1990 Integra LS, 208k on odometer

Car runs strong when cold, but as it warms up, it seems to have issues, and eventually dies. It then refuses to start, until it has had adequate time to cool off. Temp gauge never reached what I think should be full running temp (I purchased it this way, so don't know what normal is) before it dies.

The previous owner had the car inspected by some random mechanic, who listed the distributor as needing replacement. I'm going to replace the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor and see if that helps, but any other suggestions would be appreciated. I'd rather work on the car once to get it running again, rather than keep going back and forth multiple times. So, anything else worth replacing while I'm under the hood doing the cap, rotor, etc...? What else could allow a car to run fine cold, and die after warming up?

 

Well, there are lots of parts affected by coolant temp that control the idle, but these parts should never go out of whack so bad as to cut air off entirely to the engine.

I would start to suspect the distributor as well, as it can get quite warm being bolted directly to the head and being made mostly of aluminum. Ignitors are especially culprit, as they contain components that are pretty sensitive to heat.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 91DA9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, there are lots of parts affected by coolant temp that control the idle, but these parts should never go out of whack so bad as to cut air off entirely to the engine.

I would start to suspect the distributor as well, as it can get quite warm being bolted directly to the head and being made mostly of aluminum. Ignitors are especially culprit, as they contain components that are pretty sensitive to heat.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So I should consider replacing the distributor aluminum body and the ignitor as well? Sigh, there's $400 right there for new parts from the dealer...

 

I once had a 91 civic si that would run fine till warmed up and then it would just die out of nowhere - it ended up being the condensor on the dist. that pulls heat from the coil in the dist. - the coil would overheat and not spark till cooled down again - pulled one off a ford dist. I had sitting around and it worked perfect, not sure if the integra has one

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

So I should consider replacing the distributor aluminum body and the ignitor as well? Sigh, there's $400 right there for new parts from the dealer...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wouldn't go that far just yet, if you can find someone with a spare ignitor, that would be the best thing to try first. Worst thing to do with any car repair is throw parts at it, especially if they are expensive.

So, if you can find a spare ignitor to try, that would be a good start. As far as I know, these are pretty universal among among internal coil Hondas, but I am not positive. I converted my '91 Integra to OBDI immediately, so I am by no means an authority on this, but it could possibly be one of the sensors in the distributor itelf, although they are fairly rugged solid state devices, it is not to say they are invincible. How did they dizzy look when you pulled the cap/rotor?