91 Civic runs rough after timing belt fix

[xmsfly]

91 Civic Dx broke timing belt as car was rolling into home driveway. Mechanic tested compression and whatever else to determine that there was no catastrophic damage done. Replaced belt, water pump, plugs & wires (cheap wires, but new), valve cover gasket&grommet kit, dist. cap & rotor, and replaced distributor with a used one. Car ran fine for days but no trips longer than 30 min.. Went to make a 3 hr. trip and only got 2 and a half hours into it and made a pit stop and the car was running really rough then died. Felt motor "jumping" periodically before stopping, like a miss? After over an hour it would start back up and stay idling, seemingly smoother than it was, so continued on and made it the last 26 miles to destination. It didn't get back to the real rough running but it was still "jumping" regularly along the way. It's my daughters car and she was headed back to college when this happened, so it's sitting there now....3 hours away. Wondering what part or parts to take with me, or just drag it back home to investigate things. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks

[H4Bangin]

drag it back, it could be that distributor, could be the tensioner.... make sure the belt didnt jump... theres alot it could be

[xmsfly]

Originally Posted by H4Bangin

drag it back, it could be that distributor, could be the tensioner.... make sure the belt didnt jump... theres alot it could be

Yea, that's what I'm thinking, just get it back here first. But wouldn't it run terrible all the time if belt had jumped, not just when driven a long way?

[DownToGround]

could just be a plug wire

[danielsatur]

Or injector wire!

[xmsfly]

Originally Posted by DownToGround

could just be a plug wire

Haven't got the civic towed home yet, but did go visit daughter today and was able to check a couple simple things. Only obvious issue was those cheap ($20) plug wires. They weren't "snapped" onto dist. cap at all, and couldn't get them to. Two of them seemed snug enough but the other two, one in particular, felt like they were just kind of floating around in there with just the boot holding them on. Bought a better set and put them on, they all snapped hold like you would expect they should. Car seemed to run without any miss at all, of course it hasn't got to run 65-70 mph for 3 hours to get home. Only thing that concerns me is that everything I turned on while idling seemed to drag slightly on the motor. Turned headlights on and you could hear the idle go down just a tad, hit the hi-beams and you could hear it just a little bit more, turn on heater and you could hear just a little more. All the while, the headlights seem to visibly "pulsate". Any ideas?? Thanks for any help you can offer.

[big tex84]

thats always been the norm for mine, even after the b16 swap

[posiman]

try holding the idle around 2000RPMS for a little bit (like 10 min) when its warm and see if there is a change in the motor sound. if it seems like it wants to die then it could possibly be a jumped time but only by a tooth. Another this is try another distributor/coil and try driving it back in one trip and see if the same thing occurs. if you end up getting stuck again while trying to drive the whole way it could possibly be a bad wire too either the fuel pump or an injector.(weak wire not enough power) also whyen you bring it back you can test the limit on the vehicle when it starts acting up.(riding it hard,fast,slow,hard turns) different things can do weird stuff to a car.

[xmsfly]

Originally Posted by posiman

try holding the idle around 2000RPMS for a little bit (like 10 min) when its warm and see if there is a change in the motor sound. if it seems like it wants to die then it could possibly be a jumped time but only by a tooth. Another this is try another distributor/coil and try driving it back in one trip and see if the same thing occurs. if you end up getting stuck again while trying to drive the whole way it could possibly be a bad wire too either the fuel pump or an injector.(weak wire not enough power) also whyen you bring it back you can test the limit on the vehicle when it starts acting up.(riding it hard,fast,slow,hard turns) different things can do weird stuff to a car.

Ok, i'll finally have a chance to test some of those things. Daughter headed home yesterday and only made it about an hour. All interstate driving, just like before it's seemingly doing ok and the check engine light comes on and car stutters, then all dash lights come on as the car dies. She coasted off on an exit ramp and waited for a rescue. She cranked the car back up almost right away and it idled normally?? But with the speed limit at 70mph, she about got ran all over when the thing died so drove it on up the exit and left it at a gas station. Took a hauler today from the dodge dealership I work at and brought it back there.
How do you test to see if the dist. needs replacing without just running out and buying one? Just like last time, the check engine light comes while the problem is occuring but it doesn't stay on. Wasn't on yesterday when I arrived on the scene about 40 min. after the incident, and it wasn't on today when I hauled it. Thanks for any suggestions.

[DownToGround]

you need to see what the check engine light is telling you.. a blinking l.e.d. on the ecu located at the passengers feet.. long blinks x10 short blinks x1..