I would also try resetting the ECU and check both the internal and external connections of your distributor:
When I troubleshoot my dancing tach to the Igniter, that was all that it effect - the Tach output. The car drove normally. If you looked at my "How-To" pages, you'll see that I discovered some external damage to my Igniter. I don't know if that was the cause or not. But I replaced it anyway. I kept the old one as a spare in the car just in case (the thing about the Igniter is that they don't really give any advance signs that they are about to go - most of the time it happens suddenly).
You can try replacing the Igniter and see if that cures your problem. I paid about $85 (USD) for mine from the dealer. You can get them for less at places like Pep Boy's, Kragen and AutoZone but I decided to go with the one from the dealer. Just be aware that if you decide to purchase a new Igniter (even if it's not from the dealer) and it doesn't fix the problem, you can't return it. Not that this is a bad thing... just keep the old one as a spare.
The other thing that comes to mind is that you may have a bad distributor. In which case even if you did purchase a new Igniter, save it as a spare.
Last... you may have a bad ECU but it doesn't sound like it.
If it gets too frustrating, seriously consider taking the car down to the local dealership and have them perform a diagnostic on your car. It should not be more than 1 hour of labor. Describe the symptoms and when it seems to happen the most and then go from there. Even if they diagnose the problem, you're not obligated to have them do the repairs.
Just a thought.
Hope things work out...
If you do figure out the problem, please be sure to let me know... if you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me and I'll try to help.
Robert K. Kuhn
CRX Owners Group President (http://www.crx.org/southcal)
1990 Honda CRXsi (http://www.hooligan.cc)
ICQ # 3714283 (nickname: godzilla)
Alpine Drive (San Diego County) - February 8, 2003
http://www.crx.org/southcal/events.html
On 07:54 PM 01/15/03 -0800, DEE! said...
ecu read no error code at all and no my engine light doesnt come on it online comez off if the engine just shut off on me when the tach bounce and shut off my engine casue sometimez it will shut off my engine
- ----- Original Message -----
- From: Robert K. Kuhn
- To: DEE!
- Cc: The Rex list
- Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 8:40 AM
- Subject: Re: The dancing tach
- A couple of additional questions:
- 1. Did you check the ECU for any error codes?
- 2. Does your Check Engine light come one when this happens? If it does, then definitely check the ECU for an error code.
- Robert K. Kuhn
- CRX Owners Group President (http://www.crx.org/southcal)
- 1990 Honda CRXsi (http://www.hooligan.cc)
- ICQ # 3714283 (nickname: godzilla)
- Alpine Drive (San Diego County) - February 8, 2003
- http://www.crx.org/southcal/events.html
- On 07:17 PM 01/14/03 -0800, DEE! said...
- like when it bounce sometimez the car givez me a push like i got hit by someone from behind and sometimez if that happenz the car would just die out on me and it would not start.
- ----- Original Message -----
- From: Robert K. Kuhn
- To: DEE!
- Cc: The Rex list
- Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 1:46 PM
- Subject: Re: The dancing tach
- The problem with the "dancing tach needle" is that it can't always be re-produced easily. Mine was random but it almost always seem to happen when the engine was under load and the RPM was between 3500 and 4000.
- The igniter is located inside the distributor itself. You will have to remove the ignition module/coil first in order to gain access to it:
http://www.crx.org/southcal/tech/igniter/igniter.htm - Pics are in the URL listed above.
- You lose me when you say "when it bounces or dance the car would not shut off it would give me a little push". Are you saying that the engine doesn't shut down when you turn it off? Sort of like dieseling?
- Robert K. Kuhn
- CRX Owners Group President (http://www.crx.org/southcal)
- 1990 Honda CRXsi (http://www.hooligan.cc)
- ICQ # 3714283 (nickname: godzilla)
- On 09:24 PM 01/12/03 -0800, DEE! said...
- hey bro i tried and tried i went to local shopz and everything they keep bullshitting and said there was no problem i recently got my starter replace and so when it bounce or dance the car would not shut off it would like give me a little push i am having a very hard time where to find the ignitor and the grounded u talked about please help me if u have more pix pls send them
- ----- Original Message -----
- From: Robert K. Kuhn
- To: DEE!
- Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 12:30 PM
- Subject: Re: The dancing tach
- On 11:21 PM 12/17/02 -0800, DEE! said...
- My car is doing this right now and itz driving me nutz!! can u please help me with this dancing tach
- Try the basic troubleshooting steps I have listed here:
- http://www.crx.org/southcal/tech/igniter/default.htm
- Robert K. Kuhn
- CRX Owners Group President (http://www.crx.org/southcal)
- 1990 Honda CRXsi (http://www.hooligan.cc)
- ICQ # 3714283 (nickname: godzilla)
