Okay, here is the long story short. Car shut down at idle and would not restart. My local performance shop (respected and strait up guy), figured out the msd sci was bad as well as the msd blaster 2 coil (been on car approx 4 years). That in turn fried the dizzy. Solution was replace the dizzy with a used one and used stock coil, car fired right up. Driving it now, there is a noticable lul in the power, it was just dynotuned by them 2 months ago and was running perfect. Now the exhaust stinks, its running noticeable rich (checked the plugs after it was dynotuned, nice gray, now its got the black soot around the plug, and the top part is gray only). He drove the car around himself and could feel exactly what I was talking about (like I said stand up guy). He is going to throw it on the dyno for free next week to check the a/f and see if someone from honda maybe played with the vafc 2. My question is, can the used dizzy and coil cause this drastic power loss? I couldn't see the guys at honda (that was where I had originally taken the car) playing with the vafc at all. They wanted nothing to do with all the aftermarket stuff, that is why I ended up towing it to my performance guy. I don't believe the spark from the msd box was so great that it was giving me all this extra power. The car does not drive right especially under wot and in vtec, its just slower and unresponsive, it even sounds different than before. It was running perfect before it died, the only thing replaced was the distributor and the coil, they are used parts, but stock oem. Also the msd sci ignition and coil were removed. My question is, could the used dizzy or coil be faulty and causing this power issue? What could be causing this problem, the car ran perfectly before this. I now get the 0420 code which is cat not performing optimally or something like that, but I know that is because of the poor a/f ratio. The shop owner will be redynoing my car for free next thursday to see if someone played with the vafc. We know the power it was getting before this all happened since I had it dynotuned at his shop. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Here is the previous thread from the original problem.

http://www.hondaprelude.to/for...98740

 

You didnt mention timing. Has it been checked? I would assume it has since this guy is going to throw it on the dyno. I would try another dizzy/coil and the ignitor(sp?) too.

 

Agreed, make sure timing is right on the dizzy, and the timing belt hasnt slipped or anything. also a bad dizzy or ignitor in the dizzy is posible.

Are you getting tuned at Revolutions? Servion there knows alot about H22's and should be able to get fixed up for ya.

 

The MSD could have been doing more than you thought, as well. They claim the hotter spark (and additional spark at low rpm's) helps create a better burn, thereby leaning out your mixture (b/c it's burning up more fuel), which would explain the overly rich burn you're getting now.

Also, was your car overheating at all when it died? I only ask because I overheated a few weeks ago and burned up my dizzy; replaced it with a used one and am having the same symptoms you are now. However, I blew my headgasket in the process, and am about 20psi down in one of the cylinders, which is what I figure is causing such bad performance. Just throwing it out there.

Are you guys sure the MSD gear is bad? I know they're known to go down over time, but if the dizzy was bad, it's possible the MSD stuff is okay. Have you tried it with the new dizzy?

Please keep us (me especially) updated on this; I'm having the same problems and want to get it sorted out. Btw, what's your year/model/mileage/mods? I'm a 97 SH w/ 145k.

 

I asked about the process they used to make sure the msd products were bad. First they replaced the coil, then the dizzy, then pulled the msd box and it started right up. He was sure it was the box and coil he said he tried it with the box hooked up and the new dizzy with no luck. As far as timing goes, I though that was all controlled by the ecu on a 2000 lude, it can't be manipulated with the products (vafc) that I have. I guess we can check the timing belt, which was replaced as well as the tensioner around 50k (has 85k on it now). I couldn't imagine the msd box giving it such better performance, for the mods I have, its really not even necessary. The stock ignition is supposed to be good up to 350hp. Hopefully when he puts it on the dyno we will know more. I did a comp test and got the same as I had prior to all this. Its 190, 195, 210, 210 not the greatest numbers, but it still ran strong and solid before it broke down. Nothing he changed should have altered engine performance at all correct? Dynoed very high for the mods I have on it. Could a bad used dizzy/coil be the problem, or do those types of parts either work or not, he kind of mentioned there was no in between and my symptoms would be way different if either of those parts were bad. I wont get it on his dyno till next thurs, thats why I'm trying to get other ideas if that doesn't work. Thats why I don't like putting used parts on anything, there is always a question there. I thought about sending the box to msd and seeing what they said. No the car was not overheating at all. No longer in Colorado, need to change my sig

Setup:

2000 Base
aem short ram intake
megan headers
greddy evo2 cat back exhaust
aftermarket cat
act clutch and streetlite flywheel
ngk 1 step colder plugs/ ngk wires gapped .037
vafc 2
zex 55 wet shot
zex bottle opener
dynotune bottle heater
zex pressure gauge
pspec short shifter
unorthodox pulleys
msd sci w/ blaster coil (pulled from car now)

N/A 175hp w/ 55 shot 232whp, 202tq

 

Ignition timing cannot be changed mechanically on 5th gens, but it should be able to be changed electronically. Any ideas where the new dizzy came from? I know mine was from a '98 with about 150k... I believe MSD boxes are under warranty for 1 year; if it's older you can send it in to get fixed and I think the analysis is only around $40 and good towards the repair if it costs more. I had a Digital6+ go bad on me (unfortunately it was one of the old units that was potted and can't be repaired ). Not that aftermarket ignition systems are a huge hp boost, but it doesn't mean they can't do anything either; especially if you're running juice like you are with mixes that are harder to burn.

 

Just re-read your original post and you talked about the exhaust stinking... does it smell bad like fish or just bad like it's running rich? If it's fishy, I've heard that's a cat problem. It's possible with the MSD box you were running hotter exhaust temps that were heating up the cat better and getting stuff through there, and now if it's a little colder the cat is clogging up. It's a long shot, I know, but just a thought.

 

I appreciate those responses, I will keep them in mind and back track everything. I have no idea how old that dizzy was or what it came from, I will make sure to find out though. I don't think I would put another msd box in there again, too many stories of them going bad in a few years, not worth it to me.