'90 CRX Si:

stock, no mods, 230k miles

Six months ago installed new spark plugs, plug wires, cap and rotor, battery and negative battery cable. Ran smoother, but no other noticeable change.

A few weeks ago the engine started missing at idle. At first the miss would go away when moving. The miss progressed to while driving and got to the point where it would actually buck a bit going down the road, especially under hard acceleration.

I started by changing the fuel filter, no change.
I installed a new O2 sensor, no change.
I installed a new coil, the old one had a lot of corrosion at the contact point, no change.
I suspected a possible main relay problem, turn on the key and I hear the fuel pump prime and the relay click when it's ready. So, it seems O.K.
I mentioned to my wife (who is pretty mechanical) that it has been going through more oil than usual in the last few months, she said, "head gasket, change it out now and do the timing belt while you're at it."

So, I did new head, intake, exhaust, valve cover, and spark plug tube gaskets following all torque specs to the letter. Installed new timing belt being VERY careful not to change the timing positions. NOW IT WON'T START!!! It turns and occasionally it will try to fire then it lets out what I would describe as a soft backfire.

I have triple checked all the electrical connections and vacuum lines disconnected during the above process. There doesn't seem to be anything amiss, other than the fact that it won't start.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions I haven't tried?

Thanks,
Sean

 

iv been through this problem..and heres the thing..i replaced the coil in the distrubutor and still didnt work...well you gotta repace the whole distributor...once i did it started right up and no more back fires.....the symptoms i had were if i gased it slowly it would drive ok but kind of miss fire and if i stepped on it hard it would back fire loudly and run super shitty...so my point is replace the whole distributor and see what happens

 

i can almost guarantee that will work cuz trust me i replaced the coil and still ran like ****..untill i got the new dsitributor

 

Sounds logical, especially since it still has the factory distributor.

Next question... do I NEED to pay $520 for a Honda OEM Dist. or will an aftermarket Cardone unit for $160 (via eBay) work just as well?

 

Or... i found a Richporter Technology unit for $170. The Richporter Technology seems to have better reviews than the Cardone.

Any input?

 

My first thought was also distributor because I had 2 bad distributors in the same week. "New" doesn't guarantee "defect free." My 1st bad distributor had the constant missing just as you described. I could drive it lightly but would miss lightly....if I drove it hard, it would miss hard... Some days it would not accelerate at all, and some days it would not even crank.

Just to ask, are you getting any fuel and spark...don't overlook the obvious. Also, did you verify TDC with cylinder at TDC when doing the timing belt?

 

Yeah... I guess I left those off the checklist.

Fuel... check.
Spark... check.
TDC... Cylinder 1 at top of stroke; cam pulley "TOP" mark at top, alignment lines even with gasket surface of head, and "7 o-clock" line lined up to pointer... check.

Thanks for asking! Cheers!

 

7oclock?? Again, I am no master mechanic, but I just changed my water pump & timing belt on my D15b1 today...on the D15b1, the crank timing mark is roughly 1oclock, and the cam pulley lines up like yours. I don't even know what engine you are using, but the "7oclock" makes me wonder.... Just double check your specs and be sure it is right.

Other than that, I can vouch for Distributor missing/no-start problems, even if you don't have a check engine light. If you do buy a new distributor, there are some that need 2 wires swapped (I recently read this on the forum)....just keep this in mind if you put in a new dizzy and it still wont start.

 

Update…

Bought a NEW (not refurbished) distributor assembly. Battery was dead, so I jumped it off my Prelude. It started, but I quickly realized I forgot to hook up the fuel return hose. Shut it off, hooked up the hose and went into the house to wait for the fuel to evaporate off the floor and out of the engine compartment (not taking any chances with my luck so far). Came back out and started it up. Running smooth! Unhooked the jumper cables, walked around to pull it out of the garage, the instant I touched the door handle it died (I think the timing was a coincidence). Jumped it again… all it would do is crank. Pulled all the plugs, all pistons are wet with fuel. Left the plugs out while I went to get a new battery (sick of jumping).

Put it all together, good crank, no start. Being by myself, it’s a pain to check for spark, but I figure “no spark” is a safe assumption. Went thru and checked all the applicable fuses, all the plug connectors, all three grounds, nothing. Never got a CEL code! Checked the voltages and resistances in the distributor and coil, all are within spec. Double checked the mechanical timing thinking maybe the belt slipped a tooth, nope.

Out of sheer frustration I walked away!

Summer got too busy to get back to it…

Went back to it tonight and decided to check for spark by hooking up my timing light to each plug wire in turn. Yup! No flash = no spark on all four. In case anyone wonders, here is the plug order I hooked up on the dizzy…

3 4
1 2

Anything I didn’t check? Any suggestions? PLEASE tell me it’s NOT the ECU!!!!!!!!!

 

Ground wire not connected? I finished a head gasket on a '97 4runner 2 weeks ago. Once I got everything back together it started once then died. It would crank after that and not fire back up. Found a loose ground wire after 5 cigarettes and 30 minutes of staring at the damn thing. Good to go after that.

 

Yeah, checked all three.

 

this video worked wonders for me.