I have a few weird things happening that is making me believe my distributer is dying. this post is a bit long but if anyone can steer me towards whats going on would be greatly appreciated. this is all entails a 91 hatch with obd0 B16a.

Every now and then when I fire up my car it cranks over forever but wil not fire. the first time it happened I figured out if I unplug and replug both connectors on my dist. it then fires right up. plus this only seems to happen in lots of rain(like all day or for days on end) or damp/very humid days. I've replaced the connectors with a new set off of another dist. and it still does this.

A few days ago I noticed my factory tach is now reading idle at the lowest line before 0rpm, roughly 350rpm. at this rpm the motor should run rough and be almost ready to cut itself off, I would think? but it runs, sounds and feels like its at 900rpm. I havn't been able to get another tach hooked up yet to see if this is accurate.

lately, my power has been intermitantly been suffering. the motor sounds,feels, and drives great for a day or so and then sooner or later after 30+ min of driving it will seem like I'm driving uphill, and I get a consistant shutter/viberation (not very strong though) from the motor @ 3500-6200rpm. Vtec doesn't sound like it kicks in. temp is OK.

now this I dont understand..
another intermitant problem rears its ugly head once in a while. when I crank the starter sometimes it cranks as if I have a brand new battery(which I do) on a full charge and other times its as if my battery was half drained. I figured I may have had a loose short somewhere that was draining it sometimes but not all.
but get this.....
yesterday I tried starting it and cranked over forever, as discribed above, in a half charge situation. I paused to cool starter, then cranked again and it was at full cranking ability. still wouldn't start, paused, then cranked again, it was back at half cranking, then finally fired up.


All of this is leading me to believe that I'm intermitantly loosing spark charge, in otherwords, my dist. is screwed. Or I have a wiring ploblem which I surely hope not. should I convert to obd1 if I need a new dist.? what are the advantages to converting?

any help is greatly appreciated.

 

I'm throwing no codes btw.

 

Sounds like your distributor is funked up. It's tricky cause it might just be the coil, or just the igniter, but it can get expensive troubleshooting one by one.

I would bite the bullet and order a new dizzy. Almost certain that's the cause of your problems.

I wouldn't bother converting to OBD-1

 

thanks man, I talked to few kids around by me and they are saying the same thing.

But I'm getting conflicting stories on how to go about finding a new dist. I read in the archives that theyre easy to find but I've had no luck. I've then heard that the innards from a 90-93 teg will swap into my housing. But isnt there magnet things similar to a magneto on a 2 cycle inside the dizzy that cannot be replaced by themselves? anybody got some links for new dizzies?