Car wont start, ignitor? Integra dc4 q.

[NAY]

I know this has been covered a bit, but not quite in this way.

The 57 year old neighbours DC4 has been acting up a bit lately (yep has the same car).
Shortly after getting a timing belt, water pump etc done, it has had a noticable miss at idle. The engine visually and audibly has a noticable miss.

I wanted him to take it straight back to where it went but he didn't get around to it. I had a quick eye over at the time and all the plug leads weren't pushed fully down, this fixed the idle to a degree but not entirely. Fast forward two months and its become my problem.

Started with the basics, new plugs and checked the ignition timing. Ignition timing was spot on and changing the plugs made no difference.

Today I was doing a bit more troubleshooting. Measured resistance across leads, all good. I tried the good old fashioned test of pulling one lead at a time. First one the rpm dropped a bit, plugged that back in and tried the second one. As soon as i pulled the second one the car died entirely.

When we went to restart it (with lead back on) it made a bit of a pop and died completely. Now it wont start at all, cranks over but no spark. With an inductive timing light on any of the plug leads there is no detectable pulse.

I figured it might be coil but the primary and second resistance are 1.0 and 12.0k ohm respectively (in spec yes?). All fuses are good and i measured across the major ones involved.

So to the question -> Is it possible i might have killed the ignitor by pulling the lead. I spoke to the mechanic in question and he said he would have done the same test ie. pulled leads to note a dip/ no change at idle. Do they fail spontaneously or is possible it might have been on the way out already and pulling the lead finished it off?

Anywhere else i should be looking?

I feel bad for killing his car, i think a mechanic is coming tomorrow. Last time i do a favour!

I was going to try a coil swap from the gf's dc4 but the screw on the rotor is a tad stuck so thats not an option.

[CRXer]

yeah the coil is in spec,but down a little on the secondary.

i had a lead fall off the dizzy not long ago & it killed my ignitor,so be careful just pulling leads while motor running,it can also kill your coil.

before u try cranking it again & kill the coil,possibly,cast a very suspicious eye at the ignitor & replace it first.

[CRXer]

just one more thing ,

put your multi(ohms) across all the ignitor terminals & post up the results,i might be able to tell u whether its dead or not.

[dsp26]

yeah the coil is in spec,but down a little on the secondary.

i had a lead fall off the dizzy not long ago & it killed my ignitor,so be careful just pulling leads while motor running,it can also kill your coil.

before u try cranking it again & kill the coil,possibly,cast a very suspicious eye at the ignitor & replace it first.

Is that what did it? Coz i've got the OPs problem now too... thought it was a misfire... looks like i'll be ordering the spare off ebay sooner after all :/

[CRXer]

Is that what did it? Coz i've got the OPs problem now too... thought it was a misfire... looks like i'll be ordering the spare off ebay sooner after all :/

stopped car,
tried to restart 30mins later,
car wouldnt start after 5 attempts of like 5sec cranking,
got out popped the bonnet & discovered number 3 lead hanging off the dizzy,
put lead back on & tried to start car again,nothing.
dead coil & ignitor.

it was either that or a massive coincidence.

[string]

The ignitor will exclusively fail in random ways and at unpredictable times. I base this completely upon my own experience of 1 failing ICM (very random).

[NAY]

Thanks for the help.

If the mechanic can't cast a magic eye over it I will look at ignitor. He was fairly confident that was the problem too.

Its funny, i race karts and know not to pull a plug lead while its running or turning over but I did it without a second thought on the car, that will teach me!


The owner has also stated it will never start for about a minute after he stalls it anywhere, which im wondering if this could have been due to a dying igniter. The gf's dc4 is fine after stalling.

[ralph_ef9]

do a compress test to each cylinder first cus u pull the 2nd lead then the engine dead..
there must be 1 or 2 cylinder is not working or bad working
if the pressure reading is all the same....check fuel system like injector..
u cant start the car after the engine is dead cus the spark plug was wet with fuel..
take it easy my friend and good luck!

[NAY]

Confirmed definitely no spark today.

Im guessing igniter but the neighbour is going to get onto his mechanic to find a solution tomorrow.

Whats the best solution, igniter for about $100 or an american ebay complete distributor for $150us delivered? Anyone had any experience with these. The part number it lists as the replacement for is correct for the australian one, guessing it should be fine.


I also did some searching and someone suggested that high resistance e.g. failing leads can make igniters fail. Is it then plausable that pulling a plug lead (huge resistance) can have the same effect?

[ralph_ef9]

Confirmed definitely no spark today.



all of them?
alarm lock...main relay...coil....
man thats bad luck ayy!

[g_kn]

check the dizzy cap if you get any readings first, if not then its rather your cap or your actual dizzy.

[dsp26]

Confirmed definitely no spark today.

Im guessing igniter but the neighbour is going to get onto his mechanic to find a solution tomorrow.

Whats the best solution, igniter for about $100 or an american ebay complete distributor for $150us delivered? Anyone had any experience with these. The part number it lists as the replacement for is correct for the australian one, guessing it should be fine.


I also did some searching and someone suggested that high resistance e.g. failing leads can make igniters fail. Is it then plausable that pulling a plug lead (huge resistance) can have the same effect?

I ordered this for AU$68 delivered and 3-5 day express mail :D
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280250900158&rd=1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280250900158&rd=1)

thats for the vtec one though, yours would probably look like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-Honda-Accord-Civic-Acura-Ignition-Module-Igniter_W0QQitemZ280249656234QQcmdZViewItem?hash=i tem280249656234&_trksid=p3911.m14.l1318



stopped car,
tried to restart 30mins later,
car wouldnt start after 5 attempts of like 5sec cranking,
got out popped the bonnet & discovered number 3 lead hanging off the dizzy,
put lead back on & tried to start car again,nothing.
dead coil & ignitor.

it was either that or a massive coincidence.
Jason it makes sense.

My issue started happening after i changed my rotor with my other legit misfiring issue. i had left the coil plugged in to power but disconnected from the cap, i was cranking the car to rotate the rotor to access the screw. Now when i drive i get random cutouts, engine would literally die but start again before it reaches 0rpm... too scared to rev my car past 3000rpm. was on an m7 onramp yesterday and i tried revving it.. cutout and engine light went on (limp mode i think), wouldn't let me rev past 4000rpm.

Stupid lazy mistake ****ing!!!! and one of my kill switches was wired to the coil power line too.. all i had to do was switch it off

[kerim]

i had similar problem, no spark at all, changed the dizzy with a brand new ICM, still same problem. changed the main relay, and worked fine. Try changing the main relay over with one that works

[ralph_ef9]

thats what im saying...just test the coil if its good then change the main relay...
i think it just under ur steering wheel above the brake padle....