Did you check all the parts that are supposed to be inside the distributor were there? It could be the case that a “new distributor” is a part that doesn’t include the coil and igniter, even if they are located under the distributor cap. If that were the case, there’d be no spark.
Yes that is worth a looksie into… Also sometimes wires are in the wrong positions in the pre fabbed up plug and you need to juxtapose some of them sometimes
I would look inside the new unit and be sure connections to the Ignition module or ignitor are tight and all looks well in there…not safe to assume.
Blackbird
I will be stunned if that eBay purchased distributor is bad. I’m not saying that it can’t happen but based on this story as presented I tend to think the distributor is good.
At some point proper diagnostics must take over instead of guessin’ and prayin’.
Guessin’ and prayin’ don’t work? Oh my, that is surely bad news for the folks in Washington DC!! … lol …
OK is correct…I havent had any trouble myself…but a few friend I know have in the past
ALSO…make sure that PGM/Fi “main relay” is healthy… Do you hear the fuel pump prime when you turn the key all the way on?
Blackbird
Checked inside the distributor; the coil is there. Decided to check for spark at the coil, just because. 4 cranks of about 2 seconds each; there was a single spark during the second crank. That surprised me. But did a couple more cranks and nada. Hrm.
Compared wiring between the 2 distributors. All looks OK.
What’s typical cranking speed I wonder? Maybe 400 rpm? It takes two CS revolutions to produce a single spark on one spark plug, each individual cylinder would a spark during cranking at 200 times per minute. 200 times/60 seconds, or about 3 per second for a single cylinder. With four cylinders and checking at the coil, I think that works out to 12 sparks per second at the coil during cranking. So yes, you should be seeing quite a few sparks during a 2 second crank.
In a 99 Honda the distributor and the stuff inside probably doesn’t generate the signal for when the spark is supposed to occur. That’s done by the ECM monitoring the crank and cam position sensors. The ECM sends a signal to the distributor when it is time to fire a spark. So the distributor could be ok, just not getting the “fire a spark now” signals it needs from the ECM. If so, most likely a problem with one or both of the two position sensors, or less likely, and ECM circuit board or wiring/connector problem.
The coil gets constant 12vdc…and is pulsed negative from ecu… If you know the pinouts you can supply the coil with what it is looking for and test it.
Went to a automotive electrical guy yesterday, but he didn’t have a way of testing the distributor off the car.
I’ve located a used distributor at a salvage yard, will go over there when I can.
In the meantime, I decided to check the voltage at the coil. 6 volts! Odd. (13v at the battery, as per usual.) I pulled the wires off the coil so I could check resistance. Spec is 0.6-0.8 ohms between the + and - terminals (primary coil test), and 13.2k - 19.8k ohms between the tower and the hot (secondary coil test).
And…I read 0 between the terminals and 90 between the tower and hot. Is that even possible? This seems like a fairly idiot-proof test…there are only 3 terminals after all. But the numbers I’m seeing are just not at all what you’d expect.
Thats a question for the Service manual… You can locate the test specs on the Easter Net though Im sure. Between the coil and the distributor…your problem will disappear.
Blackbird
The coil is wound as an auto-transformer so the - terminal is the common point for both coils. You read + to - for the primary and tower to - for the secondary. Reading tower to + for all practical purposes is the same as reading tower to - as less than 1 ohm will not show up on a 16kohm reading.
Most ohm meters are not accurate for very low resistances, so a reading of 0 between the two terminals isn’t necessarily a sign of a problem. You’d have to try your ohm meter out on something with a known resistance in that range. Maybe a headlight filament. Also what does it read if you just touch the two probes together?
90 ohms between the high voltage tower and one of the +/- terminals doesn’t sound right, esp if it is supposed to be 15k ohms. Most of the coils I’ve experience are 7 k to 10 k range for the secondary (tower to terminal). So 90 ohms seems like something is wrong there. Maybe double check that measurement.
Edit: Make sure the coil is completely disconnected from the car’s wiring, all terminals, otherwise the resistance tests are not meaningful.
90 ohms between the high voltage tower and one of the +/- terminals would be a fried coil.
Lots of shorted turns. Insulation has broken down and the windings are touching.
Perhaps the coil died in all the excitement. We have advised to replace the distributor and the coil…neither are expensive and its cheap insurance. There should be no issues beyond that being completed. None of this is difficult to achieve…
Blackbird
Thought I’d give y’all an update on where I am with this project, back at it for a bit today…
Got a new distributor in. Installed it, still no spark. Made sure it had ignition coil and all wiring was correct.
So something else is going on. I am back to looking at voltage.
I’m still reading about 7V at the ignition coil, and I think that’s a problem. I found a few sources on this, saying about 10V is normal and 7.5V is minimum.
Possibly unrelated, but there IS a short somewhere in this car, but it’s on a different circuit, the radio/cigarette lighter circuit. Actually, it may be related to the new ecu…need to check that…
Anyway, that’s where I’m at. Trying to check all my resistances and grounds. I really need a better multimeter. Burned my Klein out and I’m stuck with this terrible Craftsman one…
Note: Lest you think my crappy MM is giving me fake Voltage readings, I also have this old Engine analyzer lying around, that has an analog voltmeter on it. Very accurate, used it to test the coil. Too bad it doesn’t do ohms.
New ECU? When did that occur? You need to be CERTAIN that the new ECU is compatible…as Honda played with the “pinouts” on their ecu’s …and they did this often.
I thought you were just installing a new distributor and coil. I must have missed the ECU discussion.
You need to watch the variables that you are introducing here…and methinks there are many at this point in time. My understanding was that you had a running vehicle…and then it didnt run. In that instance a new distributor and coil would have been prudent. I dont know where we are at this point and I am not a fan of the new ecu unless the old one was smoked.
Also make sure the main PGM/Fi relay is functional.
Blackbird