Hey everyone, my 1991 dx as my reliable car i was using it to drive my wife to work, and after leaving a red light, it accelerated up thru first to 3,000 or 3,500 rpm no problem, then i pulled down into second, let the clutch out and it backfired a couple times, kept running for a second, then died. Now when i try to start it it just cranks over for a couple seconds and then pop fires but won't start.

I searched the issue, but really came up empty handed. "pop firing" and "backfire start" got me nowhere.

I am going to go change the plugs/wires because it seems like a spark issue to me. Not throwing any codes, and i hear the fuel pump prime up.

anyone have any other ideas?

 

Take of your dist. cap and see if there's any damage (brown dust) or if the rotor button fell off.

 

Nice, will do. I've gotta ride my bike 20 blocks down to where it died with a backpack full of tools and parts. I'll check that when i get there too.

I checked the dizzy visually, and i can report from memory that it didn't come loose and jump to full retard, so i'll check under the cap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wiZCo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> the rotor button fell off.</TD></TR></TABLE>

that's my first guess.

 

yeah, check the dizzy. Same thing happened to my b16a. Cruising on the interstate and the car just died. I would try and crank it but all it would do was just pop and gurgle. The rotor screw came off and the button quit spinning. Good luck

 

rotor button falling of is a common issue with those cars my si engine did that to me like 3 times it sucks but it makes you carry the tools to fix it on the side of the road.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by c0d0r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, check the dizzy. Same thing happened to my b16a. Cruising on the interstate and the car just died. I would try and crank it but all it would do was just pop and gurgle. The rotor screw came off and the button quit spinning. Good luck</TD></TR></TABLE>

Same thing happened to me...

luckily it was as easy fix.

good luck

 

Or, it could be the igniter inside the distributor. That happened to mine once. I carry a whole spare assembled distributor (cap and everything) in my car that I can change out in about ten minutes if needed. Also carry a spare main relay.

 

I vote for loose rotor button

had the exact same thing happen to me

 

i had the same happen to me but the diff was the belt jumped 2 or 3 teeth

 

Well, this thread is a testiment that honda-tech still works. Ask a question in english, with as much info as you can give, and voila.... everyone nails it on the head.

It was indeed the rotor that had come loose.

Chalk up another win for H-T

all around

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89s1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, this thread is a testiment that honda-tech still works. Ask a question in english, with as much info as you can give, and voila.... everyone nails it on the head.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

glad you found out the problem, now after reading how common this problem is I'm going to have to carry a few spare part and tools in my car. I drive 40 miles ONE WAY everyday to work and I'll be damned if I get stranded somewhere.

 

Yeah..plus tow bills really suck..especially when your school is twenty plus miles away....glad you got it fixed

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90efhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">rotor button falling of is a common issue with those cars my si engine did that to me like 3 times it sucks but it makes you carry the tools to fix it on the side of the road.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I used to always carry a little craftsman socket set in my rexy... cheap, fast and SAFE! you never know when you need a tool... glad you figured out the problem. My first experience with this was at CMI... missed out on warm ups looking for a new cap/rotor... got it to run when it counted though

 

lol same thing happened to me twice once in my hatch another in my crx both of the times on the freeway!!! both times far away from home, tow trucks can get expensive

 

i always keep tools in my 89 dx
mostly for my "smart" friends, but just in case.
it always ends up able to be fixed on spot, either by itself, or simple things
(all except the starter)