My 1996 Integra RL (?) engine ran fine untill I stopped at a restaurant. An hour later, I started the car up. It started up just fine. The idle became erratic between 800 and 300 RPM. It slowly died down to almost 0, I gave it gas, and it barely went up to 1400 RPM. Then it died. Now it won't start. It cranks, but won't crank over. The engine has almost 130,000 miles. It has been properly maintained.

Any trouble shooting tips? Sparkplugs seem good, it has plenty of oil, oil isn't burned and appears normal. Engine did not over heat. The tank is full of gas.

 

could be fuel delievery. The fuel pump might have quit working. If it was an injector the car would still start just run rough. If you have a haynes book i would check the wiring diagram and make sure power is getting to the pump.

Other than that i would just take it to a mechanic somewhere. That way they can hook up a test light to the plugs to make sure the engine is getting spark.

 

I can check to see if the engine is getting spark by cranking it over..right? If it is getting spark, then might be the fuel system? I don't know how to check for the fuel pump. Is there a noise I can listen for when I turn on the ignition key? I had also heard suggestions about fuses blown, but if one of them blew, the engine would've shut off immediately, instead of taking the 20 second decline from normal rpm to almost no rpm and then no cranking over at all.

 

When you turn the ignition to 'on', the fuel pump should prime for a few seconds. I would check for spark. Sounds like an ignition(distributor, distributor cap, rotor, igniter, coil, wire, plugs) related problem to me.

 

could this just be the IAC problem taken to an extreme?

i mean is it possible that it's making the idle so loopey that the engine stalls out?

 

I tried starting the car after leaving it overnight. It still has the same thing. Belts and pullys crank, but it doesn't crank over. Fuel pump does work. Oil is good, no water in it. I was told the gas pedal feels lighter than usual. Someone told me this could be the throttle position sensor? Someone else told me it is the timing chain. If the mechanic shops weren't closed today, I'd know what it is.

Does the 1996 integra have a timing chain? If it broke, what exactly would the symptoms be? Would the engine shut off immediately or make loud clanging noises?

 

If the timing belt broke you would know. If the TPS went bad, the computer makes up a defualt value for it so not that, car would just run funny, but it would run.

 

Ya, you have a timing belt. If that broke, when you crank your car over you would hear metal to metal contact because the pistons would be running into some of the valves. A quick way to check would be to remove the distributor cap and have someone crank the engine. If the rotor inside the distributor is turning, then the timing belt should be intact.

 

It's your master relay switch.....under the dash near steering wheel.....integra would run then not...then run just great...shut her down and then wouldn't start....turn over no problem....tried to prime injectors...engine fired up then died....left the car for a day...restarted without a problem.....ran half a day shut it down then restart...no go....replaced the master relay....car working dependable ever since.

 

Shot in the dark, but ever change that fuel filter?