Could this be the distributor going bad?

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Alright for awile now I've had a little "mis" at idle, but nothing major. In the last couple weeks or so though, it seems to have been getting progressively worse. It's been idleing rougher than usual lately, hasn't been as peppy, and when it's idleing if you listen carefully you can hear tiny little flucuations in idle speed (not enough to show any change on the tach, just a tiny bit). I did a vacuum test and it stayed right at 20 in-Hg, but the needle moved a tiny tiny bit in each direction of 20, which I would assume was coming from the small changes in RMP's (it was a very small amount and never went off 20 to another number, but just a hair on each side of the line, if even that). Looked over all the vacuum hoses and they all look to be in good shape (still nice and rubbery) and all were plugged in tight, so I don't "think" it's a vacuum leak. Put the timing light on and the timing mark on the flywheel kept jumping around. It would advance in front of the timing mark, then go back to normal, and it just kept sperratically jumping around like that. Also, if I put my ear up to the distributor, I can hear a scratching type sound and, although not loud, it's definitely noticable. Does this sound like symptoms of my distributor taking a dump? If so please tell me because I'm making a 1500 mile trip to Florida in exactly 1 month and don't want to have it going out on the way down there, hehe. Distributor is original with 302,600 miles

Sorry if not all that made sense...typing as I'm thinking here, lol

Thanks ;)

[anchovies]

Originally posted by Jareds 89 LX-i
Distributor is original with 302,600 miles.

:omg: 300k miles. a20 yeah baby.
I might be just shooting simple ideas here, but have you changed you plugs, plug wires recently?
I'm having similar problems but have no time to play around with it. You're helping me out too :beer:

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Yea as far as tune up type stuff goes, it's all fairly recent. Plugs, wires, cap & rotor, valve lash, air & fuel filters, PCV valve is good, and ignition coil is a little over a year old. So that's why I'm thinking distributor.

:)

[ACCORD EX]

check the cap , rotor , coil wire , coil !

MIKE

[njpeter]

cheapest too...and who wouldn't mind having a spare coil in the car duing a long trip..you should see what I carry in my just in case I'm #&*^%%& on the road bag.

Check the inside of the distributor, I've heard if it has red dust inside, the bearing is toast.

Can't use a carb distibutor in an lx-i can you? ( I'm injection ignorant to the nth degree, but i've gotten a good grip on the idle control system)

have fun on the trip

[Maydnaella]

i'm kinda having the same wiggy problem and it affects my acceleration too. kinda sluggish. :/

[dj99]

Maybe your vacuum advance on the distributor is going. They do fail often, especially if yours is original at 302K. A broken one would change the timing, making your engine run badly.

It's easy to check with a vacuum pump (or your mouth :) ). Take the distributor cap off and pull suction on one of the hoses (#5 or #15 for LXi). It should move the stator counterclockwise in the distributor and then stop there. If it doesn't turn AND stay, replace it. When vacuum is released, it should return. If not, replace it. Repeat for the other hose.

They are about $45 from the on-line honda parts places, if you need one.

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

oops...sorry I forgot to mention I did replace the vacuum advance unit back in mid July with a brand new one from Honda. The old one wouldn't hold any vacuum anymore. I know the advance springs on the inside are broken though because I can hear the little pieces of spring when I shake it around.

So you think the coil would be going bad already? I replaced it with a brand new one (not genuine Honda though) a little over a year ago. I'll try testing it and see what I come up with. I'm going to the junkyard soon anyways, so maybe I'll pick up a spare--can't be that much.

I think my car has mood swings, lol. Sometimes it's worse than others, and kinda goes back and forth.

Thanks :)

[Dutchboy]

to revive the thread...mine does the same thing...ive changed almost all the ignition parts escept for the distributor...

but first i need to replace the temperature sensor to see if it corrects the miss...Mine runs fine when its cold and then once warm it acts up and ive been told it could be the sensor.

Ben

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Well I think I'm gonna get a distributor from the junkyard and see if that fixes it. Or does anybody have one they would like to sell me? :D I'm looking for one in good shape--hopefully from a car without a shitload of miles. The last used one I got I never got to use because the inside part that gets rotated by the advance diaphram was frozen and wouldn't move, so it didn't do me much good. If anyone has a GOOD distributor for an 88-89 EFI, let me know!

I'll let ya know if it does the trick :)

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

WooHoo! New (well, used) distributor seemed to do the trick. Got one from the junkyard in really good shape, and it seems to overall just run smoother. The little misfire has pretty much disappeared, and it idles a bit smoother and quieter too.

:)

[dj99]

How much did you pay at the junkyard?

[Dutchboy]

What did you look for when inspecting the distributor at the junk>>???

and its fairly easy to change isnt it?

