Yeah it tested bad when it was cold and when it warmed up and the old one I had tested good when cold bad when warm so I'm thinking when the car did turn on at that one point and then cut of it was cause of that icm that when it got warm it quit working

Yep. That's why so many cars die when they warm up--ICMs and coils breakdown under load (heat). If the sensors in the new distributor are fine, your Honda should start with a new ICM and coil.

Yeah I found another icm I had laying aroun but it's a #mc-8541 and the one from my car is a mc-8132 will it work on my car even if there different numbers

I don't really know. I checked it out and it looks like it should work.

O well it tested bad also so that's not going to work I'm about to test the coil and ill let u know what it comes out to

OK

Were on ohms do I put the knob at 2000k 200k 20k 2000 200

Primary Winding: Set multimeter to 200 ohms

Resistance [between (+) and (-) terminals] should be 0.6 to 0.8 ohms.


Secondary Winding: Set multimeter 20K ohms

Resistance (between A (+) and secondary winding terminals) should be 12.8 to 19.2 k-ohms.

Ok so basically I connect the red lead and black lead to the positive and negative from the coil and read it from 200 ohms then 20k and that's my primary and secondary tests?

No. Connect Red to A and Black to B.

Then Connect Red to A and Black to where the spark plug wire attaches.

There's no label that says a or b its just a plus or a negative and when you say for the secondary connect the black to where the spark plugs connect are you talking about the cap

Primary Winding: Set multimeter to 200 ohms

Resistance [between (+) and (-) terminals] should be 0.6 to 0.8 ohms.


Secondary Winding: Set multimeter 20K ohms

Resistance [between (+) and secondary winding terminal] should be 12.8 to 19.2 k-ohms.

Secondary winding terminal is the terminal that the high voltage comes out of.

There's no label that says a or b its just a plus or a negative and when you say for the secondary connect the black to where the spark plugs connect are you talking about the cap

Re-read my last response.

Well the primary came out to b 1.1 ohms but I'm sorry I still didn't understand the secondary winding is there a way u can explain it more like where does the main voltage come from is it from the coil or somewhere else

I'm looking at a picture of your coil. Attach one lead to + and the other to the inside of the big hole (opening), which is where the high voltage comes out of.

Ok well the second winding is reading 12.14 but the first as I keep reading it it kind of jumps up to 1.4

Primary resistance is too high and it will only get higher with heat. If you are outside of specs, when cold, I think you should replace the part.

The frustrating part of bench testing ICMs and coils is when they test fine but they breakdown under load, which often can't be tested for. I don't trust old ICMs and coils. They are two of the biggest problems we have on this site for Hondas. Next, is bad distributor housings. Basically, then, your original distributor was a mess.

So my coil does not need to be replaced

No, it likely needs to be replaced.

To me, your original distributor housing, ICM, and coil were all bad.

Wow OK well do u still recommend me just getting a coil and icm or a full distributor? And if a full distributor where can I get one for a cheap price

Didn't you just get a used distributor housing from salvage? A number of people have purchased a complete distributor housing, ICM, and coil for their Honda for around $55 from salvage. One guy bought one that only had 30,000 miles on it.

Well I got it from a guy from craigslist that was parting out a 91 sedan he said it works but when I looked inside it was missing the coil and it had oil inside and on the outside of the housing and he also lied and told me the car only had 164,000 miles on it witch is less then mine but when I got there that's the first thing I checked and it had 205,000 miles witch is more but I bought it cause he said it was good and it was the same engine and distributor

Are they from the same year car?

I would call around to several salvage yards and get the best deal you can on a complete distributor, including ICM and coil. Again, try to get one from a lower mileage 1990 Civic--ensure part number check out.

Well I'm returning that distributor to get my money back and get one worth my money will rthe salvage yard be able to tell me if they have a td-o1u in there yard?

I have been looking for a distributor all day and can't find one locally so I got on the internet and still could not find one until I ran across a bosch distributor for less then 150 brand new is that worth my money or not keeping in mind that nobody has a distributor for my car o and I think my distributor is a 2pin-5pin am I correct

I'm skeptical of all aftermarket distributors for Hondas, but it's your car and go with your gut. You do want a lifetime warranty, however. Some salvage yards are hooked up to a national network where they can scour the market for used parts. Ask them about that capability or call Advance Auto Parts. They claim they can do it.

They don't pick up the phone but there's a guy selling a TD-18U I'm assuming that would not fit right

Correct.

I been looking for distributors all day and cannot find one for my car the only one I have found at a good price being new and all is that bosch

What kind of warranty? Is the outfit local, so you can return it if it does not work?

It doesn't show anything about warranty and no its not local,I think I'm going to have one of my uncles from boston look it up over there and my other uncle from puerto rico look it up over there cause in puerto rico it's a good chance they will have it there's a lot of these cars over there but would it be dangerous to ship them

Check RockAuto.com.

It's the same thing same brand and everything just 4 dollars cheaper

No big deal then.

Nope