So, the car is a 99 ex coupe automatic completely stock. It is a friends car and her story is as follows: She put new gas in it from Costco and right after that when she got down the road, the car died. Ever since then it will die randomly and it has a CEL. I went to go check it out today and it idles extremely low. I couldn't get it to die on me, but I think it is dying when it is at idle. It also doesn't seem to be getting the air/fuel that it needs at least at the initial press of the gas. I pushed the throttle body open manually and it kind of makes a deep sound as if there was an aftermarket intake on the car or something. The code is #8 which could be, according to my helms, one of the following:
-Crankshaft Position/Top Dead center sensor disconnected
-TDC sensor intermittent interruption
-TDC sensor no signal

Any ideas? I need to figure out the problem because I really owe her. Thanks in advance.

 

When a distributor sensor goes bad, you need to replace the distributor housing assembly.

 

How do I determine that it is, in fact, that sensor?

 

Clear the code from the ECU. If the CEL turns ON again, take the car to AutoZone where they will use an OBDII scan tool to determine which of three possible code 8-related codes is being thrown. This will help pinpoint your troubleshooting.

 

replace distributor housing!

 

Yeah, I already cleared it and it comes on as soon as I start it up again. Does Autozone do that for free? And once that is determined, should I just follow the flow chart of my Helms?

 

Are you just jumping on the bandwagon? Or have you dealt with this issue before and a new distributor housing fixed it?

 

Yes to both questions.

 

Anyone know if d16y7 manual transmission distributor housings are the same as d16y8 autos? The part numbers seemed to match, but I want to make sure.

 

Up^

 

They're the same. I've seen the same issue before numerous times. Check your wiring from that sensor back into the engine harness first Usually though its the sensor itself thats bad.