Helping out a friend. Last week he said he was driving fine, and then all of a sudden it started running very bad. It threw a CEL and when he went to the auto store they indicated misfires in multiple cylinders. The next day it would not fire, but it cranked. I took a look at it and the dizzy wires inside were all exposed, plastic/rubber completely came off. I indicated he probably needs a new dizzy. I installed the dizzy, I was not there, I assume it can only go in one way, or 180 out with the key on the end, which I assume if it was 180 out it would not run at all?

Still no fire. Checked spark with spark tool, and nothing. It looks like the IGN fuse in the cab blew. Replaced that and it fired. It runs crappy though. Tried to get the rpms dialed in, with a paperclip in the port under the passenger kick panel as per what I read online. For some reason it would NOT hold a steady RPM in the 700 +- 50 (auto tranny) - it was jumping all around (it was running at op temp). Got it as best as we could, and unplugged the clip, disconnected the battery, waited a little bit, and he took it for a drive, sounded like a lawn mower as he drove away and no power. Turned around down the street cam back and a CEL was on. I don't know what it is, will pull the codes tomorrow. New wires, plugs, dizzy, cap, rotor, etc.

Any ideas, what is going on??? Thanks.

 

Oem distributor or local auto part brand?
check timing.

 

Timing must be set with a timing light after replacing distributor. If you find that you can't get the spark timing right, the timing belt may have skipped, causing cam timing to be wrong. This is a common reason for sudden loss of performance.

 

New Rock auto dizzy, not OEM.

Can anyone link the procedure for setting timing? I assume that my process above was correct with jumping the plug under the kick panel? Thanks.

 

Yes warm up the engine (check engine light must be out), turn off, jump the plug, restart, check engine light should be on steady. Connect timing light to cylinder 1 (closest to timing belt), set dial on light to 0 if equipped, set for the center of the group of 3 marks on the crank pulley.

Do not disconnect the battery unless you have to. Every time you disconnect the battery it will run badly until the ECU recalibrates.

If it runs really badly, check that spark wires are in the right order (1-3-4-2) , check for dead cylinders by unplugging fuel injectors one at a time. Do not unplug spark wires with the engine running.

 

Ok, Friend had battery disconnected for a few hours while checking the timing. Reconnected battery and fired up - no CEL. Firing order is correct, double checked. Checked rpms again tonight, and it was 750 after warming up in park. Dizzy was installed correctly and pointing to #1 at TDC. Idled fine. Friend took it for a drive and said it sounded and performed like a go cart between 0-40 mph. After 40 it smoothed out. It threw a CEL and the codes are P0300 / P0302 / P0300.

Any ideas? Dizzy and plugs are new. Wires are about a year old but look good. Where to go from here? Thank you.

 

Do what he ask of you for the timing.

 

possible defective distributor. aftermarket remans are cat poop

 

new plug wires? new plugs? If its running fine until 40mph that tells me its a lean missfire. take the idle air control valve apart and look for crud on the valve. if it looks dirty, clean it with a wire brush.

 

Thanks. No, it runs crappy and sounds like a go-cart up to 40mph, after that it runs better and smooths out. So at idle fine, from ~0-40 mph crappy, 40+ mph runs good/better... ideas? Thanks.

As a side note, and not sure if related, as this misfire issue did not happen until the dizzy crapped out and blew the IGN fuse (in cab), my friend was too cheap to buy a thermo fan sensor that went out and had the fan switch bypassed for a couple of months until he purchased one - but during this time, up until the dizzy shorted out, the vehicle ran fine, it just had the fan on all the time. So I am not sure if this is related or a separate issue that coincidentally came up during this time. Thanks again.

 

It is an aftermarket, but brand new, not a reman...

 

Hondas are finicky about aftermarket distributor. Sometime work, sometime dont. Most time just give you issues.

 

Ok, thanks. Let's assume that the non OEM dizzy is good. Given that the wires, plugs and dizzy are new, and the symptom description above, how should we proceed, and what should be looked at? Thanks again.

 

So let's review.

1. Car was working OK
2. Started to run badly.
3. Found frayed wires in distributor.
4. Wires must have shorted to ground, blowing the fuse.
5. Engine then will not start.
6. Installed new distributor and fuse.
7. Now back to 2.

Like I said before, need to run a timing light to dial in the distributor timing, If timing doesn't set near the center of the adjusting range, you probably have a skipped timing belt. Once timed OK, then check for dead cylinders.

I don't know what "sounds like a lawnmower" means. If you're saying the car is much louder than it was before this whole breakdown happened, check for holes in exhaust or broken exhaust pipe. Sometimes that can seriously affect performance.

 

Yes, that pretty much sums it up. The sound, sounds like popping farting when giving it the gas from a stop (under load) - but doe NOT sound like that while in park, at idle. Friend said it ran crappy from 0-40 mph and seemed to smooth out once he reached 40+ mph.

Thanks! Can you suggest the steps to check timing? I noticed on the balancer multiple markings, not sure which one to go by. Also do I jump the plug under the kick panel to check timing? How to get a good line of site since the motor mount is in the way? I assume to check after warmup, even though it is misfiring? Won't that throw off he timing, thus the reason when I checked last time the marks were bouncing all over? Thoughts? Thanks again!!

 

Bump!!!

 

distributor. still.

 

Have you checked timing and confirmed it is running on all 4 cylinders?

 

How should I go about checking timing when it seems that the timing marks are jumping all over? Thanks.

 

Confirm it's running on 4 cylinders first, then adjust timing.

 

Spark plug wires took a ****. Runs like a new car!! Thanks for the help!!

 

 

The first post says "new wires" so I don't know what's really going on. It was like pulling teeth to get the OP to do a basic dead cylinder test.

Overall lesson is that bad spark wires can look perfectly fine. They're one of the least reliable parts of the ignition system though, especially aftermarket wires.