Sorry it is kind of long:
My 1992 Acura Integra GS sedan decided to not start easily on Thursday. It took about 15 “sparks” to start it. Yesterday, my car started shaking at idle and while driving (the engine feels like a diesel truck engine) while the RPMs jumped around everywhere and it had a strong burned rubber smell that came suddenly after driving for about 6 miles. I stopped ASAP and could smell the burned rubber smell from 5 feet away. I had it towed home. I also noticed a relatively strong gas smell after turning the car off when moving it from the tow truck to my garage, which was less than 30 seconds. The fluids are all full and fresh and a new timing belt was installed less than 3,500 miles ago. What could these be signs of? Is something major dying?
Edit: I forgot a slight detail, I sometimes see a quick puff of white smoke come from the front bumper air dam (i think that’s what it’s called, it’s the big huge smiley face opening on the front bumper) at a stop light.
I would start by doing a thorough visual inspection. I wouldn’t be surprised if the fuel smell was a seperate problem but it may not be. If you have a strong rubber smell, check the engine bay for signs of rubber material, it is most likely one of the belts. Since you said the timing belt was recently replaced I would pull the timing cover and check it out. A loose timing belt would definatley cause those driveability problems.
there arnt to may objects in the engine bay that that can burn up(without the assistance of an open flame that is.) so narrowing the search down to the belts is a good start. as 90da9teg stated. do a vissual inspection for and what look to be build up rubber residue or missing chunks out of any of the belts.
I will also recomend checking the the inner TB covers, sometimes they can warp and make contact with the backside of the cam gear.
it sounds like your distributor’s shitting/shat the bed. it would explain the rough idle, driveability, and erratic tachometer. probably the cause of the fuel smell as well, as it would be misfiring like crazy. and you know where i’ll bet that burned rubber smell is coming from? your undercarriage. the cat was probably red hot from driving it while misfiring. that would be my best guess anyways. especially since you said the belts all seem to be in tact.
if it were me, i would first pull the distributor cap off, and see if that rotor isn’t all melted to shit. i’ll bet it is. and that may have caused the misfiring. if it is, it was probably a seized bearing in the distributor that caused it to heat. in which case, the unit needs to be replaced.
if the rotor looks fine (and you have to look carefully, because it will probably be in tact, but twisted), then i would check your spark. make sure it’s consistent and not erratic.
again, this just assumption, and diagnosing problems over the internet can be less than accurate, but i would almost definitely assume it’s a timing issue and the bouncing tach is a dead giveaway towards the distributor
you can go ahead and pull the codes as well. usually that’s the best place to start.
i’ll bet you have a CKP code and misfire cyl 1-4 though.
yeah, do that first.
it’ll help unravel the mystery and shoot you in the right direction
a distributor king distributor run about $200 and will most like kill some of your problems as long as save you the head ache of dealing with future dist related problem.
you say that like working on your own car is a death sentence. what are you afraid of. from the sound of it, you only have something to gain right now. whether its saved money or or learning something new and getting your car fixed.
you say that like working on your own car is a death sentence. what are you afraid of. from the sound of it, you only have something to gain right now. whether its saved money or or learning something new and getting your car fixed.[/QUOTE]
that’s the truth right there. nowhere to go but up.
and whatever you do, don’t buy a shitty taiwan one. it will happen again.
used OEM, or DK.
but like i said, pull the codes before you do anything
Maybe your timing belt. If it jumped teeth that would explain the erratic idle and driveability then it finally snapped which is why your car stopped. Burning smell could be the timing belt rubbing something too.