It has to be the coil in your distributor, also a funny think rotor screws inside the distributor cap come loose.

 

Yes take the cap off and make sure the rotor is secure on the shaft. Then test for sparks right at the coil, hold a grounded test wire near the coil output and crank. If there are only weak yellow sparks, replace the coil.

 

Yeah I belive its your igniter/coil. Once again, you need to replace them in pairs. A whole new distributor is only $140. Also, its easy to install since the rotor meets the camshaft in only one way so your timing won't be off so far as to prevent you from starting your car upon installation. You really need to think about preventative maintainence. We should have seen a post on here saying "my car runs HORRIBLE" lol

 

haha thanks everyone.
I went in to take off my distributor cap... and it is held on by 3 8mm philips screws
The screws are pretty stripped.... i got the first two off with an 8mm wrench, but the second one is too stripped to use a screwdriver, AND the edge for the head of the screw is too close to the wall of the cap itself, so the wrench will not fit, same with sockets.

any ideas?

 

1/4 inch drive socket should fit. 3/8 drive wouldn't.

 

before you spend money or do any of the things suggested try this:
check the ground wires attached to the frame and motor/trans,mainly check the two that attach to the transmission there should be one on the back close to the rear mount this is the one that is usually the problem(honda attached a steel ring to the aluminum transmission which causes it to corrode)because it goes into the distributor(or is attached to the distributors ground)the easiest way to test it is to just get like 8 gauge wire or the like and attach it to the ground on the trans, the wire not the bolt(clean the ring connector as best you can first)and then attach it to the ground on the battery...if the ground is the problem it will usually start if this works spend some time replacing the grounds(I think there are four or five of them) from what you posted it seems like this could be the problem so give it a try...had the same problem myself and didn't figure it out until after spending money and time on stuff I didn't need. if it works good if not sorry

 

As its always good to check those things, if he specifically checks the coil and igniter and one of them is bad, he can get around testing the grounds on everything.

Also, if you are stripping screws CHILL OUT!! Its 8mm by the way on the distributor cap for d16s, but I came across a 98' with 7mm bolts. But I stripped so many screws inside the distributor as well. Take your time with it, you won't regret it. I would recommend getting PB Blaster. You spray it on and let it sit on the screws and it will loosen them. Well worth it.

A few ways to remove stripped screws:
1. Don't do it ever again!!! Ha
2. Cut a notch on the screw with a dremel, large enought for a flathead screwdriver
3. Use pb blaster or other product
4. Precision tip screw drivers
5. Screw extraction kits (hardware stores)
6. Left handed drill bit

I used my dremel for all of them, worked like a charm. Can get a good off-brand dremel for 20-30 bucks. Got mine on sale at Fry's and its great!

 

Alright, i'm going to definitely look at that, i did finally get the last screw off the distributor and didn't really learn much...
I'm hoping you're right cuz that would obviously save money.
Thanks a bunch for your input!

 

If the fuel pump primes and you only lack spark, then the engine grounds are fine.

You are losing proper focus on the specific lack of spark. Have the coil and ICM tested and check whether the timing belt snapped.

 

I second that. ronj