I drive a 1988 Honda CRX Si with a beautiful ZC in it.

I'll start from the beginning.

***disclaimer*** This is gonna be a long post.

Had problems with hesitation, decided to take advantage of Advance Autoparts Distributor Warranty I had. The part came in, decided to swap it out right there on the spot in the parking lot, numbered the plug wires to make sure they were right.
Proceeded to take out the distributor and replace it, had the new one in, Car did not fire up. Was boggled, so I tried possibly every different combination of plug wires in the event I/my friend with me, screwed up. To no avail, it still did not start.
We removed and reinstalled the Distributor numerous times, but nothing.

We even took the plug wires off his car, b18 91 rex, and still nothing. Then to a last resort we tried to push start it. Absolutely nothing. Touched the manifold on different occasions, not even remotely hot. Apparently not getting any spark. so I dash in before the store closes and get my old Dizzy back, in the hopes there's something wrong with the one they gave me to replace. Still nothing, now mine doesn't work. Eventually I had to tow it home. The next day, I ran and got brand new cap and rotor and tried that. Absolutely nothing.

Now, the car begins to crank but just won't start. I can't think of what else it could possibly be...
Btw, I am not getting any codes whatsoever and I'm definitely getting fuel. I'm puzzled.


Anyone out there ran across or have an idea or guess as to what it may be?


Cliff notes..no spark apparently, push start won't work, neither new nor old Dizzy working, and no codes

 

mines doing something like that i cant figure it out ether if get it fixed let me know thanks. sorry for the no help thing.

 

sounds like your Distributor is not sending any spark to your leads.

have you tried pulling the spark plug wires, cramming a long screw driver into the end, setting it on your valve cover, and watching for an arc when you try to start the car?

it could be that something was bad with both of them. BUT, maybe you have a wiring problem. you should check your internal Distributor connections against a Helms manual and see what you find.

sure all of your fuses are good? checked all your grounds?

 

Tried the spark plug thing, friend pulled it out and touched it against the valve cover, no spark no nothing.

Does anyone know the sequence of wires, just wanna make sure I got this right, on the valve cover its right to left starting with 1, and on the distributor its from bottom left to right 1, 2 then top left to right 3, 4

is that correct?

 

if you arent getting any spark using the "screw-driver/valve cover" method, then knowing the correct firing order for your spark plugs isnt going to help. no spark still equals no spark no matter what order you use.

sounds to me like either you have a Distributor problem, or the wires running to the distributor maybe at fault.

 

hmm Is it possible the ground has gone bad underneath the Distributor by the thermostat?

I'll check it in the morning, that would actually explain alot if that were it. Because I've been through 2 Dizzy's and used 2 wires, can't think of anything else it could be.

 

Anyone have any idea what may be causing this

I've checked ground, twice. tried 3 different distributors checked wires, I still have power inside the cabin, accessories working fine. no codes, checked fuses all seem well, specifically fuse 50a was in tip top shape.
possibly going to yard on saturday to find a new harness

I'm in dire need of some suggestions as to what else it could be.

 

Maybe your cam broke? Check where the Dizzy meats the cam to see if everything is in one piece...