1990 Acura Integra timing

Hi jsl129,

There is a leakage of high tension sparks and possible causes are:
1. Faulty or loosely connected plug wire.
2. Shorted spark plugs.
3. Incorrect firing order.
4. Bad distributor cap.

what about the ticking noise? it also has a lack of power. but it does not miss. i never took the wires off of the distributer. i replaced the spark plugs. i dont see any faulty wires anywhere either. also, what kind of performance should i see if i might have installed the timing belt wrong by one notch on one of the cams?

The ticking noise could be caused by the sparks jumping. Recheck if the distributor end wire had been propely seated, movement sometimes doslodges them if they were not securely connected in the first place.
Another possibility is the distributor bearing is failing or the timing belt tension is loose.

If the cam timing is off, you would have performance problem, erratic idling and starting might be affected.
Performance drop might not be too much but still noticeable.

Ohm test the plug wires. Should have continuity and below 25k ohms.

i just replaced the distributor cap, rotor, and plugs and wires. i am still hearing a small ticking noise. it still sounds like its comming from the distributor side. or the intake cam at least. it does lessen after it has been running for a little while. i also noticed yesterday when i put the pedal to the floor, it was hesitant. sortof jumped a little. like a lack of fuel or fouled plugs. the noise also lessened when i put new gas in it. it had about a gallon of gas left in the tank that was about six months old. and i drained it, then put new fuel in and it started running a little better. but didnt fix the problem

Did you check the ignition timing after replacing the distributor?

Recheck the valve clearance as well.

how do i check for valve clearance and the ignition timing. i could see where the distributor was before i took it off and put it back in the same position. i did see that it could be adjusted by turning the distributor. what is the correct position?

You need a timing light to check the timing. On the crank pulley you would notice timing marks when the timing light is pointed at it.

The 3 marks with a red one at center is the ignition timing at idle.

I just did a lot of work to this car. I replaced the spark plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, water pump, hoses, coolant switch, spark plugs, had the head reworked, installed new timing belt, timing covors, changed all the fluids, fuel pump, gas tank, belts, hoses, and a bunch of gaskets (including head gasket). I was sure to torque it down at the right torque specs. About a week ago, I finished putting everything back together and my valves were making noises. I figured out it was my timing belt. It was a little loose. Right after I cranked it, it ran fine for about 5 minutes, then I hit the gas pedal and it died. I checked the injectors and could hear them pulsing. My check engine light also came on (it was not on before and had run just fine except for the valve noise). After I let it idle for a little while (which it is idling at the lowest point before it dies) I hit the gas and it slowly accelerated. Then I hit the gas and let off several times, the last time I did it, it accelerated to 5 thousand rmps and died. I can crank it right back up, but cannot accelerate the motor. Also, when I was letting it run, it was running at normal operating temperature. I noticed it started burning oil and a saw a puddle of moisture coming out of the tail pipe. it only does this after the car has warmed up. it runs just fine until it warms up at normal operating temperature. my question is what could this be? How can I check the check engine light code?

You can read the codes from the ECU.

what about the water comming out of the tail pipe? my engine light turned off and only turns on once the car warms up. and it starts acting up once the car warms up also.

If you are not losing coolant, water out of tail pipe should be due to condensation collected in exhaust system.

If the weather is cool, the smoke level would increase. This is normal.

the water in the exhaust was just condensation, and it was brown due to the rust inside of the pipes. i did a compression test and it showed 145 in cyl 1 and 2 and 135 in cyl 3 and 4. how much should i have? i know i have to do a valve adjustment, but im gonna do that after i finish the timing. i just figured out what made the car run bad when it warmed up. it was the ignition timing. i rotated the dist. while it was running rough and it jumped right back up to idle. i have a timing light and tried to set the timing. i can not find the marks on the crankshaft pulley. i might have rubbed them off by trying to use a chain wrench to pull the pulley off a while back. the chain wrench broke, so i ordered the special tool to take it off. my question is how do i set the ignition timing without marks on the crankshaft pulley. or what do you think i should do.

Without any marks, it would be impossible to get the correct timing.

Recheck the pulley, the timing marks were edged onto the rims and should not be erased unless you have ground them off.

