91 civic dx wont fire

I have a fully stock 91 civic dx that wont fire.. the engine turns over but theres no spark going to the plugs... i was driving along one day and the engine started to sputter and cough but then it picked up and drove fine again... i went into 7/11 and got a chili dog and got back in the car and when it started it sputtered and coughed a bit but then picked up.... then later that day it did the dame thing at a stoplight... it idled fine while i was sittin at the light but when i stepped on the gas it sputtered and coughed and then died completely... i sat there and tried to start it up for a couple minutes and then it fired and i drove it home.... then the next day it wouldnt start at all... it turns over but there is no spark to the plugs... i replaced the fuel filter/ the plugs/ the distributer cap and rotor and the distributer coil... no cahnge at all.. i checked my ecu and my fuel pump.. both seem to be working fine...

i tested my distributer coil with my multimeter and there is 12 volts going in but nothing coming out the other end where it connects to the distributer cap... i have been looking for a solution to this problem and havent been able to find anything conclusive.. andy help would be great.. this is my only transportation and im plannin on turning it into a sleeper later. the engine is the d15b2 i believe... im thinking it might be a grounding issue... but thats just a rough guess.. any ideas??

weird the same exact thing happend to me. till the car just didnt start at all. the only thing i did was replace the whole distrubitor. i bought a used one for 20 bucks . now mycar runs fine ever since . hope this helps.

Yeah, i'd say its time to invest in a distributor.

crud... i was hopin you wouldnt say that.... the nearest junkyard is about 200 miles away... and i need the car fixed by next weekend for a family function....well thanks a lot tho.

im such an idiot... i went out and tinkered with it a little bit more and discovered that the contact between the distributer coil and the distributer cap had fallen off during installation.... i put it back where it belongs at hopped in the little red beast and fired it up... turns out the only problem was the origional distributer cap.... ooh well at least now i know my coil is good... anyone wanna buy a used distributer coil?? pretty sure it works...

damn car started doin it again.... i just brought it to the shop today.... gawd i cant afford this

My car is doing the exact same thing but my dizzy is 1.5 years old. The weird thing is that it sorta broke down the same way. I took it to one shop and the guy couldn't figure it out so had it towed down to another shop down the street. But hopefully this guy can figure it out since he only works on Hondas. Oh, and I replaced the spark plugs, the ignitor, and the guy who already looked at it tried the stock cap and ignition and it didn't prove to make any difference other than have less arching going on. I pretty much told the Honda dude looking at it now to ditch the Jacobs ignition cuz I think I finally fried something. If it's the dizzy, I might can afford to replace it again, but if it's the ECU I may get one or just slap a "for sale" sign on it...

When you get yours back please post what the issue was... i just got mine back from the shop cause the guy said he drove it and couldnt detect any misfiring.... it seems to only happen if i rev the car high and drive normally after that... i have been driving the car around like a grandma to keep it from misfiring.... one of my friends said it could be a vacuum leak or something like that.... i dont know how to check that... any ideas?? i ws also told it could be the ecu or a sensor.... the ecu is 97 dollars which i dont have... and i have no idea where the sensors are.. i would go purchase a haynes or chiltons manual but i owe my next paycheck to a friend for parts he purchased for me.... im up a creek without a paddle.... any help would be very much appreciated....


Anyone know where i can find a manual for this car online??? i have one for the crx but it doesnt cover my engine.

Try here http://www.binghamtonlife.com/manual/2gsm/default.htm it should have info on your engine even though it's for CRX.

Also, I haven't heard anything from the mechanic yet, and my wife drove by the shop while I was at work and she said it looks like it hasn't even been moved yet. This is the reason why I tried a different shop first... Anyway, I did get my car to idle for a minute prior to the tow guy showing up. I checked for codes and nothing even though I had a code 1 again right after replacing O2 sensor and just prior to car dying on me. I've reset my ECU a thousand times and I think maybe I just totally confused it and now it's dead. I noticed for the passed few months some kind of electrical bogging and misfiring when letting off the gas. I probably should have done a tune up or something and now it's too late. Anyway, I checked for vaccum leaks and found none. I checked all the connections and sensors and they looked good that's why I took the car to a shop so I wouldn't have to spend money on parts I wasn't sure would actually fix the problem. I would really like to know what the hell is wrong with my car though.

