It is a 1997 civic ex 5-speed. (195,000 miles) 8 months ago I replaced the distributer. The tachometer recently started going haywire(idle shows 6k, crusing at 55 in 5th pins the needle straight down). Soon after the tach issues began the car starting briefly shutting down(1 secondish) then start back running fine. A short time later the car would shutdown completely and not start for a while. I replaced the distributor again since it was under warranty and it ran fine for a day and today it shut down and wouldn't start for a brief period of time. I waited a few minutes and it started right back up and ran another 25miles with no issues.

(previous to replacing the distributor) I pulled a spark plug after the car stalled to check for fire. When first turning the key the car had no fire, it then got fire and started up. It then ran for a few miles and shut down again. I also pulled the fuel line right after the filter to check for blockage and pump issues(all seemed fine).

The temperature gauge has never been up past halfway, and I have never lost coolant.

Anything insights, knowledge, or help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Does the tach read zero with the key on, not running? If it doesn't it's probably a bad tach. But the engine doesn't run right also, so there is more to it than that. I think the tach signal actually comes direct from the ECU after 1995. Since the distributor seems to be ruled out, you may have a faulty ECU. Also check the ECU ground wires on the thermostat.

 

update on my situation

I started pursuing the problem by replacing the entire distributor, the problem continued. I next replaced the crank position sensor that is actually located on the crank, I believe this is actually called the crank fluctuator sensor? Regardless, the problem continued. I next bought a replacement ECU ( located behind the passenger seat kick plastic). Which still did not fix the issue. I believe from what I have found on these forums that I should look into having autozone get me a new distributor as quite often they are not “good” when sent…

Any other ideas?

 

It could be a problem with the wires between the distributor and ECU. Look in the plugs and make sure all the pins are in proper position and not corroded. Check the battery voltage with engine running, if you have over voltage things will act up. Also check those ground wires. Without steady power and ground no electronic system can work properly.