The car will rev with the clutch in fine, but when you try and accelerate in gear, it starts to sputter and jumps. If I am moving along, and try to push the accelrator in, that is the same thing it does. The check engine light code is 4 lights, which is Code 4 - Crank Angle Sensor I believe.

I barely made it to work, had to drive on the shoulder, and start/restart the car continuously ........ lucky I didn't cause an accident!!

Could it be a bad distributor since that is where the crank angle sensor wiring is??

Background on the car ......... '90 STD hatch with a '00 DX non-VTEC head, '88 Si intake manifold, distributor, ECU, fuel injectors, etc. etc. ....... I did the DPFI to MPFI swap back in November, and it had been working fine for quite a few months. But since February or so, this problem has started peaking up.

I thought that the EACV was bad, and had cleaned it, and it fucked it up, so I had tightened the throttle cable to keep the idle going. This weekend, I put on my STD EACV onto the car, and it seemed to work fine. I also re-did the wiring connections for all the stuff in the engine bay, and changed the oil. The car had this problem before I re-did the wiring connections, but now it is basically undrivable .....

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i had a similar problem and was getting similarly annoyed at troubleshooting, then i realized that the cylinder #1 and cylinder #4 spark plug wires were switched. just an idea.

 

Well, that's a start ......... I went by the Honda Service Manual when I did the plug wires .......

I would think that if that was the case, it would have happened soon after doing the head swap, and not 3-4 months later.

But it is something to look into, I'll check it out ..... can't hurt!

 

Double check your cams/crankshaft alignment, it might have jumped a tooth/notch or two...

 

Cool, that's another good idea ......... keep them coming!!

 

Board moves to fast .......... c'mon people, help me out here!!

 

check your timming my friend has the problem but when the light comes on it works fine. but its his timing so check that

 

OK, that's the first thing I check tonight ....... thanks. I'll let everyone know what happens tomorrow ........

 

if your crank angle sensor is fuct it'll barley rev past 3 grand. either dizzy is bad our your wring to the dizzy is bad check both, wiring 1st

 

That was actually my first gut feeling. I'm going to check wiring as well .......

 

""I thought that the EACV was bad, and had cleaned it, and it fucked it up, so I had tightened the throttle cable to keep the idle going.""

This may be part of your problems. Never adjust idle by tightening the throttle cable. It offsets the TPS readings and confuses the ECU.

 

Thought i should give my input.... The FIRST thing you should look at is your distrib... Sounds like the problem.. you say it revs fine with the clutch is. try revving it slowly and listen for any misfiring. Check the wires to the crank angle sensor... sometimes its all in the harness (bad connection) especially after tampering with it.. triple check that the wiring is right.. check your distributor shaft.. It also very possible the timing jumped a tooth, but it wouldnt be revving that smoothly.. - rj

 

I say borrow a friends dizzy and see if it works ok. sounds like a fried sensor(check the distributor rotor for signs of walking). hope works out!!!

 

if the distributor checks out fine, I would look into a possible fuel pressure problem. If you don't already have one, B&M makes a cool gauge setup that goes on top of your fuel filter. And maybe while you're at it, get you a B&M command flow adj. FPR. prob won't solve your problem, but its a cool upgrade

 

I am currently tring to figure this one out also. Not on my car but with my old engine. It is swapped into a 90 standard. we have rewired the body harness to match a 88 crx si engine harness. ******* code 4. the car idles perfect but is still in limp mode. Any insight would be great. The dissy and motor worked great in my 91 hatch, now we get code 4. I know that it is wiring but Is there anything besides the crank angle sensor and the tdc to check ??

 

Well, I didn't get to work on it last night. Brought all my tools in to do it today after work, but my main client is in town, and I will probably have to go out to dinner with them (darn, paid overtime, and a free meal ...... .......)

So as I soon as I can get to it, I will check the wiring first, timing next, dizzy after that, and hope I can figure it out .......

Thanks for all the insight people!! This has been very helpful!!

 

time for new distrubutor!

 

u sound just like me
my car idles good and revs good but wont pass over 3500 rpms.... and the ecu trows ,me a code 4 wich its crank angle sensor also... this started happening after i tried to wire a P28 in my car , but never did and rewired everything back... its started doing this....i bet its the wiring bc i didnt solder them... i havent beeing able to try another dizzy, but i know its on the dist.....i dont care since ill be swaping this weekend....
check the resistance on the sensors....they should be between 300-500 ohms..... anyways.....since u using a Si dist. get a new one.... try that i can bet its that. peace

 

I'd have to say that there is a 95% chance the problem lies in your distirbutor and no where else.

One friend had a misfiring problem and the rotor thats in the distributor could be rotated a little ways back and forth, which it shouldn't move at all. The screw there is supposed to hold it in place. By it moving, it was jacking up the ignition timing and hurting performance.

I would definitely say to check the connections in the distributor and maybe replace the rotor. If all else fails, try someone else's distributor and buy a new one if you can't narrow it down.

 

Cool.

Anyone local MD/DC/VA area got a good Si dist. lying around I can borrow??