1990 Acura Integra Distributor or IACV

TREVIS

MEMBER
1990 ACURA INTEGRA

Engine Performance problem
1990 Acura Integra 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 160000miles

hey guys, is there a possiblity that my distributor is the problem and/or idle air control valve. Ive change all spark plugs and wires. Firstly the engine idles around 2000 rmp which is more or less the iacv but at times the engine light comes on and then I cannot make over 3000 rpm. The vehicle then idles very ruff and few occations it stalls. When this happens most of the time I check the distributor and when I put my hand on it, I get shock. There is also a smell of gasoline cuming from the exhaust, unbearnt fuel I guess. I also noticed when playing with the harness which carries the wires to the various spark plugs and is located on the side of the the engine the idle goes up and down. Any siggestions?

5 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi trevis,

Get a scan done and find out what is bugging the system and come back with the exact error code.

The distributor cap, spark plugs or wires might be faulty too.

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Sunday, August 3rd, 2008 AT 5:02 AM

TREVIS

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3 POSTS

I got the code. It is 16. And when I checked it. The code represents injector. So I dont know if there is a short in one of the plugs. I checked by taking out every spark wire at a time when the car was on and one of the plugs does not change the idle speed in the engine. Is it a short?

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Friday, November 14th, 2008 AT 6:01 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi trevis,

It means one of the cylinder is not firing and since the error code is #16, it is either the injector shorting or faulty or the wire from injector to ECM is faulty.

2nd thing that you need to check is the distributor cap. If you get a shock when putting your hands to it, the cap, wire or spark plugs are faulty.

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Saturday, November 15th, 2008 AT 9:49 AM

TREVIS

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3 POSTS

Or ok thanks. Will see about it as soon as possible. Btw can this be cause by the battery poles being touched together. Previously my friend tried to jump start his car with my cables and he accidently touch the both cables. Can I also use the vehicle or by useing it can cause more damage?

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Saturday, November 15th, 2008 AT 1:20 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi trevis,

If the cylinder is misfiring due to lack of fuel when the injector is not working, then it is still usable but you would have power losses at all ranges of rpm.

How ever if it is due to injector stuck in open position, the rich fuel getting to the cylinder and not being burnt would cause the catcalytic converter to overheat and the heat generated would cause damages to the catalytic converter and anything nearby.

Reverse connection of the polarities would not cause the injector to fail however it can cause damage to the ECM which would not operate the injector.

Injector gets its power supply from the ignition switch and the grounding is via the ECM. Check the terminal of the non working injector for power supply with ignition switch turned to ON. If power is available, attach a dummy wire with a test bulb to the grounding wire, click it to ground momentarily and listen for the injector clicking. If it clicks, start engine and manually try to operate the injector to see if thereis any changes in the engine running.

If yes, yu need to check the wire for contuiniuty to ECM. If continuity is available, the ECM is faulty.

Try swapping the injectors to se if the same cylinder or injector that is failing.