Dokta

So the car runs, but I have a CEL. It comes up as code 9 only (cylinder position sensor). The engine runs, but is very, very low on power. Kinda stutters and feels like the timing is way off. Things improve in the higher RPM (4k+), but when I step on the gas at low RPM, there is a lot of shuddering and the car doesn't want to accelerate like it should. It feels like there is a broken D15 still under the hood.

I checked the mechanical and electrical timing. The cams nearly line up; the intake cam looks like it is less than half a tooth off clockwise. If I moved the cam over one tooth counter clockwise, it would be farther off than it is now. That is with no slack on the exhaust side (front) of the belt, or between the cam gears (top). The cylinder head was milled 0.015".

The electrical timing is set dead on (16 degrees btdc) with the distributor rotated all the way ccw when viewed from the passenger side.

I am about to go down and rebuild my distributor. The one on the car is from a 94 Integra LS. I was going to replace all the internals with the ones off the D15 that I pulled from the car.

My question is will a bad cylinder position sensor cause all of the symptoms I described above? I wouldn't think that a single bad sensor would make a 150 hp engine feel like a 75 hp engine.

Please let me know if you need any more info or pics to help diagnose.

Dokta

I forgot to add...

Idle is very low @ ~400 RPM.

I checked the cylinder position sensor electrically as per the fsm. There was no continuity to ground on either terminals (D & H), and the resistance between them was within specification. (395 Ohms [350-700 Ohms]).

Dokta

Update:

I replaced the internals of the 94 teg distributor with the internals from the newer (autozone) distributor. Worked fine in the D15 for the year or so that I've had it.

Cleaned and installed it, had a very long cranking time before turning over.

CEL came on after about 5 seconds.

I let it warm up, then set the timing (16 degrees btdc).

Similar symptoms as before, but now the tach was doing a funky dance across the rpm when I released the throttle.

I checked the codes. Only code 4 came up this time. The crank angle sensor.

Then I checked the resistance across the CYP, TDC, and CKP sensors. Readings were 397, 388, and 390 respectively. All within specification (350-700 Ohms). There was also no continuity to ground on any of the sensors. All measurements were taken at the terminal prongs.

This leads me to believe that the distributor and all of the sensors inside it are operating properly. I know I need to start checking the continuity across the wiring harness, but its cold as a witches tit out there.

Anyone have any suggestions for me?

Dokta

Continuity is good on the engine wiring harness. Guess I'll check the harness from the engine bay to the ECU tomorrow.

If anyone has anything to add here it would be much appreciated.

Dokta

Bump

Dokta

So I pulled out my ECU (P06) and checked the resistances for the 3 distributor sensors on the plug that goes into the back of the ECU (B11 & B12 for the CYP, B13 & B14 for the TDC, and B15 & B16 for the CKP). All three read out as open loop.

Don't the wires from the plug on the passenger side shock tower go straight through the fire wall and into the ECU?

I removed the fuse box, battery, and battery tray to see if a mouse had chewed through a wire or something, but all is well.

So WTF?

Am I missing something here?

streetracerkam

Check Under your dash for any damage aswell or perhaps corrosion causing this. Maybe a short is happening and its retarding everything.

Dokta

FSM says that there should not be any resistance when measured across the ECU plug? Not quite sure why, but there it is. (some explanation would be great on this point)

But I figured out the problem.

When I rebuilt my distributor, I did not properly clearance the sensors from the rotor. I set each sensor at 0.010" from the rotor and no CEL.

Something so small, but there it is.

Thanks for the help everyone.