No Spark No Start Issue Mystery.

speedracer40

New Member
Enter my patient....Acura 1995 GSR...with the following medical history. The GSR first displayed a jumpy tachometer but ran great. After subsequent starts and loads, the engine would not start. I checked for spark which is non-existent. My prior technical training pointed to a bad ICM (this should be a no-brainer). Replaced the ICM. Still no spark and no start. Checked inputs for the ICM including primary coil voltage (good) and secondary coil voltage (good). All connections are good. Checked continuity of the yellow green wire (ECM to ICM). Continuity is fine. Checked for battery voltage at the A21 and A26 inputs to the ECM. Good. Checked the ignition coil. The primary windings were slightly out of spec and the secondary windings were in spec. Replaced ignition coil but still no spark no start.

I exchanged the supposedly bad ICM into another Integra 94 distributor and got a spark and ignition.

Before I throw more money into this could this be a bad ECM? or is there something else that is causing this condition. Would a failing ECM cause a jumpy tach?
 

Russell D

New Member
I would check that you have continuity on every wire between the distributor and the ecu, if you do you have a much bigger problem, if not, check against between the distributor and the plugs by the battery, that will help you determine if it's the engine harness or body harness that's creating the open circuit. My guess is you have a piched/broken wire somewhere.
 

Muckman

Not a M0derator
The tach is driven by the distributor (blue wire) on the OBD1 integras. I do not believe its a bad ECU.

I believe you are on the correct path and I also would have replaced the ICM. I would test with a completely different distributor if you can borrow one from another OBD1 Integra.
 

Nick_C78

New Member
I would have said ICM too. I would agree with muckmans idea. Swap whole dizzy with a friend
 


Poodlehead

New Member
Did you ever get this resolved? I've got a no spark issue too and the ICM tested good at AutoBone. I changed the cap/rotor, checked voltages, and about ready to change the computer, but wanted to see if there were any other sensors that could be the problem. Does a 97 LS have a crankshaft position sensor or other types that could be bad causing the problem? Anyone in the Central TX area that I could talk to? :) Thanks, Pat
 

wunfstgsr

New Member
Jumping tach is a good sighn the ICM is going bad, I do believe theres another sensor in the distributor that dies and causes a no spark, mines recently did that i tested everything, replaced the ICM and coil and i ended up buying a new richporter distributor and it runs great.

I highly doubt its a bad ECM thats rare.

Try a known working distributor and see if it start like mentioned.
 

Poodlehead

New Member
wunfstgsr said:
Jumping tach is a good sighn the ICM is going bad, I do believe theres another sensor in the distributor that dies and causes a no spark, mines recently did that i tested everything, replaced the ICM and coil and i ended up buying a new richporter distributor and it runs great.

I highly doubt its a bad ECM thats rare.

Try a known working distributor and see if it start like mentioned.
Click to expand...
So I will try to find a good, but used dist. If that doesn't work, then the ECM? A bit of history: the car stumbled when I went to start it after sitting for a week. Then it had uneven compression. I thought it might have jumped timing so pulled all the accessory belts and timing cover. Timing is on. Now I don't have uneven compression, but no spark. I haven't put the accessory belts back on because I want to drive it to another location and change the timing belt since it's got 100k on it...
 


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