Just DIED won't start

[netbret]

I have a del sol 1.5 that just died while going down the road. The car just turns over and has no spark. I've replaced the cap and rotor and still have the same problem. I removed a wire from the cap and tried to start the car to see if any spark would occur...nothing. Also checked the fuel pump and it appears to be working (heard the pump noise before starting). Any help would be appreciated.

[Xeryon]

You did not snap the timing belt did you?

 

If that is in once piece a good next step is to look at the distributor itself. It is a common failure point on early 90's Honda's.

[netbret]

I was able to crank the engine over and saw the rotor rotating. Does that show that the belt is good? I was thinking that maybe the Ignition Control Module is gone.

[Xeryon]

It would. Since the starter is attached to the flywheel and the only way the rotor would turn is if the top end was turning too.

 

Distributor. Check that before anything else. You might as well pull it off and open it up just to see. I had bearings go out in one of mine once. In that case it was obvious what was bad since the inside was coated in rusty bearing dust. Very common issue and is likely the #1 culprit in firing issues.

[Orca89]

Seems like a general rule of thumb is "If you have engine trouble, check your distributor." Seems to be the culprit 90% of the time on HF.

[whitericer]

i had to replace the igniter i had to replace the one in my sol several times

[lceah]

agreeing with xeryon here...

[Black93Sol]

jus junk it and buy my sol

[cranny]

could be the ICM , but typically , the car will start again when cold , die when hot. could be a coil , as well. its definitely a distributor problem.

[C92hatchX]

she got a DONK!

[chris_agu28]

my del sol did the same thing. it started once. I turned it off, started it again and nothing. Traced it back to the internal coil/ignition module. 80 bucks later for a new one and it runs great now. even a little better then before.

[netbret]

I ended up checking continuity on the coil and the voltage also looked good. The ICM wasn't getting voltage on the tab closest to the one on the side, so I replaced the ICM and still no luck. I figured that instead of throwing more parts at it and wasting more money, I went ahead and took it to a local shop that should be giving me an answer by Monday. I'll keep you posted with the results.

[Xeryon]

I am going to fall over laughing when this turns out to be a whole new distributor fixes the problem.

[cranny]

when you first turn the key to on , does the engine light come on for 3 seconds than go off? and at this time th fuel pump comes on and the injectors prime? if not you might need a main relay.

[netbret]

Well everyone, I got it back today and it ended up being the coil. I asked the company that replaced it why would the coil show voltage and still not function. He replied that even though the voltages were showing, a possible short or an open was existing inside the coil itself. I guess that sometimes things appear to be OK but really are not. So watch out and don't be fooled like I was. Thanks for everyone's input and advice!