hondalovereps'

Alright guys, this is the biggest headache I've ever had with any car. I've done many searches, and even my machanic is stumped. So any kind of help will be greatly appreciated.

I have a 91 civic Si hatch. It has a d16a1 motor out of a late 80's Integra, and the 5 speed trans that came with the car. I bought it like this, so it is what it is. This is also my first time owning a vehicle with a different motor in it. Long story short... The distributor went out on me, and I can't find the right replacement. I've tried just about every single year of the d16a1, and 1 of 2 things will happen, either the plugs from the cables wont fit, or the distributor won't line up to the engine bolt pattern. The worst thing is that I don't have the one "original" that went out on me, after trading it into Auto Zone for a replacement.

The best thing I've tried so far, was getting 2 distributors. 1 that matched the plugs, and another that matched the bolt pattern. My guy swapped the plugs onto the matched bolt pattern... Still no good. Not getting any spark from the distributor.

PLEASE HELP!!

hondalovereps'

Bump

senor honda

Engine swaps with no documentation as to what a person has, can be a heartbreak.

A new distributor is no guarantee that it has a good ignitor module or whatever
they are called. I never turn in old parts until I have it running with the new parts.
Kept finding too many bad mfgr's/rebuilders.

Kept finding different distributors for variations in fuel delivery systems....
all sold under the same part number.

I have sometimes bought distributors from different parts stores and sometimes
two at a time.....since they were not always the same. I wrote down the part
numbers and all the other info and put it in my tech folder.

Now..how do we know the distributor is bad instead of what sends current
to the distributor?

hondalovereps'

Well, I was told there's no spark while trying to turn it over with the distributor in

senor honda

When the distributor gets no current, it cannot send a spark.......related to my question.-Bob

hondalovereps'

That's all I know man. It's also the only distributor that this Mechanic has had a chance to try, since he had to do the transfer from 1 distributor to the other... Mainly because it's the only one that seemed to almost fit. Plus I went through all the distributors that didn't fit on my own before realizing I needed a professional. So, he's debating if the head might be different from the block, but can't figure out if is or not.

I guess I might just have him try each year for that motor like I did to get it right. If one works but doesn't fit right, have him machine drill it, or something

senor honda

As a way of fitting a distributor, 1. it has to fit the large hole in the head.
2. The cam/distributor has an offset slot/groove in the end that must be
aligned. 3 the length of the distributor must allow the slot/groove to go
into each other while the slotted mount touches the head. Sometimes
the adjustment slot must be ground to allow more adjustment or less
adjustment when the distributor is rotated, or the plug wires must be
moved over by one hole.

Sometimes all the wiring is not used for every car.
I have a distributor from the junkyard from a later year car that uses
a computer and has more wires than I need. I only need two wires
from that distributor to make my car trigger the ignition.

Again using my car as an example......the head is the same and will
allow three types of fuel delivery: carb, fuel injection and tuned
port injection.....the distributors for each are different in appearance,
but all use the same external coil. All use the same hole in the head.
All attach to the same offset slot at the end of the cam.

long ago when the engine was still running, I upgraded
to an MSD coil and also to an MSD 6AL ignition box. All distributors use
four plug wires, but the spark to the plugs is triggered by a rotor and an
electrical module inside the cap.

All the things I learned were while the car would still run. I have no idea how
a person figures it out 1. when their car doesn't run and 2 when someone
else has to do the work.

I don't know in what way "almost fit" can be changed, but myself, I'm
cautious about doing any machining or drilling until I am sure that the
distributor will send a spark.

It is unfortunate that Ocala is so far away from Tampa. I would refer
you to another source of info, but you can see that TR does not allow
off site references.

hondalovereps'

Ok, so it turns out that the harness that plugs into the distributor, is the car's original harness. This doesn't surprise me at all, especially since I figured out the transmission was the original when I change the clutch. So I'm giving my mechanic a few more days or week, to see if you can figure it out. The real good news is that he's really trying to figure it out.

hondalovereps'

Yeah, I wish this was a lot easier in so many ways. But I'm not giving up so easy.
I did mention the machine drilling thing, for the proper fitting... He wasn't too exited about that. lol. But like you said, he would have to be positive to do something like that. He seemed more concerned about bolting it up against the engine and it not lining up right, and then causing damage after forcing it in.

DOHC16CRX

call me i will help you figure it out guaranteed..Nate