Ignition problem?

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stinky

New Member
On my '90 Civic...I've posted before https://hondaswap.com/civic-crx-ef/crazy-thing-doesnt-run-512657/

But, I just changed the fuel pump relay and it tuns like a champ for 2-3 weeks or so. I feel bold and take it to Vegas (525m away). It still runs like a champ, on the way there.
I leave the hotel, and pull out onto the street and about 400 yards from the hotel it is like somebody turned the key off, for an instant, say a second or so. Then, I go to stop and it dies and immediately starts back up. I get on the strip, leaving town and it starts acting funny and dies another 5X or so, and always starts up immediately.

I leave town and right on the edge of town it dies. I coast to the edge of the freeway and it won't start. I pop the cap on the dizzy and look in there...nothing abnormal and I think that the coil doesn;t feel hot. I put it together and it fires right up. Then, I put 100 miles on it and it runs fine, getting 39.6 MPG. But, I notice that it misses going up hill.

I gas up and 150 miles or so later it dies...going up hill. I pull over and go to sleep as it is about 2am. I wake up in two hours and am cold...it fires immediately. It still misses going up hill and only gets 30mpg. (I did climb 5000 feet though)

When I get home, I go by the office and unload some stuff. I get about 100 yards and it dies. I pop the hood and check it to see if the FP is moving the gas, and the disconnected line flows plenty of fuel. I hook it back up, and it again fires immediately. Also, on the trip, it probably does the dying, for a second and then restart, on its own thing, at least 5, if not 10 times. On this stage it gets 33. I think that the MPG fluctuation can be explained by the hills, but who knows.

It cranks really fast, as if there is no drag on the starter, and seems like it is almost going to start, but doesn't.

The plugs are fresh and there are no leaking ignition wires in the dark. But, I bought a new set as they were only 8 bucks.

I'm thinking of changing the complete distributor as a local boneyard has one for $75 and it would have a module and a coil in it and they are my prime suspects. Is that a bad idea?

A module is about 80 at Napa, and I didn't price Autozone. Rockauto is, I think $45, w/o shipping or discount).
 
my old crx did something like this, except it didnt always start back up right away, and it was the ignition module
 
Well, I just put the new dizzy in and it fired immediately. We'll see if it works. When I pulled the D off and looked at it, the old rotor screw fell out. I also noticed that it was missing a screw on the coil, that doesn't seem to matter, and on the module, there is a wire loom clamp that is missing a screw, and it may possibly ground the module. It is also a rebuilt D...it has the markings painted on it saying REMAN. Also, there was no plastic shield inside the cap (bfd?). It had a Honda coil in it. But, the module is dif. We'll see how things go from here.
 
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