[DABoswell]

Hi everyone. I was driving down the road a few weeks ago, and my 91 integra lost all power and died. I got a tow home because it wouldn't start, got the distributor cap off, and the rotor was destroyed.

I have replaced the ignition coil, the igniter, the rotor, the distributor cap, and the spark plugs, and it still won't start. All it does is sputter when I turn the engine over. It will turn over for only a second, but it is super rough when it does. I can hear the fuel pump (which has a little over 2000 miles on it) prime like normal, it is igniting because it sputters, and all four tubes on the header are warm after cranking it for a while. I am no professional mechanic, so maybe I did something wrong when I "fixed" it.

Something to note is that this happened two days after installing a full exhaust, including a header, a high-flow cat, and a cat-back. I didn't have the 02 sensor plugged in when I drove it. The O2 sensor is plugged in now as of yesterday. I maybe did 20 miles on the new exhaust when it died. It ran just fine though, so who knows. The spark plugs were black from running rich too, possibly from the ecu dumping fuel because of the unplugged O2 sensor.

Here is a picture of the rotor, and here is a video of trying to start it after the repairs.

I anyone knows what would cause the rotor to break like that, I would appreciate learning that too. This rotor only had a little over 2000 miles on it.

 

[jjkz24]

Advanced Ignition Troubleshooting: Advanced Ignition Troubleshooting

 

[DABoswell]

Advanced Ignition Troubleshooting: Advanced Ignition Troubleshooting

Thank you, but wouldn't any of those failing make it not spark at all?

 

[jjkz24]

The internal combustion engine requires three (3) primary key areas to run

1. Spark (ignition)
2. Fuel
3. Compression

You're missing one (or more) that's keeping the engine from starting. Start with the basics, and check for spark. Move on to fuel, then compression.

 

[PlanB850]

Double check all your points are corresponding with the proper cylinder.
I dont know gen 1 very well but certain vehicles have had less than straight forward distdibutor replacement. Gonna pull the manual real quick and see if theres an odd pattern.

Ps: distributor timing.
Make sure youre not too far advanced or retarted. Throw a timing light on it.

 

[DABoswell]

Double check all your points are corresponding with the proper cylinder.
I dont know gen 1 very well but certain vehicles have had less than straight forward distdibutor replacement. Gonna pull the manual real quick and see if theres an odd pattern.

Ps: distributor timing.
Make sure youre not too far advanced or retarted. Throw a timing light on it.

thanks so much, I'll check that out.