hondachris1994

So about a month ago my dizzy crapped out on me so I bought a aftermarket one on amazon. Two weeks later I park the car and didn't drive it for a week. When I went to start it, it just cranked and didn't start. So I tested for spark with a spark tester and no spark. So I ordered another distributor, installed it once it got here and the car didn't start at all (no spark with spark tester). So today I tested the wire from the ecu on the dizzy plug and I was getting power, also took cap and rotor off so I could see if I was getting power to the coil and it was. Both of the new distributors I tested the coil and got .9 ohms. Now I read it should have been between .06-.08 ohms . Would that deem both coils no good by just being out of spec by .1? Now I haven't tested the ICM yet so help with that would be appreciated. Any help is appreciated. By the way its a 98 EK with JDM H22 converted OBD1

mk378

Does the ECU boot up (CEL cycle on and off, fuel pump prime) when you turn key on but don't crank? Does the distributor rotate when you crank? Note that you should never fire the coil into an open circuit. Any time you crank with the cap off hold a grounded wire near the coil output. You should get blue sparks that jump more than 1/2 inch.

hondachris1994

Yes the ecu boots and yes the fuel pump is priming and yes the dzzy rotates. I'm going to use my test light in the morning and ground it near the coil output as you stated. Other than that I'm not sure what else to check. If the coil and igniter are working then there shouldn't be any reason why I'm not getting spark.

hondachris1994

I seen a video on You tube that says if I put the test light on the negative side of the coil and start it, the light should pulse meaning the ICM is working properly. Does that sound right?

JRCivic1

Yes, .1 OHM outside the test window means it is bad.

I am curious... why do you replace the entire distributor when the problem is only the coil ??? If you weren't getting any distributor sensor related codes (4,8, or 9) for TDC, CKP or CYP, I suggest you simply replace the coil inside the original H22 transmission with a genuine Honda part and stop buying that crap online. Aftermarket Honda distributors have a history of being a POS.

hondachris1994

The connections in the original dizzy were rusted and corroded. Honda distributors are discontinued or I would have bought a brand new one from them. Majestic Honda also shows no coil part(looked up 96 prelude) and the igniter says ( may have been discontinued)

bandit67

I believe the main relay on your model also feeds power to the dizzy as well as the fuel pump. Did you check that with a known working relay.