Need URGENT help! Lost all engine power (HP)

INFORMATION Integra Help
1

Okay, here’s the deal: I’m PISSED OFF!!

This morning, everything was running 100% fine and dandy…

Parked the car for a few hours, and went to start it. It hesitated and cranked a few times more than usual.

Drove out fo the garage, and noticed a SEVERE lack of engine power. Also felt a pulsing/vibrating in the shift knob that never used to be there. When idling at a stoplight, the RPM’s would sometimes dip to 200 or so…

Anyhow, I drove for about 1 mile like this, then went to check the engine. I pulled the spark plug wires one-by-one, and on the 2nd one (2nd closest to distributor cap), I think I pulled too hard, and it broke. I replaced the spark plug wires with a brand new set.

Now, the car STILL does the hesitate/stutter thing, so it wasn’t the plug wires. The local Honda dealership said (without looking at the car) that it could be the timing belt slipped. Sounds like a possibility. :frowning:

Anyhow, these are the things that are relatively new or old on my car (1991 GS):

fuel filter: new last fall

oil and air filter: 1 month old

spark plug wires: brand spankin’ new

spark plugs: platinum, 8 months old

distributor cap: dont know, never changed it in 2 years

timing belt: most likely at least 5 years old, maybe more

The last kind of gas I got was the kind I always get – Petro-Canada, good quality stuff, most likely not watery.
The car was running PERFECTLY fine this morning, and between then and the next time I started it up, something went kaputz and is causing me HUGE problems. I’m afraid to drive the car as its likely going to hurt it (especially if its a timing belt problem!).

Canadian Tire said they could do a scope test and a tune-up for me, which “should” find the problem… but thats gonna cost $130 for the both of them.
I was thinking of maybe trying to talk them into letting me TRY a new distributor cap, and if it works, great, if not, I give it back to them.

What the hell should I do? I NEEEEEED my car for work and school, so being w/o it is going to cause HUGE problems.

ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

~Eric

2

hey dude whats up. first i just wanted to let u know that i dont really think thats its the timing belt, cause its either good, or it just snaps off, and your motor stops. second, i had the exact same problem, and when my mechanic came over and check it out, he told me that my fuel injectors were really old (10yrs). my car was shaking really bad! it felt like everything was going to fall off. and my shifter and muffler were shaking like no tomorrow. and also my horsepower was shot to hell, it felt like a beat up ol’ bicycle. anyway thats what was wrong with mine, the fuel injector was old and clogged. have your mechanic do a real good run through. it may be the fuel system. good luck bro!

3

it does sound like a timing belt problem

look at it and see if its worn or cracked, then check it for tension. Even if thats not the problem, you should probably replace it because thats one of the parts that tends to wear faster on a teg than most cars.

4

Originally posted by Demonix
hey dude whats up. first i just wanted to let u know that i dont really think thats its the timing belt, cause its either good, or it just snaps off, and your motor stops. second, i had the exact same problem, and when my mechanic came over and check it out, he told me that my fuel injectors were really old (10yrs). my car was shaking really bad! it felt like everything was going to fall off. and my shifter and muffler were shaking like no tomorrow. and also my horsepower was shot to hell, it felt like a beat up ol’ bicycle. anyway thats what was wrong with mine, the fuel injector was old and clogged. have your mechanic do a real good run through. it may be the fuel system. good luck bro!

Would a bad injector happen “all of a sudden” like in my case? It was working perfectly thins morning, and then the next time I started it, it was HELL. Any ideas???

~Eric

5

yeah dude just to let u know it could be the problem but u never know. heres what happened to me. i was at work, anyway i went to lunch, the car was running perfect, i had just done an oil change so it was pulling really good and fast. anyway i get back to work, and work for about 1 hour. afterwards my manager told me that they were cutting hours and asked me if i wanted to go, i said yeah. i went outside hopped in my car, turned the key, and the car stalled a bit, and then when it started, the whole thing was shaking really bad:uhoh: i looked at the muffler and it was shaking like it was about to fall off. i went for a test drive and the car felt like half the motor fell off! anyway the mechanic came and told me that the fuel injector closest to the driver side had gone bad. really old and stuff. so he did a temporary fix, and i ordered venom injectors that same day. they came in 3 days later. we put them in, and problem solved!:smiley: well at least thats what happen to me. i’m giving u an idea, but just to make sure have someone who knows really good check it out.

