[crdcz03]

so obviously while i was on the dyno VTEC was working perfectly. no CEL's, no engine failure... just perfection

then i go drive down the road on my way home only 10 mins later and i hit vtec in 2nd gear and i get a CEL, the tach goes crazy, and the engine dies.

i know rick already said its prolly something with the ignition but im wondering if it could be ANYTHING else. obviously i want this fixed already, so im wiling to try almost anything.

rick can you tell me exactly what to do to test this stuff? ive got a mostly free day tomorrow so ive got time to do it, i just need to know exactly how.

i took the distributor cap off earlier today and it had a lil bit of rust colored powder which i know is bad, but why would it work on the dyno but not on the street? btw, i got that dizzy like a lil over a year ago and i put less than average miles on my car so i hope that bish hasnt crapped out on me already

 

[tienlude]

u changed your sig.

 

[Jree$e]

did you ever post what happen and the results from your dyno??

 

[crdcz03]

u changed your sig.

when?

 

[crdcz03]

did you ever post what happen and the results from your dyno??

yeah its on like page 3 or 4 of my dyno prep thread

 

[Rick V]

so obviously while i was on the dyno VTEC was working perfectly. no CEL's, no engine failure... just perfection

then i go drive down the road on my way home only 10 mins later and i hit vtec in 2nd gear and i get a CEL, the tach goes crazy, and the engine dies.

i know rick already said its prolly something with the ignition but im wondering if it could be ANYTHING else. obviously i want this fixed already, so im wiling to try almost anything.

rick can you tell me exactly what to do to test this stuff? ive got a mostly free day tomorrow so ive got time to do it, i just need to know exactly how.

i took the distributor cap off earlier today and it had a lil bit of rust colored powder which i know is bad, but why would it work on the dyno but not on the street? btw, i got that dizzy like a lil over a year ago and i put less than average miles on my car so i hope that bish hasnt crapped out on me already

i dont have the coil or ignitor test procedures for 4th gens. its different for you guys because your coil and ignitor are inside the distributor housing. dont you work at honda or something? you should get the test info from them and check it out. all the tests are simple and only require checking for continuity and ohms with a multimeter between terminals.

if anyone here has a 4th gen service manual i hope they can chime in

here is what i would do if i were you.

test the coil per manual, if the coil is bad its going to show high ohms between certain terminals or continuity between terminals where it shouldnt. coil failures are usually very obvious. all the thing basically is, is a bunch of wires wrapped around each other. that being said there arent to many ways for it to fail except hard and fast.

if the coil checks out fine which i can honestly say it should then move on to the ignitor. testing the ignitor is just as easy as testing the coil. the only problem is alot of times ohm and continuity tests wont show a bad ignitor. personally i would get one of your buddies over there to let you borrow thier ignitor and see what happens. the tach signal is basically generated by the ignitor and most ignitor failures will result in a crazy tach and the car dying. if you didnt know allready the ignitor is the thing that tells the coil to fire. its the ignition control module. when your mechanic suggested the ignitor i really think he was dead on with this one.

sorry i couldnt be more helpfull on the specific steps but hopefully you can get a manual and test this stuff and maybe get someone to lend you thier ignitor for an hour or two.

oh and it is very possible for it to show its problem on the street and not the dyno because of load conditions.

 

[crdcz03]

i dont have the coil or ignitor test procedures for 4th gens. its different for you guys because your coil and ignitor are inside the distributor housing. dont you work at honda or something? you should get the test info from them and check it out. all the tests are simple and only require checking for continuity and ohms with a multimeter between terminals.

if anyone here has a 4th gen service manual i hope they can chime in

here is what i would do if i were you.

test the coil per manual, if the coil is bad its going to show high ohms between certain terminals or continuity between terminals where it shouldnt. coil failures are usually very obvious. all the thing basically is, is a bunch of wires wrapped around each other. that being said there arent to many ways for it to fail except hard and fast.

if the coil checks out fine which i can honestly say it should then move on to the ignitor. testing the ignitor is just as easy as testing the coil. the only problem is alot of times ohm and continuity tests wont show a bad ignitor. personally i would get one of your buddies over there to let you borrow thier ignitor and see what happens. the tach signal is basically generated by the ignitor and most ignitor failures will result in a crazy tach and the car dying. if you didnt know allready the ignitor is the thing that tells the coil to fire. its the ignition control module. when your mechanic suggested the ignitor i really think he was dead on with this one.

sorry i couldnt be more helpfull on the specific steps but hopefully you can get a manual and test this stuff and maybe get someone to lend you thier ignitor for an hour or two.

oh and it is very possible for it to show its problem on the street and not the dyno because of load conditions.

i have a manual sitting right behind me that i can use. does it have to be an h22 ignitor? b/c ive got about 3 preludes in the driveway right now :wow one is mine and the other 2 have h23's. i checked part numbers on ignitors yesterday at work and they were all the same so im assuming i can just use one of theirs.

but even if it is the ignitor... why would it work fine on the dyno and then screw up on the road 10 mins later?

 

[Shibby H22A]

i had a similar problem you had but except that i didnt get a CEL. that happened in Arizona a couple times. hell my car had so much bad luck in Arizona..

my tach problem did keep coming up, it was at like high rpms and it would bounce back and forth fast, but there was no difference in engine speeds. engine did die on me once in az and once in Nebraska.

my thought is that i messed up the coil because i once did not put the connector in all the way until it clicked, and i drove off and i had some serious problem just like you told me and had Cel, then after 2 miles from my place it just died and would not start up. finally it did start up again, drove it back home and just 1/2 mile frm home it died and would not start up for like 1 hour. finally found out that the connector was not fully in. so i plugged it back in and it fired up and drove home. after that i kept getting rpm bouncing problems, but no cel or engine dying on me. I never solved that problem because i sold her a few months later wheni got back to MN.

i think it might be the coil. i am not so 100 percent sure.

 

[Rick V]

i have a manual sitting right behind me that i can use. does it have to be an h22 ignitor? b/c ive got about 3 preludes in the driveway right now :wow one is mine and the other 2 have h23's. i checked part numbers on ignitors yesterday at work and they were all the same so im assuming i can just use one of theirs.

but even if it is the ignitor... why would it work fine on the dyno and then screw up on the road 10 mins later?

if you have 3 good preludes in the driveway right now then your doin great. grab the coil out of one and put it in, drive, if its good there is your problem.

if it still does it swap in an ignitor and try again.

those parts should be interchangeable and you said the ignitor part #'s are the same allready. the coils should be exactly the same also.

try them and let us know.

and like i said before the problem can manifest itself on the street and not on the dyno because the load conditions and other factors are different between the two.

 

[crdcz03]

i just took off the distributor cap and rotor and my dad said that the ignitor is the "old style" (which according to him is brown... not sure what the new style looks like lol)

so im just going to have him get me one tomorrow since he can get them cheaper than i can. hopefully i can have it by tuesday night :tu

i would try out my dads or the other car's ignitor but i doubt my dad would be happy with that just b/c thats how he is lol.

 

[98vtec]

i just took off the distributor cap and rotor and my dad said that the ignitor is the "old style" (which according to him is brown... not sure what the new style looks like lol)

so im just going to have him get me one tomorrow since he can get them cheaper than i can. hopefully i can have it by tuesday night :tu

i would try out my dads or the other car's ignitor but i doubt my dad would be happy with that just b/c thats how he is lol.

bout damn time bish


nice #'s btw

 

[Rick V]

i just took off the distributor cap and rotor and my dad said that the ignitor is the "old style" (which according to him is brown... not sure what the new style looks like lol)

so im just going to have him get me one tomorrow since he can get them cheaper than i can. hopefully i can have it by tuesday night :tu

i would try out my dads or the other car's ignitor but i doubt my dad would be happy with that just b/c thats how he is lol.

well thats sucks. shit you only need to borrow it for 10 minutes. and it could save you some money if it ISNT the ignitor and happens to be the coil. ignitors are expensive even at dealer cost cause thats what i get my parts for also. oh welp i guess having a new one couldnt hurt anything besides your wallet.

good luck

 

[crdcz03]

well thats sucks. shit you only need to borrow it for 10 minutes. and it could save you some money if it ISNT the ignitor and happens to be the coil. ignitors are expensive even at dealer cost cause thats what i get my parts for also. oh welp i guess having a new one couldnt hurt anything besides your wallet.

good luck

yeah maybe ill do it without his knowledge tomorrow night. i still want him to order one for me tho :hehe just in case it is.

only problem is that if i hit vtec and it dies again i dunno how to get it started lol. at least ill be close to home this time

 

[BlackShLude]

doe the h23 have a knock sensor ? or do you have a knocksensor hooked up ? cause i know on p72 ecu on ls/vtecs we do if you dont have a knock sensor vtec will engage for little bit and then a cell will come on and the ecu will disable vtec.

also the tach jumping is probably definitely an effect of the distributor i had this problem on my old teg once i took the distritbutor cap off and put dielectric grease on the connections and it fixed it.

 

[Weenie]

doe the h23 have a knock sensor ? or do you have a knocksensor hooked up ? cause i know on p72 ecu on ls/vtecs we do if you dont have a knock sensor vtec will engage for little bit and then a cell will come on and the ecu will disable vtec.

also the tach jumping is probably definitely an effect of the distributor i had this problem on my old teg once i took the distritbutor cap off and put dielectric grease on the connections and it fixed it.

yes the h23 has a knock sensor

when my ignitor went bad the only symptom was that the engine shut right off when the car reached normal operating temp...there was no CEL and no tach problems

youve been dealing with this shit for a while...what a tricky bitch of a problem...good luck man...also check your PMs

 

[crdcz03]

doe the h23 have a knock sensor ? or do you have a knocksensor hooked up ? cause i know on p72 ecu on ls/vtecs we do if you dont have a knock sensor vtec will engage for little bit and then a cell will come on and the ecu will disable vtec.

also the tach jumping is probably definitely an effect of the distributor i had this problem on my old teg once i took the distritbutor cap off and put dielectric grease on the connections and it fixed it.

i have a p28

and its fixed... ignitor was the problem w00t w00t

 

[crdcz03]

yes the h23 has a knock sensor

when my ignitor went bad the only symptom was that the engine shut right off when the car reached normal operating temp...there was no CEL and no tach problems

youve been dealing with this shit for a while...what a tricky bitch of a problem...good luck man...also check your PMs

your pm box is full. heres your answer

they're still laying in my trunk... one day ill install them and make a write up for you