Just picked up said car couple of days ago from my brother. Here's what the deal was, said by him, and now what it's at. I'm hoping someone genuine can come along and just say "do this". Haha, in a perfect world.

When I bought the car from my brother, he had said it was "stuttering" when driving around the 4000-5500 rpm range. He also said the engine would just shut off randomly while driving. The engine was hooked up with an MSD 6AL box as well as an MSD Ignition Coil. He swore 200% that the MSD was bad and it needed to come out.

Last night, I disconnected the MSD 6AL box and switched out the Ignition Coil for a Toyota external Ignition Coil. It's running and today I've been driving it around. The problem of it "stuttering" is still happening.

The "stutter" will happen EVERY time you get up to speed. No matter the gear, or rolling speed your going. The said "stutter" will even worsen and then go away. The car had even shut off on me twice tonight which isn't as bad as before. All in all, I just want to drive and enjoy this car. If anyone has advice besides the "search" button, please feel free to help out.

List of Modifications
DOHC ZC
NGK Spark Plugs (newish)
NGK wires (newish)
Toyota External Ignition Coil wired straight to the distributor
Short Ram Intake
Mugen Filter
Greddy/Trust Header
No catalytic converter
eBay Exhaust

I don't think I am missing anything else as far as engine goes. Hope that helps. I don't want to see it, but I got a school bill coming and if I can't get if fixed then this beauty is out. Thanks in advance!

 

First thing I would check is the ICM and/or the connections to it, first make sure the terminals fit tightly onto the ICM.

I would also have a close look at the PGM-FI Main Relay, a common problem on older Honda/Acura.

These my help...
http://techauto.tripod.com/mainrelay.htm
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/mainrelay.html 94

 

fcm- Thank you for those links. After reading through both of them I read that the common symptoms of a bad Main Relay are A) Engine not staying on after release of key from start position B) Engine not staying on for more then 2 seconds and some other things. But the main symptom having to do with just a sitting car.

My problem occurs as I am driving. So could the Main Relay still be a cause in my "stutter"?

 

So the problem will occur even when I'm sitting and not driving. If I'm in neutral and rev it up, it'll hesitate and "stutter" anywhere around 3500-red line. I really don't understand.

If anyone posts something that makes it work, I will PayPal them $10. No joke. I just want it running right.

 

It can still be the PGM-FI Main Relay, problems with it can happen at any time.

The only way to know for sure is to replace it with a new or known working one, have a buddy stick yours in his/her car to test it, use a meter to test it or install telltales on the inputs and outputs of the PGM-FI Main Relay to see what is happening.

The easiest and cheapest is to swap PGM-FI Main Relays with someone.

Don't forget to check the connections to the ICM, they must be tight. 94

 

Ended up just needing a completely new distributor case, cap and rotor! Runs fine now. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth sourcing an 88-89 Integra ECU.