ok i have a 1990 hatch dx.
inside my distributor theres a little spinning wheel thing thats held in place by a tiny screw! and for some reason that screw keeps coming off and when it does my car just completely turns off!!
today was the 3rd ***kin time it comes off and i was on my way to school and it turned off on me but i was managed to roll into the parking lot haha
i put another screw i had lying around in my car. nad it turned on just fine.
can someone please help! wat can i do to prevent this????

 

lol loktite FTW

 

wat is that??

 

The "little spinning wheel" is better known as the "distributor rotor."

The rotor screw failing to hold is a pretty common problem on older Civics. I had this problem in 2002-2003 on my 91 Civic. I found Loctite does not work long if at all. Most likely the threads in the dizzy housing shaft are stripped; they were on mine. The best solution is to buy a new OEM dizzy housing. I do not think I would bother with junkyard ones. The drawback is that a new OEM housing will run a couple hundred dollars or more from the OEM online sites for 88-91 Civics. But the advantages are plenty: Not only is the rotor screw problem fixed, but the dizzy housing holds three engine control sensors and wiring that IMO degrade over time, and so these will be brand new with a new housing, too. You also get a new oil seal and dizzy shaft bearing, both of which often fail on older dizzies and require either dizzy surgery or else a whole new housing. My miles per gallon shot up after I replaced the housing with an OEM one (and also put in a new igniter and ignition coil). IMO the dizzy housing should be replaced every 10 years/150k miles.

There is one alternative that will hold you for awhile: Drill a hole through the dizzy housing shaft where the rotor fits on. Use a cotter pin to hold the rotor in place. This worked fine for several months on my 91 Civic. Then the car started having what turned out to be coil problems. Not knowing any better, a shop replaced the dizzy housing and coil. I put in a new igniter, on their advice. In hindsight, I think the shop made the right call. I just wish I had known a little more so it had not cost me an arm and a leg for the shop's labor back in 2003. The labor is easy if one is reasonably experienced with car electrical connectors, the shop manual, a torque wrench and so on.