My car finally went kaputz and wouldnt start on my way to work tonight.... theres definately a no spark issue... in the morning im gunna tow it to a garage... dammit i wish i could fix it myself.... i hope nobody steals my radio.

Well i fired up te old dodge pickup and towed my car to a garage on saturday... they called today and estimated a new installed distributer at 350.00 which isnt too bad.... thatll bring my grand total of parts and repairs to 600 dollars.... i guess thats alright.... i will have a brand new distributer coil left over from this.... i purchased it for 70 dollars new and will be willing to sell it for 50 bucks.... it was only used for about 2 days.... i also have the used dizzy coul which should still work for 20 bucks... if anyone is interested send me a PM and we can work something out...

i had that same problem.. 91 civic dx hatchback. it died on the freeway and wouldnt start again. i was told the ignitor chip might be fried. so my dad got the ignitor chip from honda for about $100 and it fixed the problem. the ignitor chip is a square piece inside the distributer cap.

yea i was thinking it might be that.... didnt honda make a recall on the igniters in 93?? i think so... im just gunna have them replace the whole thing so i know i have a good one...

i remember reading ignitor chips were recalled but i'm not sure. just honda a call and save the trouble of buying an entire dist.

woh!? $350 is a lot. I got a dizzy from Advanced like a year and a half ago for like $150 w/ a warranty and thought my ignitor messed up so I replaced it (one of the connectors was loose anyway) and still nothing. Been to 2 shops already, one guy says main relay okay but this Honda guy looking at my car says he's going to check main relay and ECU this morning. If it's the ECU, I'm going to need a Si ECU (PM6?) fast!

yea i also hear dthis could be an ecu problem.... what would be a good ecu for an automatic dx with a d15b2?

a 88-91 DX automatic ecu. nothing else will be good for it since its still dual point fuel injected.

anyone know where i could get step by step instructions to convert a d15b2 from dpfi to mpfi??

Well i fired up te old dodge pickup and towed my car to a garage on saturday... they called today and estimated a new installed distributer at 350.00 which isnt too bad.... thatll bring my grand total of parts and repairs to 600 dollars.... i guess thats alright.... i will have a brand new distributer coil left over from this.... i purchased it for 70 dollars new and will be willing to sell it for 50 bucks.... it was only used for about 2 days.... i also have the used dizzy coul which should still work for 20 bucks... if anyone is interested send me a PM and we can work something out...

$350 to put in a new distributor in a DX!!!!! HOLY Fu<kin christ!!! dude you are gettin' anally d here. everytime i see something like this it es me off. That dizzy costs less than $200 dollars brand new...and he is charging you almost $150 dollars to put it on? It's gonna take about 15-20 minutes to put a new dizzy on!!! I feel bad for people like you...always gettin takin advantage of!!! I guess that's how these so called "mechanics" make there money. I HATE fu<kin mechanics! I charge people around here $300-$400 to do a whole motor swap including the wiring!!! LOL! You can pick up a dx dizzy for like $5-$100...depending on whose selling them.... Those things are about as useful as a pile of rocks to me...I've got like 4 of them just sitting in my garage.

Does ur car have a check engine light on? If so what code is it? I would definitely say that it's ur distributor and not ur ECU...very unlikely. BTW...you're hearing this from a guy that has NEVER come across a Honda or Acura that I couldn't fix and get running....

well he also changed the timing belt and id a few other things to it.... im not too mad about being taken.... i have poured so much money into this so far i just want my car running again..... im not getting any codes from the ecu or a check engine light...

ugh i finally managed to borrow enough money to pick up my car and there closed till monday.... dangit i miss the little speck

i got my car back today..... runs like a brand new car..... the bill hurts quite a bit... had to borrow the money to get t back but at least i have my car...... it was the dizzy afterall.... i have a dizzy coil for sale to anyone who wants it................... Sure feels different than the 77 ram with a 318 i have been driving around..... i wish we could have a v8 in our cars..... without heavy modifications :P

Mine was the dizzy too...