for acting flakey. Also, most aftermarket plug wires are junk, they fall apart when you try to remove them. I'd replace both with new OEM Honda stuff.

Lucihale

Thanks for weighing in! Where is the best place online for me to get Honda original parts?

jbpnoman

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

motegicivic

I am wondering if they bypassed the original coil. Do you have the original dizzy, if so take off the cap and see if the coil is there, typically 2 leads, I would hook it back up or get a coil.

Get new wires, get rid of the MSD, not needed for stock cars and see how it runs.

civicgsr

I would get rid of the external coil. If you can score an unmolested distributor, swap it in. Otherwise, you may have to clean up the wiring to get a stock coil back in there.

I've heard from more than one reputable shop that stock OEM wires are some of the best and that for nearly most applications, the stock coil is more than sufficient.

I like to use http://www.hondapartsunlimited.com/ for all of my OEM Honda parts.

Good luck,
Alex

94EG8

^ Stock distributor, coil and igniter are good up until around 500hp.

And yes the OEM wires work better than just about anything else and basically last the life of the vehicle.

Old *** article comparing 8 year old OEM wires to new NGK blue wires and new 8mm aftermarket performance wires. -> http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-ar...rticle_id=8680

Lucihale

Thanks all. I'll give a shout when I do what it is I have to do!

Lucihale

Okay, I'm updating for anyone that might be having the same problem, or if one of you guys is curious.

Turns out the MSD Blaster ignition system is indeed stock on my EX. That being said, it meant that my distributor points and ignition coil were ALMOST old enough to buy **** and or cigarettes.
I got under the hood and and pulled my distributor cap off to find a large lump of blue-green corrosion on every point and a little on the center. In shorter terms, I need a new cap and probably coil.
Good news- I cleaned up the rotor and points as best I could, and put in some new plugs and the problem, although not gone, has lessened considerably. I'll be tracking this down to the last hiccup and I'll be sure to post the eventual conclusion in case it helps someone else.

Thanks for your time guys.

jbpnoman

The MSD system follows the stock layout, but are not the stock parts. Hitachi makes the factory igniter unit.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Yeah. MSD was never stock on Hondas. Where ever you got that from had incorrect info for you.

motegicivic

Can you just pull the the msd crap out and get a stock dizzy which has an internal coil and icm.

Can you snap a pic of this MSD stuff?

Lucihale

Sorry for being so late to reply. I replaced the MSD coil and cap with more MSD products. Which, if anyone is having the same problems, solved the issues.

The place where I got the info was under the hood on the right side of the engine compartment. I'll get a picture and post it for you guys but it says something along the lines of "This vehicle comes equipped with MSD blaster ignition parts." Or some such jargon. Now I'm really curious about it though!

jbpnoman

Then that's an aftermarket sticker someone added to your car. MSD did not make factory original parts for our cars. Hitachi did.

1Magicman

will a msd blaster ignition kit give a 95 civic ex d16z6 more power, or is it just splice some wires together and looks like ****. i just want more power to the plugs if thats possible. stock dizzy just seems like its powerless