Hi there,

I just took apart of my civic 2000 lx intake manifold to clean out. the car has slow acceleration and weak power even with SHELL gas. Idle was fine.

things I cleaned and replaced:
1. clean intake manifold
2. new pcv valve and lcv hose
3. clean fuel injector
4. new fuel filter (I know it is not needed and I did not anyway)
5. new NGK idirium spark plug
6. new gasket from Honda and new coolant

but after I put everything together, the car has problem to start. it will jump to 2000 rpm and quickly dies right away. I can see two smoke rings coming out from TB as shown in the pic. the spark plug turns dirty and the insulator turn black after I pull them out. I apply some high temp anti-seize grease on it and maybe I apply too much. that is what you see on the thread and can be easily cleaned.

any ideas? the engine light is not on and I scan it and found no code.

 

Make sure you have all the harness plugs plugged into the proper sensors. The 3- wire plugs for the MAP and TPS are physically the same. Also all the 2-wire plugs can be swapped too. You will need to look up a schematic and compare the wire colors.

Not connecting the vacuum hose from the manifold to the fuel pressure regulator will make it run rich also.

 

thanks MK378.

the vacuum hose is connected right for sure. MAP and TPS sensor should have different connection port and will double check for sure after work today.

if connector has been misplaced, why no CEL code or engine light then?

 

BEcause its still getting feedback from the incorrect sensor.

 

just check the wire connection and all wires and sensor look ok. just like the one shown below, it is hard to misplace them. both map and tps sensor have the same shape, but the wire length is different and can not be mixed. i also check the wire color with the manal and they are correct.

after i clean the spark plug and put them back. the car start the same and then dies. it does NOT have the smoke like yesterday. but the car shake more violently when dying.

I did not open up the TB and iac and the air intake should be ok.

just wonder if i need to check the fuel line since I changed the fuel filter. should i open the line connecting to the fule rail and see if the fuel squirt out after I turn on the power (not start the car?). just be careful though...

 

throttlebody gasket on correctly? fuel filter correctly installed with the included washers?

 

fuel filter is ok and the fuel line after filter squirts nicely when the power is on (2 seconds delay). the throttle body gasket should be ok since I compare with the pic before take-apart. I test the spark plug today and crank the engine while the body thread of spark plug touchs the car body as ground. the crank sounds normal and there is no spark. just wonder if I test properly or not. heard so many people says the coil is not good sometimes. need to check/test that as next step.

 

To properly test for spark you need an HEI spark tester, [as little as $5 at any auto parts store], testing for spark with a spark plug is not accurate and can easily blow the coil if not done properly.

I would test the coil or install a known working one, [to eliminate it as a possible problem]. 94

 

as shown below, the distributor cap is full of rust dust. after I clean out the corrosion dust on the pins inside the cap, the spark ignites from the test, even it is orange and not bright. the car still does not start after I install the plugs.

then after I opened up the distributor and remove the rusty rotor screw, it show the ignition coil is totally rusty. end up I decide to buy a whole new distrubutor unit. too much to fix it.

do not know if that will fix the start issue...

 

purty sure it throws a cel when it dies.

 

When you replaced the distributor, are you 110% sure you put the spark plug wires in the correct order on the new distributor?

 

have not got the new distributor yet. will make sure the order is right when I set it up.

The spark plug still can be seen (kind of orange, not bright white) before I took apart to check the coil. that is why I did not see the CEL.

hope this weak/worn coil if the root cause of NOT STARTING...

 

Oh I thought you had already replaced the distributor. In that case, the weak spark is very likely to be the issue. Did you use a multimeter and check the resistance of the coil yet?

 

Can not take apart of that PS. It may explain so many issues. car is not strong to go over 70 mph, engine is whining to pass 20 mph, noisy engine, etc.

The shipping is very slow now and my not get the part until next Monday. wait to see after everything is put together.

 

Advanced Ignition Troubleshooting - Team Integra Forums - Team Integra

 

from the looks of it, you have the wrong plugs also.

 

it is iridium type and I double check from NGK website for matching.

 

electrode too small to be the correct plug for a y7

 

here is the plug:

 

got the new distrubutor and put it on. Notice two pins are bent inside the cap. anyway I reused the old cap and the car starts to over 1000 rpm and then quickly dies. the engine shakes violently when it dies and rpm is dropping. this one is with all old plugs.

Then I replace cynlider one to see if it fires or not with clean new plug. when I tried last time with old distrubutor, looks like cynlider 1 was not firing since I can tell the plug is so clean and the other 3 are dirty with small carbon deposit. the result is the same.

but I notice the tip has been bent on this new plug after the test. do not know why.

 

Replace the old crappy plugs, wires, cap and rotor. Then make sure you have installed the plug wires in the proper firing order.

What CEL codes are thrown?

 

the wire order is right and the wire resistence is about 2.2 Kohms for 1 and 2 and 1.6 kohms for 3 and 4. do nor know if need to repalce them right now.

no cel code.

 

Resistance testing plug wires is only informative if the resistance is out of spec. If they are old, just replace them as well as the plugs, cap, and rotor.

Just saying that the wire order is correct is not convincing. Post pictures.

Does the CEL work or are you using a code reader?

 

the plug wire is shown as below and should be ok. I keep the original red circled part in order to make sure I get them right.
I got the new distributor today and the splug test works fine (I took out the plug and plug into the wire and let the splug tip touches the ground body to check the spark while crank the engine).

the fuel pump runs fine with good sound after the power is on (not starting). I tested three times with 1 minute interval.

i do not know if I over-tightening the fuel filter can affect the fuel pressure and fuel injector to no-start?

but the issue is still the same. the car starts and jump to 1500 and quickly dies while shaking. code reader does not show anything.

any idea? thx

 

This video talks about "pulse width" after he changes the spark plug, that means we need to crank more time to get the injector to kick in or other better way to kick in?


my car does not allow me to crank more since it dies quickly and rattle. xo not know if that is the issue or not.