Next best thing is to turn 1st cylinder to TDC and mark on the pulley yourself. This would not be 100 % but at least it would get you as near to the timing as possible.

if i can find the marks, what mark or deg should i set it at? i am told that there are a few different marks. and an arrow that points to the mark i am currently at. where is the arrow?

Here are the Ignition timing marks and adjusting procedures.

what is the point of the jumper wire? what does it do? can you do adjust the timing without using a jumper wire?

The jumper would prevent the ECU from readjusting the idling speed which would cause inaccurate timing. Without it you need to stop and restart engine each time you make an adjustment.

what does the mark signifly on the crankshaft pulley? is it when cyl#1 is at TDC? my mark has rubbed off and i am having trouble timing my car. can i put the crankshaft pulley at TDC for cyl#1 and then replace the mark on the crankshaft pulley? or what do you reccomend?

If you can get the TDC for # 1 cylinder, mark it as TDC at the timing cover pointer.

With an adjustable timing light, set it at 16 degrees and when engine is running, the correct timing is achieved when it shows at the pointer. Adjust accordingly.

i do not have an adjustable timing light. would it work if i just mark it at tdc? or do need an adjustable timing light?

If you mark it at TDC, how are you to get an advance of 16 degrees?

if i mark it at tdc, how do i get it to 16 deg? or can i time it to tdc at cyl 1

That as the question I was asking. Either you are able to mark 16 degrees or you need to get an adjustable timing light.

Timing it at TDC on cylinder 1 would get you 0 advance. Spec is 16 degrees

i am going to measure 16 deg from the tdc mark. i think that should do it. i cant find anyone with an adjustable timing light, and i dont want to go buy one unless this wont work.

Without a timing light and marks, it would be impossible to get the exact timing so the marks that you are going to make should be the best you can hope for under the situation.

i found the correct timing marks and made them more visible with a marker. i hooked up my jumper wire under the passenger side kick panel, let the car warm up and when i put the timing light on cyl 1 and pointed the light at the crankshaft pulley, i saw that it was retard way too far. i then turned my dist. as far as it would go to advance the timing, and it was still around 5-6 deg off toward retard timing. what would cause this? how can i fix it?
could i have messed something up when i put the cams back in?
if so, what do i need to do, which way should i turn the cam?
could it be that the timing belt is a little loose? i tightened it up as much as i could.
please help.....

The cam timng is out by one tooth. You need to move the cam 1 more tooth forward (anticlockwise ) to get the correct timing.

Timing belt tension is adjusted by the tensioner soring. DO NOT attempt to overtighten it by pushing the tensioner manually. Overtightening of the belt would cause noise and premature failing.

when you say dont over tighten the timing belt, how do you even tighten it? i did it by prying it with a screw driver and put some pressure on it because the valves were making noise and the was loose before. after i tightened it, the noise went away.
what is the correct way to tighten the timing belt?

The correct way to adjust the timing belt is to turn the engine anti-clockwise till you are on compression stroke. When the turning of the crank pulley becomes heavy, hold the position and loosen the timing belt tensioner bolt till its spring is able to push the timing belt to the desired position. Retighten tensioner bolt and belt tension should be correct.

i finally got everything done correctly, timing, and the cams lined up, and the timing belt is tight. it runs great. there is something new. when i accelerate really fast, and the engine revs back down, i can hear a noise that sound like somehthing is loose. like there is something ratteling around in the head or something. it does not i do it when i rev it up slowly or rev down slowly. it just does it with sudden burst on the gas pedal making the engine rev up fast. what could this noise be? is it something i need to worry about? i also am getting a valve adjustment done in a few days. could it be one of the rocker arms has too much slack in it or what?

Noise are hard to detect without understanding the type of noise and source so I can only provide my thoughts.

Since you are getting the valves adjusted, it could be the cause. While you are at it, recheck the timing belt tension and cam carrier bolts torques.

what is the torque spec for the cam carrier bolts?

Starting with center caps and working outward, tighten camshaft journal bolts to 84 INCH lbs. (10 N.m). Tighten each bolt in 2 steps to ensure rocker arms do not bind.