Hello,

I've done some searching and I've narrowed my problem down to 2 possibilities - ignition and the cat. Not sure how many of these problems have to do with the catalytic converter or the ignition, but it all kind of happened at one time.
I bought a '91 JDM civic recently and as I was driving it home I lost all power and when I finally came to a stop a little bit of smoke came out of the right hand side of the hood. Upon opening the hood something smelled hot, but the rad and engine and everything seemed cool, the check engine light was not on and the temperature guage was fine. However, the cat light (on JDM cars) had been flashing on and off the whole trip. When I tried to start the car it will crank but not fire. Had to get it towed
I heard that my cat might possibly be blocked which would cause the the light to flicker on and off and maybe cause the smoke? But the car should still start, no?
I tried the spark plugs and I get no spark. I tried all the inputs to the distributor and they are all fine. There was one step in the manual that says I need to "test" (for what it doesnt say) the yellow/green wire to the PGM FI ECU that I havent done becuase I dont know what it wants me to test (continuity, voltage?). Would this mean the ignitor then? And any ideas on the cat?

Thanks

 

Sounds like you let all the smoke out of your wires.

If you're not getting a spark, I think you can safely rule out the catalytic convertor from being a suspect.

You need to use a test light to see if the ignitor is getting power. If it is, then clip the test light to the positive side of your battery and touch the probe to the negative side of your coil. Have someone crank the car and see if it flashes. If it does flash, it means you're getting an interrupted ground and the ignitor is working, replace the coil.

 

I'm more or less wondering where the smoke came from if the problem is just in the distributor area. Checked the coil, looks like its fine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flinty &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm more or less wondering where the smoke came from if the problem is just in the distributor area. Checked the coil, looks like its fine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's hard to tell without inspecting all the wiring. I would start by running through every fuse in the car. Usually the fuse pops on a short before the actual circuit is destroyed. So if you can find a popped fuse, then I would start by inspecting all the wiring in that circuit. If no fuses are popped, then I would suspect the ignitor or coil as the problem because you are not getting a spark. And dont really follow the procedures in the service manual for determining a bad coil, it will definately determine a fucked coil, but isnt always sure fire for determining an intermitent coil, especially when measuring for resistance which changes with temperature. Try my earlier suggestion with the test light and atleast consider the test results before spending too much more time on anything else.

 

The first thing we did was check all the fuses. All okay. I just replaced the ignitor - still not getting any spark.

 

Bump. Any other suggestions before I spend more money?
Main relay perhaps? ECU?