hey i have a 93 honda prelude vtec. i am having difficulty starting up my car after it stalls randomly while driving. sometimes the car would start if i just let the car sit there for about an hour or two. it usually starts every morning. my car cranks and turnsover but no spark. i had replace the battery last week so i'm thinkin it can't be the battery or alternator because my lights work fine. when it dies there aren't any sparks coming from the ignition coil which is mounted to the left of the oil cap. i've replaced the ignition coil, but still no spark or start so i returned it. I have changed my cap and rotor less than a yr ago. i don't know but everytime i try to start the car, i smell gas. IS IT A SPARK PROBLEM OR A FUEL PROBLEM? i don't know if its the ignitor or ignition control module is that the same? yea i heard alot of people have found out that it is the icm/ignitor or whatever, but i dont kno how that can be the problem when it's located inside the distributor and the first thing the spark goes through is the ign. coil before it reaches the distributor. i need help. i cant bring it to the shop because car won't run and if it does it might stall. i just dont want to spend money on towing it.

 

You can go to a Kragen or a Auto zone, etc. And ask them for a spark plug tester that will at least knock that out of the way. Then check Distributor. If Spark Plugs light up with tester then you know it's a fuel problem.

 

I would say go to autozone or o'reilly if you have one of them and get that spark tester like fliptout said. You probably are smelling fuel because your injectors are spraying into the cylinder but isnt being burned cuz of a no spark situation. Not a fuel problem. I would get that spark tester and check any wiring to your coils, or even check your fuse block and see if any fuses or circuits are blown. I only know one way to check curcuits and thats with a volt/ohm meter. Check the wiring, check the fuses for ignition, and then id say go for testing the coil. let me know what happens.

 

at an o'reilly they usually let you pay for the items to test your vehicle and then let you return them with full refund. Basically loan them to you. Its really nice when you have problems like this. Happened to me a few times. I recomend trying not to bring it in either, they will charge you a good chunk of cash.

 

Same thing happened to me. Car had no spark and would stall sometimes while driving. I got a new (more like remanufactured distributor) from kragen and now it works perfectly...