Car had an R&R motor done by someone at a shop under the table, it ran for a while and now has no spark. There is 12v+ in and out of the internal coil of the Hitachi Distributor, so it shouldn't be the ignition relay. I ordered a new ICM that will be here Friday to check and see if that is the issue.

Is there a possibility of it being the coil? Is that a common problem? I would hate to switch out the ICM and still not have spark. The only other wires I haven't tested for continuity are the wires that run from the distributor to the ECU and the Instrument Cluster. I do have a Fluke 87 so I can test pretty accurately any resistance or continuity.

Anything else anyone can think of?

I did search through 250 threads and came up with nothing.

Thanks!

 

It can only be spark or fuel. If there is no spark at the spark plugs, Theen check at the distr cap and the wire. If no spark there, Check your grounds and especially the Dizzy connectors. Then pull associated fuses and replace as necessary. The igniter inside the dizzy can go bad, the rotor button and cap can get corrosion in side there. I bet it is wiring. I bet it is the ground wire for the ECU that attaches to the intake manifold. It is about 3 wires together in one connector that gets a 10mm bolt through it. See if it is loose, If so, remove bolt, sand all contact surfaces and replace with tightness. Should start. If not, I will offer more with additional input.

Pete

 

It is definitely a spark issue. I can smell gas at the tailpipe when I crank it for a few seconds.

I was able to get an ICM and replaced it today. There was still no spark. Luckily I was able to return it.

I metered the internal coil and it had 0.04 ohms of resistance across the main primary inputs and outputs, plus it read 24k ohms from the primary input to the secondary output. Both were within spec according to the repair manual.

The engine ground is good. It has continuity to the negative terminal on the battery, and it shows 12V- when I meter voltage from the POS+ terminal of the battery.

I have not yet checked the ground to the ECU.

 

Today I replaced the entire distributor with a new one and still no spark. Looks like I am on a wire tracing mission.

 

Check the ground wire on the driverside Intake Manifold. There should be a 10mm bolt holding it tight; otherwise, it will not spark. I know this because we didn't tighten it down all the way when my buddy and I replaced my headgasket. If that engine ground wire is a tad loose or not hook up, your engine will not spark.

Before we found out that the engine ground wire wasn't tight all the way, we replaced the distributor, checked timing tooth, check for spark, and obviously there wasn't. So on the third day, my buddy went over all the ground wire in the engine bay and found out that it was that ground wire that was loose.

There's another ground wire from the negative terminal to the transmission too. Check that there's no corrosion.

 

+1 on that ground to the intake manifold. When i converted my car to manual I also had the exact problem. Turned out that my ground was dirty with some plastic shielding separating the wire from the intake manifold. Sanded it down, tightened it back up, and VROOM, started right up.

15 minute job.

 

Sounds good everyone. I haven't been out to the car since last week, but I will definately check this weekend. From all the replies, I am pretty confident this is it now.

 

If you haven't checked already, remove the distributor cap, turn the engine over and verify that the rotor is spinning - If it is not then you've found the problem - broken timing belt.

 

I can hear and feel compression strokes, so I know the timing belt is not broken. There is a very distinct sound to a motor turning over with no timing belt.

 

Went and visited the car again today and here is the scoop:

Didn't see any ground on the IM at all so I made one. Cleaned up the grounds from the battery to chassis, battery to transmission, and from the valve cover to engine block mount to chassis.

Still no spark.

I then metered the green/yellow wire from the distributor to ECU pin A21 for continuity and that was good (as instructed by Haynes manual.)

There is only one more wire that the manual says to meter and that is the Blue wire that goes from the distributor to the tach. I don't see what good that will do, but that is next on the list.

 

I don't think you can make one yourself by just adding a ground wire from the chasis to the IM if thats what you did, there's actually two wires combined into one as it is bolt onto the IM. Those two wires are coming specifically from the engine harness and out onto the intake manifold. Its gotta be hanging loose someplace under the Intake Mani. You gotta find it and hook it up or you'll never get the car started.

 

Ok, so those wires are actually a component ground, not an engine ground. Got it. Do you remember what color they are? There is a ton of aftermarket garbage wiring on this car too that I will have to weed out. I probably won't visit the car til next weekend again. After yesterday I wanted to set it on fire.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

I don't remember the color wire but I can find out for you ASAP.

 

No rush, I won't be working on the car again til this weekend. I definitely appreciate it.

 

Try making your own ground from the radiator support to the valve cover.

 

that ground has to be there.

Here, open up the hood, look at the engine, look at the intake manifold and then look at the plenum. on the OPPOSITE end of where the throttlebody's at is where the ground is located. In the factory shop manual this ground is called G101. I have attached a picture.

 

IIRC the wire colours are BLK & BRN/BLK.

 

Brilliant! I didn't see any of this on the car, so that has to be it. I might be visiting the car today, and I will report back with any results.

 

It runs!

That was it exactly. The eyelets for those two wires were non existant. The crimps were still there but nothing attaching them to the IM. They were dangling way down in some factory split loom that was disguising them entirely.

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

Cheers to getting it up & running!

 

i tried everything wascly did.
my car still wont start..is it cuz of the igniter not being a genuine honda part?
cuz i have a napa auto part igniter..
my ignition coil is genuine honda oem..
checked everything..its getting fuel
should i jus buy whole new distributor?