Ben

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

I paid $100 for it. That particular junkyard is usually a little higher though (it's not a U Pull It type place). I went to the U Pull It place first that's usually pretty cheap on parts and in all their 10 acres of cars, not a single 88-89 LX-i/SE-i (there were a few 86-87 LX-i's, and some 88-89 LX's, but not one 88-89 LX-i...grrr).

When the dude brought it out the thing I checked first was the advance mechanism on the inside (not sure what the actual name is, but that's what I call it). It's the part that the vacuum advance arm attaches to that rotates. The last one I got was frozen, so I wanted to make sure this one worked properly. I didn't worry about the vacuum advance diaphram because I just bought a brand new one from Honda a couple months ago, so I just put that one on there. Other than that, just spin it and make sure it spins freely without any heavy resistance or scratchy noises or anything like that.

Oh and yes, it's very easy to change. Just unbolt and unplug the old one, then bolt in the new one and plug 'er in.

:)

[87accordlx]

just a question, when you had hesitation, was it only when the car was warming up, cause mine is fine when the engine is cold and when it's hot, but when the needle is inbetween the bottom and the middle of the temp guage it runs like shit, no power at all, mind you mine is carb

thanks

[Dutchboy]

Jared were are you??

i got around to time my car and have the same stuff as you had...

well mine jumps alot and so much i cant even tell when the mark is aligned...

ill be checking out all vaccum and egr..etc...

but how much did yours jump on the flywheel?? and the mark should appear almost totally still shouldnt it??

i sure hope its not the distributor.. i need so much new stuff then.

Ben

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Oops...I forgot, hehe. Yea, the timing mark should appear almost completely still and aligned with the pointer. I'd say mine jumped probably 2-3 degrees, and mostly in the advance direction instead or the retard direction. New distributor doesn't seem to do it anymore, so I think that was it. But check vacuum hoses first because I think a flucuation in vacuum would also cause it to jump around a bit.

Good luck :)

[Dutchboy]

mine is jumping up on the flywheel...i cant remember which way is which...
im not sure on the degrees or anything...i was using just a cheaper light so doesnt tell me anything..

it does not stay still enough for me to even line it up good so something is wrong...ill see what i find and then live with it till i can get a different distributor to check it with and see if it fixes it..

yours is efi so a vaccum leak would be easy to find...ill have to start diggin in the forest of carbed vaccum lines now...grrrrr

or i might just have to go get a propane bottle and do it the easy way..

anyway thanks...i just sure hope i dont have to replace the distributor...im sure iwont find a good one at the junk yard since most ive seen had high miles..

BEn

[89SE-ICoupe]

Jareds 89 LX-I,
When you replaced the distributor, how exactly did you set the timing. I recently replaced my distributor, 89 SE-I, and followed the instructions in my Haynes repair manual which said to disconect the two vacuum line on the vacuum advance, plug them, and then set the timing. Well, the car still jumps about 2 degrees at idle, and worst of all I get preignition( valve clatter) at around 3,500 rpm's. I know that I did set the timing to the specs on the hood label, 15 degrees @ 750rpm's in gear. Last week end a certified honda mechanic told me that I needed to disconnect a yellow connector near the ig. coil, jump it with a wire and then sent the timing. The idea is to set the timing with out fighting the computer. Did you do anything like this? If so what connector? He was in hurry and did not specify. I'm stumped! Any insight would be apreciated

89se-icoupe

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Hmmm....I've never heard anything about disconnecting and jumping an electrical connector before (at least on our cars). I was talking to a fellow member about setting timing, and he mentioned how on the newer Accords with the timing controlled by the ECU, you're supposed to jump a wire. But ours is all mechanical, so you shouldn't need to do anything there. I too was stumped by the vacuum advance disconnect/not to disconnect thing. I asked 2 other board members and both said NOT to unplug the vacuum advance, just leave it plugged in like it always is and set the timing to 15 degrees (or whatever yours may be). This is how I did it and it's worked great so far. I did try at first unplugging it, but I could see what it was doing so it was pretty much pointless.

Hope that helps some :)

[dj99]

The reason you are told to unplug the advance to set the timing is so that if the advance is bad, you would know it when you plugged it back in. If you set your timing to 15 degrees with a bad advance, your timing would not be correct.

[88EXi]

I just changed my dist on an 88 EFI and it ran terrible when I set it with the Vac on. After plugging the vac and reseting it showed my ignition was very retarded (no pun). No it runs fine. Are you suggesting my vac advance is poor?

[dj99]

Yes. They can go bad over time.

[89SE-ICoupe]

I double checked on the jumper wire issue. It is for 90' and newer accords, 88'-89' civics, and 89'91 preludes. Thus, I will now go and reset the timing. Thanks for the info.