91 accord all out died... please help!

[monkeydude3]

Well, I am royally doomed and have the worst luck with cars ever.

So my buddy wanted me to put front brakes (pads and rotors) on his 1991 Honda Accord, LX 4 door 5 speed. Ready to do that. Then he comes to me with the front end all torn up, he pulled in front of someone and they ripped off his bumper and all the lights off the left side and a bunch of other misc. wires. So I did the brakes first. Easy, done.


So I replaced the wires exactly as they are supposed to be. Found out that his turn signal switch is shot too. Oh well, no biggy the head lights work and everything else I rewired works so I'll take it for a drive see how it goes. I had mounted the front end back together the best I can, mind you it's a beater, and I don't do body work, so I did my best to make it cosmetically pleasing.

I get in, start it up. Let it idle about 10 minutes in my driveway since it hasn't seen road time in about three weeks. Start off, 1st gear, 2nd... I coast to the end of my driveway. 1st gear, clutch depressed ready for second and the tach drops to zero. Lose all the accessories (duh). Stop ,try to restart, nothing. Plenty of fuel in the tank. So it's NOT out of fuel.

Luckily, my buddy and his brother drive by, see me standing there like an idiot with the hood popped, and help me push it the block and a half back into my driveway.

She won't start. Cranks over fine. Sounds like a normal engine cranking (IE timing belt is probably fine). A check for spark yields not even a little blink on my tester.

Any ideas? Where do I start? The last time I drove the car was three weeks ago when I did the brakes. Drove fine, drove about 5 miles on it. It sat three weeks while I did the wiring and got connectors together. The wires I was re doing were only for piddle lights and accessories, nothing even remotely related to anything ENGINE related.

I'm thinking something with the dizzy? Maybe ECU? I have no idea, what's common to just suddenly take a crap like that?

Now I'm stuck with my buddy's car, again.

Thank anyone in advance who tries to help me fix this car, or, at least get it running so I can get it out of here.


Any info, please help!

[Shadow1]

i say something with the dizzy. my car did that one day. i was pulling out of a parking lot and it just shut off. wouldnt start back up either. found out it was the ignitor. but im not saying that its whats wrong with yours.

i say its something in the dizzy or the dizzy itself.

[monkeydude3]

Greaaaat....

I read on this thread that these cars chew through a main relay? Would that cause this?

I do hear the fuel pump circulate. Perhaps a fuse may have blown on the ignition setup?

Oye... how do I test the dizzy itself, and this ignitor? Sorry I'm new to playin with this setup.

[newtuner7]

main relay doesnt sound like your problem. i would open that dizzy and take a look at it, you say you arent getting spark, so check all of you grounds esp the thermostat housing ground. thats what i would do first.

[monkeydude3]

okay, i will do. A buddy of mine who works at an auto parts store says it could be the coil itself. A few screws later I took it out... what kind of specification, resistance, should this have and where should I check for it on the coil itself?

My neighbor came over and we hooked up his timing light just to make sure my spark tester was working correctly and his timing light does not blink at all.

[monkeydude3]

Ok, at the T stat housing, there is no ground, as in it's not "bad" just isn't there. The car ran fine before without this ground.

I checked a few things. When I am cranking the engine, there is no tachometer movement at all, not even a flicker while I'm crankin.

I took the coil out, between + and - terminals on it, I have 0.47 ohms, and between positve and the coil wire terminal, I have 7800 ohms. These seem low, am I right, wrong?

I checked at the igniter unit, and we have voltage there. So I'm not really sure what's up. It does sound like maybe a combination of the igniter and the coil are bad? I just want this car outta my driveway but I'm the only "hardcore" car guy in my circle of friends, and I am very generous, so I work on what I can when I can.

[monkeydude3]

I do remember that the engine kind of jerked for a second, tach jumped around and then it died. I think it's the igniter. Where can I get one, is this a dealer only part?

Thanks

[GunRunner]

junkyards are always cheaper...or your local auto parts store should have it.

[monkeydude3]

called the autozone, napa and carquest here. no one has it. There is a junkyard down the block but I gotta wait to hit them up till tomorrow maybe.

Oye


Thanks guys.

I'm pretty sure it's the igniter, are there any for sure ways to tell?

[Shadow1]

most likely thats what it is. my car did the same thing before it decided to crap out on me. lol. at the junk yard it should only cost you about $20-40. the dealer and other places it'll cost you about $110

[GREENCB3]

Its mostly the coil or the igniter.

[monkeydude3]

well if i hit up a junk yard I'll just buy both and cover my butt.

They are not that difficult at all to remove/install, so I should not have trouble getting the parts. I think I'll hit up that junk yard tomorrow.

Thanks for the help guys!

[GREENCB3]

What's the progres on your situation did u hit up the junk yard?

[monkeydude3]

yeah and well I got a igniter out of an integra, tried that, still nothin. Every accord that was there was stripped of none other but the distributor.

I'm at my witts end with this car, it's not mine, I barely have time to scratch my butt as it is, and every minute I put into it is wasted.

I need a book on this and to know what the proper resistance values of the coil and igniter are.

Would low resistance on the coil cause my issue? I'm startin to think that would do it, because it probably has a short inside.

[monkeydude3]

I found a ton of distributors on ebay for about $50-$100.

like this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Genui...spagenameZWDVW

Should I go for it?