Caveat: I've searched both google and HT and scoured the web for answers, and I am still lost.

Here's the problem:

I got my car out of the shop last week it ran better than it had in a very long time. Good acceleration, no misfires, cruised very smoothly.

Last weekend, I get home and decide to wash my car in the driveway. I had a half of a can of this engine degreaser stuff that I bought from Autobacs, and used it all up. Used it before and never had any problems.

While that was going I swept out the garage and organized my tools. Took about an hour or so. Got back to the car and used some wipes to wipe up the dirt and grime from the engine bay etc. etc. After I finished it all up, I go to start the car up to move it into the garage and it idled like crap sending up plumes of black smoke. I figured that I might have gotten some water into the electrical, so I let it sit for a day.

24 hours later:

Gave the car another try, no change, still felt as if its running on only 2 cylinders. I noticed a small little crack in the distributor cap, so I figured that maybe some water may have gotten into the cap. Didn't have time to pop off the cap so I just loosened the bolts a bit to let any of the water evaporate out.

another 24 hours go by:

Screwed the bolts for the dizzy cap in and tried starting the engine again. No go. Still running on 2. So I decided to just replace the cap and rotor altogether.

Yesterday:

Cap and rotor arrive (genuine Honda parts BTW) pulled off the old cap and rotor and inspected the internals of the dizzy. It was bone dry and had no signs that here was any liquids in it. However, I did notice that the spring on the ignition coil looked a bit white (just slightly though), but I was getting spark from it. Replaced the rotor and closed everything up and retried. This time, the car didn't start at all. The ignition will turn and it sounded like it wanted to start but it wouldn't.

Today:

Tried again. Same results, no start. I pulled the spark plug cables (NGK silicon plugs; the expensive crap, not the cheap ebay crap.) and pulled he plugs. They were all drenched in fuel. Got a rag and dried them off, used 1000 grade sandpaper and sanded the excess carbon deposits off. Did it for all four plugs and replaced them.
Tried staring again, it went back to the same state it was yesterday: firing on only 2 cylinders.
Pulled the plugs again and 1 and 2 were drenched with fuel again. Although 3 and 4 seemed to be firing okay, they were also a bit wet.

Summary:

1. The car was running awesome until I washed the engine last week and now it runs like crap and on 2 cylinders.
2. Dizzy cap and rotor were replaced and are brand new.
3. Plugs were replaced last month
4. The spark plug wires are NGK power cables. There was no corrosion on any of them, nor any cracks in the insulation, but they are about 10 years old.
5. All cylinders running pig rich and drenching the plugs, 1 and 2 are not firing at all.

KEEP IN MIND THAT THE CAR RAN GREAT UNTIL I WASHED THE ENGINE.

I suspect that the problem is either
1. the ignitor
2. ignition coil
3. plug wire

anyone have similar any experiences or suggestions? I don't want to have to replace all 3 of these just to troubleshoot.

 

anyone?...Bueller?

 

Still sounds like the distributor.. Those things are tempermental change out the whole thing for one that you know works. Thats your best bet IMO

 

Water in the dizzy or spark plugs?

Edit. Read your whole thread lol. Agree with R Boy. Start with a diff dizzy that works. I had the same prob once and replacing the dizzy fixed it.

 

Did you pull the CELs? You should have at least a 71 and 72 stored.

 

New cap and rotor...no visible h2o anywhere

I have a powe FC, so there are no cels

 

Ah, the Power FC indeed changes that.

I'd wipe down the inside and outside of the distributor with a clean rag just to make sure there isn't any conductive residue. I'd do the same with the plug wires.

 

Measure resistance on plug wires. They can only be removed from the head so many times before they get ****ed up.

 

Well I am planning on buying a cheap set of plugs to see if it fixes anything, but I don't quite see how washing the engine bay would screw them up in the first place. Spark plug cover was on and it wasn't even wet near the plug holes

 

I've hosed my engine before and have gotten water into #2, 4 plug holes while the plug cover and wires where on and intact. I had to just open it up, took a turkey baster and sucked the water out and let it sit for a few days. Mine fired right up with no ill affects after that. Hopefully this is all you did.

Come to think of it, I know of another R owner who did the same thing but his didnt get water into the the plug holes until the very next day while we where at the track.

I learned my lesson and now if I'm engine bay cleaning, a plastic bag goes over the dizzy and top of the valve cover.

 

At the moment, I have removed all of the plugs and cables, in the hopes that any water or gas in the combustion chamber evaporates

 

My bet is on Cam sensor. Unfortunately, that's the last thing in the dizzy you can't replace.

Anyone near by have a spare B-series Vtec dizzy they can let you borrow for a few minutes to test?

Also, just for giggles, have you moved plugs around? Does the wet/firing issue follow plugs?

 

Unfortunately I don't know anyone in my area that has an ITR anymore. Swapping out the whole diz will be that last thing I do. Wires are cheap. Then the coil is next. If alls bad then its time to pull the dizzy

 

If your still over in Japan, I'm sure there are tons of places that will have a B-series Honda dizzy you could try.

The reason I don't think you'll find anything, and waste money on wires is that you have 2 acting up.

The other thing you could try, dizzy related would be the ignitor. While I'm not sure it'll be that, it's worth a shot.

I'd honestly look for Honda junkyards there or places that export to the states. Grab a dizzy and see if that even makes the issue go away.

 

Nope...there aren't that many junk yards in my area...most cars get sold or recycled here

 

damn... good luck with this... in for a resolution...

just pressure washed a motor...... hope i didnt fuxitup!

 

Up because I am facing the same problem...

https://honda-tech.com/forums/forced-induction-16/stuttering-3026257/

 

-Ordered some new spark plug wires, should arrive tomorrow
-Ordered a new OEM ignition coil (couldn't hurt)
-Have my eye on a distributor from an EK9 (if all fails)
-last thing I can think of is bad gas, but it doesn't explain why it ran well before I washed it.

BTW, I didn't dump water on the engine; I sprayed a half a can of degreaser on the engine and wiped it off degreaser wet wipes. I didn't use any water, so I am beginning to believe that it may be a different issue.

 

I'll have a known good distributor this weekend hopefully and will keep you updated .

 

With that being said... double check all vacuum hoses.

 

Could a loose vacuum hose cause this? Because I did have on vac hose that was disconnected but I put it back on so it should be okay. BTW, the vac hose went to the boost controller. I tested it with it on and off ...same results

 

Disconnected vacuum hose can def. cause rough/erratic idle.

 

I doubt this is it, but I will certainly recheck.
Can a loose vacuum cause severe richness in all cylinders to the point where the plugs feel completely drenched?

 

Vacuum can cause the erratic idle, but I don't think it'll cause the plug issue.

I'd also, for giggles re-seat all of the electrical connections in the area you were working on. It's free and worth a shot.

 

Fixed my issue, check my thread and here's to you fixing yours!