For the past few months my car would shut off every once in a while, meaning anywhere from twice a week to once a month. The fuel pump was working, and I would always have to wait about 35 seconds to restart the car. It would also have trouble firing smoothly after a rainy night upon trying to start it the next morning. Well today my luck ran out and it will not start. The car was running fine but would sputter at high rpms. It is an '89 SI with a 1.6 motor. Is this definitely a bad dizzy? New plugs and wires. Should I replace the cap and rotor, or is the dizzy most likely bad, because I don't wanna buy a new cap and rotor if it doesn't work, but then again I could always just put it on the used dizzy I will be getting from the junkyard if the cap and rotor doesn't work on the one I have now.


Suggestions...

 

Derailing: What symptoms could be fixed with cap/rotor, and how are they different than simply a bad dizzy?

 

make sure you arnt getting spark. a new ignitor is a lot cheaper than a whole dizzy

if u do get spark, pull the dizzy and see if it spins freely.. if it does, it is prolly ok.

you looked into your main relay?

 

i was just going to say that.. the main relay always made my car not run, but it happened when it was hot outside.. it would be running, then I would shut it off to walk inside a store.. then it just wouldnt start.. I would have to hit the driver side of my dash to get it to click over sometimes..

That relay cuts the fuel from the car when off.. so it may be fuel that is your problem, if in fact the relay is going bad...

But yeah.. For the dizzy, dont replace the whole thing if you dont need to.. they can cost up to 150.. Just replace the igniter if it needs it..