See if you can solve my problem.

car is a 88 crx hf with an integra 93 integra xsi engine in it. car has been converted to obd1. i know the ecu is good, the battery is charged. i have replaced the ignitor, coil, rotor, and cap. i know i have power getting to the distributor. im not sure how strong the signal is though. by the way, the battery has been relocated to the trunk. im 99.9% that i have all the grounds needed (valve cover, tranny, wire harness grounded to thermo housing, and i have a separate ground from the thermo housing going to the body just for extra grounding.
when i try to crank it though it seems to be alot stronger sounding. infact while i have one of the spark plugs out of the cylinder as i crank it i can see a spray of gasoline coming out (just one spray) and then when i turn the key back out of accessory it actually seems like it turns the other way, such as a bit a tension was let off of the crank. if i could only get spark im positive it would crank. im pretty sure this problem is something stupid so if anyone has any idea just let me know.

hey , you said

"if i could only get spark im positive it would crank. "

so your not getting any spark? if your postive your distributor is firing, its your wires, test them for spark or resistance.

how old are the wires?

but if you spark plugs are firing it could be something else i want to state. you did say if you could get spark.... let us know whats up with your distrib or wires....

do you know how to test the wires?

the thing is is that im just not getting any spark. when i say im getting power to the distributor thats exactly what i mean and nothing else. you know where you plug the wires up to connect the distributor to the wiring harness. ive used a test light and saw that i was at least getting power from there. but im not sure if its even making to the wires. like i said i know the ignitor and coil are good. but is there anything else that could cause me a problem in the distributor that im just overlooking? i think ill be trying some new wires and spark plugs soon.

also is there any way to test a ground and make sure its doing what it should be doing? thanks for all the help thus far.

what kind of wires did you use to relocate the battery to the trunk?

Did you do a voltage drop test on the wires?

What's the voltage on the battery before and during you crank?

if i remember the correct name i believe it was 0/OT. also can the voltage drop test with a multimeter?

also, how exactly do you do the voltage drop test?

replace your dist with a friends known working dist and see if it works

are you getting a code of any kind ?

about the dist. what exactly is it that might not work if i changed the ignitor and the coil. i hear everyone say to try a different distributor but what exactly goes bad in a distributor to where it just wont work anymore.

also. im getting a full cel. which means bad ecu/limp mode, but i put it in my girlfriends 93 civic ex and it started it right up so i know my ecu isn't bad.

and does anyone have a link to a site that shows you how to test the coil/ignitor just so i know i did it right. thanks

so your getting a CEL, check to see what code it is

also check your connections at the dist, maybe its loose.

and the bearings in the dist could have gone bad, do you have a tach ? does the needle bounce all over the place ? like we all been saying, go out get a friends or go to a shop and see if they have one you could borrow and try and switch it and see if it works

yeah its a cel that stays on constantly. this crx is converted to obd1 so i have a switch which will actually activate the cel to turn on. also just for some past history on what the car was doing when i first put the motor in i had both fuel and spark. the only thing was i had a major fuel leak. so i fixed that and finally when i got the proper fuel line i had lost spark. do you think that the bearings could go bad that fast? also, if i were to trade out the distributors what car should i look for to see if it will work the same?

yes i do have a tach but my car doesn't start? would it bounce all over if it didn't start anyways?

i thought the 93 xsi is a b16, so i would say look for any b series obd1 dist