1992 Honda Civic My Eg6 is dead. Altenator or distributor

SPOONBOY

MEMBER
1992 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
5,000 MILES

Well last wednesday my car died driving home from work, well to catch you up to speed I have a 1992 Honda Civic 3dr Hatchback with a jdm b16a DOHC V-tec motor with a ton of engine mods, type r trany thats brand new, head is fully built (port polish/3-angle/fearra high comp valves/fearra fearra springs/fearra retainers/fearra seals/fearra guides/etc).

i have a yellow top optima battery that one day drained cause I left my hid 10k lights and fog lights were left on, well I charged it up and sence then it wont hold a charge, I can drive for 2 hours then let the car sit over night and the battery is almost dead. I took it to discount auto and they charged it on there "special charger" for 24 hours. It held a charge alot better, I drove the car all around and was fine, the next day when I got up to go to work the battery volt was back at like 5-6, and hard to start again.

When I was leaving work car started slow like it always does cause of the battery.I sat there warming it up for about 3-5 minutes, cause it was like 30 out and my car hates the cold. I drove for about 1/8 mile and the car just died, I tried to start but no avail, the hid's were flashing, and seems like I didn't have enoph power to try and start, I tried poping the clutch but it's hard to with the racing clutch, I pulled over and tried to start the car, and nothing

trouble shooting:
the car turns over, the fuel pump is working and injectors are working fine you can clearly smell the gas in the engine bay, I hooked my battery up to a car charger and someone elses running car and car still just rotates but doesn't start (volt when trying to start is at about 12.-13 but drops hard when I try to start). Checked the plugs and no spark with a tester and the actual spark plug. Took the distributor off and checked the coil, with the ohms, we kinda got a reading but not sure what it should have been set at with the volt meter. What my main deal is, is that I don't know if it's the altenator or the distributor. I don't know if the altenator is bad would I not be able to produce enoph spark to start the car, or if the power from someone elses car is enoph to get spark. Altenators and distributors aren't cheap I don't want to have to buy one and then the other, any other trouble shooting or things I can check would be great, thanks for the help.

the radio has been hooked up the same way for over 3 years and hasn't had an issue with it same with the alarm system. Before I used to leave the alarm on, radio on and a scanner on for an hour with the car off come back and car would turn on like nothing. The full ingintion switch system was changed about 2 years ogo. Can't push start the car cause of the excedy stage 1 clutch. And the starter is fine, if it was the starter or silinoid it wouldn't turn over, besides I tested it not to long ago. The battery seems to be one of the main issues, and I just tested the distributor ignition coil

primary resistance-
it should be around 0.6-0.9Ohms and its at 0.6Ohms

secoundary resistance-
it should be around 12.8-19.2K-Ohms and it's at 10.1K-Ohms

1 Reply

ZACKMAN

MECHANIC
4,202 POSTS

Contrary to the common belief, alternator does not produce spark and it has nothing to do with starting a vehicle. Your battery is the only thing that provides the electricity to the ignition system to fire. Alternator comes into play when the engine is already running to maintain the current for the electrical system and to replenish the charge that the battery uses to start the vehicle.

If you had jumped the car from another running car, and it still failed to start, then the problem is not within the battery, but somewhere else.

You did say that you performed a spark test and it failed (no spark). You also tested the resistance. While the coil did pass the primary resistance, it FAILED the secondary resistance. That is why you did not get any spark. Your coil is bad.

Retest the coil just to make sure that you still get the same figure. Also while you are at the diagnostic, make sure that the timing belt has not jumped a tooth, your timing is correct, and that your CKP and CMP sensors are both working perfectly.