6

if the timing belt is too tight or loose, it can give you problems like that, but i might be wrong. here’s a question-

what exactly does the engine do? does it miss or does it just run bad all around?

dirty fuel injectors won’t happen “all of a sudden”

7

well i dont know man i guess it could be anything. u should just have it checked by a mechanic. and my dirty old fuel injector did happen all of a sudden so i guess anythings possible.

8

Not exactly sure how to describe it, but when idling, its REALLY rough, and when taking off from a dead stop, the car barely goes… it goes, then stops, goes, then stops… basically feels like its about to stall… almost like its running on 2 or 3 cylinders.

I’ve used about 5 bottles of fuel injector cleaner in the past 3 months (winter = dirty = need injector cleaner)… so if its a dirty or clogged injector, I’d be surprised, but at this point, I really have no clue.

What about a dying/dead distributor? Would that cause one cylinder not to fire properly, and cause the problems I’m having?

Trying to look at all the possibilities here… hopefully the cheapest one is the right one! :slight_smile:

Any other questions i can entertain? Thanks for the help so far!!!

~Eric

9

Oh, and if you’re familiar with computerized tests…

would a “scope” test cover most of the possible problems I’m having? Also, would a regular computer test (codes, etc…) show anything useful?

~Eric

10

damn i dont know bro i used that stuff too, and my fuel injectors still shut down cause they were 10 yrs old. like i said it could be anything though. just give em’ a check cause what u said happened, exactly happened to me. also check the spark plugs, plug wires, and distributor and rotor. honestly the plug wire happened to me once. but the symptoms weren’t as bad. the car had more power, and it lightly shook when that happened. but when this happened, the car shook like crazy and it wanted to shut off too. like i said check everything man cause u never know

11

dude… when that happened to me, let me just say they ran my car under a computer and charge me 70bucks and they didnt find anything so they said i needed a tune up. distributor, rotor, plugs, plug wires. i did all that and nothing! i was so pissed, thats when i called my family friend thats a mechanic. he came over looked at it for a sec. and checked the injector and said that was the prob. i guess unless your check engine light is on, dont even bother with hooking it up to the computer. waste of money… thats how they ripped me the first time. and i spent over $140 at the dealer for tune up parts:mad: i needed them anyway, but i didnt need a computer to tell me that.

12

Figured out the problem. DUH!!!

After running a scope test on the car, the computer found out that my ignition was problematic. So, the technician calls me in, and asks if I want my plugs changed, etc…

I say ok, whats it gonna hurt, right? Well, he pulls off the plug wires, and much to my surprise, in the shaft which the one wire was broken yesterday, is a little piece of the plug wires that is nearest the spark plug. Meaning… even the new wires didnt help my problem, because the 2nd cylinder plug STILL wasn’t getting a power, because this piece of the old wire was isolating it from the contact in the new wire!!

So, we pulled that out, replaced all plugs with platinum NGK’s, put the new wires back in, and everything’s totally fine. Sure with I would have looked at the stupid plugs myself first!!! Would have saved $70, but ahwell, its fixed now.

Altough they did recommend I change my timing belt – it was last changed at 105,000 KM, and its now at 277,000 KM. :shock:
That’s a spring project I think.

Anyhow, thanks for all the help!!

~Eric

13

Oh, and if you’re familiar with computerized tests…

would a “scope” test cover most of the possible problems I’m having? Also, would a regular computer test (codes, etc…) show anything useful?

~Eric

The computer test would only be good if the check engine light was on…check the cap and rotor!!:shy: