Drove it to work one day and it wouldn't start when I went to leave. It was extremely cold that day (10 degrees F or so) and the previous two days it was a little stubborn starting, requiring a few more cranks than normal to get it going, which I assumed was just because of the cold.

What's known:

- Main relay tested OK
- MIL on for two seconds when ignition is ON, then shuts off; fuel pump can be heard operating. (ECU operation OK?)
- Fuel system is OK
- Constant error code 48, even after resetting ECU. (ECU operation not OK?)
- Replaced distributor cap & rotor with no positive effect.
- No spark

What I've yet to try due to cost restrictions:

- Replace ECU
- Replace Ignition coil and/or Igniter
- Take the damn thing in and have someone else do it.

Doing some internet research I've found some information concerning a poorly designed MAP sensor that could be an issue. I'd love to hear some feedback from you guys about any suggestions you may have.

 

This is just an educated guess, but it sounds to me like either the ignition coil or the distributor itself.
Checking the coil's resistance with a volt meter (on the ohm setting) is very easy, The tests I ran on the coil in my '92 D16Z6 would work for yours as well.

from the positive (A) terminal to the negative (B) terminal, the normal reading is supposed to be .6-.8 ohms. On both my bad and my good coil I got 1.2-1.4 so don't let that throw you.

From the positive (A) terminal to the secondary winding terminal (w/ the spring) the normal range is 13,200 to 19,800 ohms. My old coil, that gave out, measured about 8,000 ohms on this test, but the new one was around 16,000 ohms.

You can also check for power, with the ignition switch on, at the 4 wires that go onto the ignitor. Remove all four before your turn on the ignition, and turn the ignition off again before reconnecting them just to be safe.

edit: the black/yellow wire is from the ignition switch, the white/blue wire is from the ignition coil (obviously), the yellow/green wire is from the ECU, and the blue wire goes to the tachometer.

If one of those doesn't have power, the issue could just be with the wire itself, or whatever it links to of course.

If all of those check out, and so does the coil, but there's still no spark, I would have to be the distributor itself or the ignitor.

 

Thanks a ton for your response. Here's what I found out:

Mine tested at 1.0 ohms. I'll count that as OK.

Test result: 11.6k ohms. Too low?

Black/yellow and white/blue both showed battery voltage (with ignition ON).
Should there be a reading on the yellow/green wire from the ECU?

 

That would indicate that the coil is bad. The only other possibility would be if the coil itself was extremely hot or cold - as long as it was somewhere in the realm of 70degreesF when you tested it, there's no way the temp. is causing that low reading.

If I remember correctly, I got a very small reading from the ECU wire, if you are showing nothing, maybe you need to change the setting on the volt meter, so that the small amount of voltage shows up.

If I was in your position, I would buy a new coil. You should be able to find one at a shop for around $70, maybe a little more depending on brand.

Best of luck

 

If you didn't figure this out yet I'd say bad coil man I just had this problem today, left me sit. I got it at National Auto for $80. Careful removing the small screws they were a bear to get off of mine.

 

Yeah, the tiny screws holding the wires to the coil seem to always be a pain.

Over time they seem to become brittle b/c of the conditions, it helps a lot to make sure you have a screw driver or bit that fits perfectly into the screw head.

Also, most people say the rotor screw is a huge pain to remove b/c they use thread lock from the factory. Mine was fine but it had been removed previously. When tightening it back up I just press down real hard with a good #2 screw driver bit and get it nice and tight. No locker and mine's always still been tight when I've had to remove it.
If you do need to replace that screw though, try to use a diamagnetic material like zinc (yellow or white) or copper.

 

Thanks for all the advice. It was rather cold when I checked the coil resistance, maybe in the 40s or 50s or so, but I'll still look into replacing that coil anyway. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than the ECU, which appears to be functioning OK.

I'll let you guys know what the result is. Probably won't be until after payday (Thursday).

I'm just glad the distributor system uses the same parts as regular civic engines. You guys know how much a new O2 sensor (or LAF or whatever it's actually called on the VX) costs? $300!

 

I'm glad to help, hope everything goes well with the replacement.

As far as the temp., I think that's certainly "within the realm" of 70 (supposedly ideal temp for testing the specs) that the low resistance you got was b/c of the coil itself.

And I feel for you on the 02 sensor thing, that's just wrong.

 

Just a quick update... I took the coil out of my car yesterday to let it get to room temperature and retest it. Primary went up to 1.1 and secondary went down to 10.58. So, I'm on my way to the parts store right now for a replacement coil and hopefully I'll be able to give you all good news soon. (Although, with my luck, I'm not keeping my hopes up...)

EDIT:

New coil is in and... success!! Had to use my wife's van for a jump; I guess two weeks of cold and no starts made it a little stubborn, but she's runnin' now. Gonna go around the block, shut the engine off and give her a restart to make sure she's OK, but other than that, I think I'm good.

Thank each and every one of you ever so much for your guidance. Hopefully, the next time I have a problem, It'll be something else. Thanks again.

 

For your O2 sensor, try to look one up on www.sparkplugs.com as their prices seem to be pretty decent for O2 sensors (I got my replacements from there).