distributor?

[vladlos]

i thought i figured out my problem with sputtering at WOT in the lower rpms and all but i guess i didnt. i got new plugs, new wires, changed my distributor cap about 3 months ago, changed my rotor two weeks ago, changed my ignition coil 3 months ago. and now when i go to start my car up, it cranks normally for a little bit and then my engine like misfires as its starting up. it takes a few tries for my car to start up and on crank it misfires. its way below freezing out, could that be the problem? also, my car still sputters at WOT in the lower rpms. could it be my distributor going bad? its just annoying me now.

[1990civicdxhb]

distributors really dont go bad that often,
unless like one of them teeth things break inside of it,then you'll know somethings wrong,
sputtering is usally caused by fuel,
an air/fuel ratio guage would do nice!
you might want to try changing that fuel filter if you havent in a while,
it also could be caused from a lazy fuel pump,
I would check the fuel injectors,ait sensor & havc(somthing like that,I dont know why I dont remember,what its called)
with an ohm meter,
one of them should be the problem,sputterings not a serious issue when fixing it,its usally just one thing messed up,
good luck

[EF You]

do you ever have situations where the car turns over and over and over, but wont seem to fire up for anything? especially when its hot outside?

if so, its either the main relay or the sensors inside the distributor.

[vladlos]

the problem with the misfiring on crank thing only started recently......so i'm not sure if it would do the same in the hot weather. oh yea, i changed my fuel filter 2 months ago, too.

[crxlvr]

take the distro cap off and check the contacts on the inside, maybe one of just got corroded somehow and the rotor is not firing that cylinder.

[fgiblin]

What DOES go bad on these dizzies are the electrical parts. The coil or the igniter (ignition module) are both inside the distributor. My problems with them have caused hard starting, weird surges at high rpms, misfires at low rpms, even engine shut down on the highway. And the electrical parts are affected by heat so they can act very differently at different times -- often the problems are too intermittent to even have a mechanic help you out with. Sometimes it will throw a code for the igniter (like when my engine shut down - it would eventually restart) but sometimes not.

In my experience, if the problem is pretty inconsistent (ie. mechanical parts don't break and then unbreak, and fuel filters don't clog and then unclog), maddening, I start looking at these parts. Sensors and injectors and all that are possible suspects but beyond my ability to test or replace anyway. So I knock out the easy parts first and try to save myself a trip to the garage. So far, so good.

One thing too: eventually the distributors on these things do wear out (some have said to watch for white powder inside the cap as the parts break down). As the shaft or other parts start generating more heat, they generage more friction and that can cause the electrical failures.

So far, I've replaced my coil once and the igniter twice. Now the car is running fine but I just ordered a new dizzy b/c I think it's on it's way out.

HOPE THIS HELPS!!

[vladlos]

when i replaced the distributor cap a few months ago it had all kinds of crap in there on the contacts. mostly black burnt stuff. i'm gonna go check it out again.