Hi,
Daughter-in-law was driving her 1990 Integra GS 3-door (VIN below) on highway last night and she says that it simply shut off at highway speed and showed dashboard lights. Coasted to shoulder of road. I had it towed home.

I hear the fuel pump when I turn the key. It cranks but doesn't start. Did not look at the codes yet. Ideas so far? I am guessing distributor, but how to diagnose?

 

Check for spark at the plug. easiest way to check coil. You can get further into it with a multimeter, but keep it simple first.

 

could be the igniter/coil. confirm spark then fuel i'd check timing also.

 

I will go with coil or ICM, [igniter] common problem on older Honda/Acura especially if they are still the original coil and ICM. 94

 

Thanks for suggestions. Here's the story. I measured ohms on the coil and the new coil on the new distributor I ordered (!). Same. As I had the coil out of the distributor, I touched the rotor and noticed that it spun freely on the shaft. The set screw had fallen out! It must have then fallen into the engine when I removed the dist cap. Found it easily, put it back in with blue thread locker, Car started and ran like before.

I hadn't checked that set screw when I went over the car to make it a daily driver, because I sure didn't think that I needed to check that the rotor was securely fastened to the dist shaft.

Dave

 

Can't say HOW MANY damn times that's happened to me !! only thing is it's happened to me at 8K+ RPM's so I've been out 2 whole distributers so far lol. glad you got it all fixed up.

 

honda really dropped the ball on the distributor rotor.

99% of cars use a D cut shaft that tge rotor snaps on to. I dont get why honda thought a set screw was a good idea...


Posted from Honda-tech.com App for Android

 

just had the same problem on my gitls 97 integra it would shut off n not start back up for at least 10 mins i tried alot of things and it ended up being a bad ignition controll module you can fint that inside ur distributor im pretty sure thats ur problem here gl man

 

Yep, on some vehicles those 2 will get you going 99% of the time. The good thing is that they're worth taking the shotgun approach on, since a garage will charge at least that much just to bring it in the door. A spare of the other wouldn't really be a bad thing to have either. On some cars like the older GMs, I wouldn't drive anywhere that I didn't mind walking home from, without a spare module in the glovebox.

The set screw sure wasn't a great design. On the coil, I've come across a few bad ones that ohm out fine, since the problem happens when they heat up. Good to hear that it was a simple one, and that you actually found the screw!

 

My 1990 acura integra LS showed the orange engine light for the first time since I have had it and just shut off going down the highway. I waited about ten minutes and it started right up. Are you saying that I could still have a bad ignition control module. And if so about how much do they cost?

 

sounds like a main relay.

http://techauto.awardspace.com/mainrelay.html

might as well buy icm and coil you'll need eventually.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,7172

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,7060

those are for a 95 so you'll need to enter your model.

http://www.team-integra.net/forum/bl...eshooting.html

http://www.spooledupracing.com/downl...als/FSM/Honda/