Sudden engine trouble

[Maliciousmisery]

Hey guys, I have a problem with my 89 lx-i. Please help me figure this out.

I was going up a hill when my RPM went to 0 suddenly like the engine died. This happened only for a second then went back up. My check engine light came on. I pulled over when I could to check the engine out and didn't see anything wrong.

Continued driving home and noticed my acceleration to be very poor and the car struggled to get to 40mph. Engine wasn't revving high or anything, just not much acceleration. At stops the RPM would drop low then jump up high like the engine was going to stall, but never did.

Not really knowing what to start trying to replace, I changed the distributor cap and rotor. This seemed to fixed the problem, but when I drive for longer than 15 mins I get the same idle problem at stops. When I accelerate from idle my RPM will bounce around also.

Any ideas of what is going on, or suggestions on what I should check next?
I have a feeling it might be the distributor(has over 200k on it), but want to be sure before I dump the money on a new one.

[forrest89sei]

Sounds Like The Distributor, Could be the Coil Too.

[Dr_Snooz]

What is the code?

https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26342

[lostforawhile]

if the tach is jumping aound, it's most likely the ignition module, thats usually what happens when they go. when the car warms up after a few minutes the module heats up and starts acting up. it's putting out a bad signal, which is also probably triggering the code. both the carb and FI computers read rpms off of the same wire from the negative side of the coil

[Maliciousmisery]

What is the code?

Thanks for reminding me about this. I am getting code 08.

[lostforawhile]

thats the TDC sensor inside of the dizzy, check to make sure the connections are clean and make sure the ground to the dizzy is good, that can cause the computer to think a sensor is bad, if it's not that, you need a new sensor or another dizzy.

[Maliciousmisery]

Looks like I need another dizzy.
Anyone have any experience with a Beck Arnley reman? $161 doesn't sound too bad.

[lostforawhile]

Looks like I need another dizzy.
Anyone have any experience with a Beck Arnley reman? $161 doesn't sound too bad.

make sure that includes the sensors, even a carb dizzy re manufactured with just the igniter can run 200-300 dollars, maby you can get that sensor without replacing the entire thing, check on here, maby someone has a good one for sale

[w261w261]

The reman people from my experience don't check the CPS either. I bought one and it didn't work when installed. Had to go to the JY and get another, which has worked fine for the past 80k miles. When I went to return the defective one to Advance, the guy said no refunds, because it had been installed. I asked how else can you tell it's bad until you install it? We went around like that for a few minutes until I started yelling. Then I got my money back.

[Dr_Snooz]

Beck Arnley's stuff has always been real good to me. However, they do reuse the old CPS when they rebuild these distributors. Those sensors are just very, very rare. If and when mine finally gives up the ghost, I'll be trying one of these from eBay. According to the auction, it's a brand new distributor, not remanned. I haven't tried one and can't say whether they are any good, but I'll take a chance when the time comes. If you do get one, please post back to let us know how it goes. We need a good source for replacement distributors and these look like they could be it.

[Maliciousmisery]

Going to look through some yards for a good sensor first. If that fails I might try one of those supposedly "new" distributors.

[Dr_Snooz]

The CEL indicates a problem in the circuit controlling the CPS. It may be indicating a bad sensor, but it could also be indicating a problem with the wiring in the circuit. If you buy a new sensor and it's a wiring problem, you'll still have a CEL after spending a bunch of money. You don't want that.

The Honda service manual is available here. It outlines how to troubleshoot the circuit starting on p. 12-30. Test the circuit to find out what the problem is and then go buy parts.

It probably is the sensor, and if so, save yourself the trouble of trying to find one. The sensor is built into the casing of the distributor. You'll have to tear down every distributor to get to the sensor and there's no real way to test it in the yard. What's more, if your sensor is worn out, the chances are overwhelming that the rest of the distributor is worn out too. Look for another distributor and make sure that all the internals work smoothly and that it's not full of oil or red dust.

Good luck.