1986 Acura Legend Problem

1986 Acura Legend 2.5L V6; 5-speed.

Two days ago, I noticed the car was running a little rough, like a
cylinder was missing. The next morning I checked the spark plugs on
cylinders #2, #4, and #5. (Plug #2 had fouled in the past, so I checked
it first, but it was fine) After plug #2 was OK, I started the car and
figured I'd pull the plug wires one at a time with the engine running
and figure out which cylinder was missing that way. I pulled wire #6
first, ran even rougher, so I knew that wasn't it. Pulled #5, and the
engine cut off. I felt sure after that it was either plug #1 or plug
#4. #1 was fine. #4 was covered with oil. (Yes the car has been
burning oil, but not very badly) I used some WD40 to take off the oil
residue and wiped it clean with a paper towel. I put the plug back in
and tried to start the car. No go for about 15-20 tries. Finally, it
fired up and idled. Upon just barely tapping the gas pedal, it would
bog down and cut off. I started it back up immediately. Shortly, I was
able to gradually rev the engine to 4,000RPM. After holding that for
about 10 seconds, the engine cut off and has not started back since.
Just for the hell of it I replaced all 6 spark plugs with Autolite brand
plugs. (I gapped them all to the .044 specification) Still no
starting. I removed the distributor cap and noticed the contacts were
fairly worn, but the rotor button seemed to be OK. I cleaned the inside
and outside of the cap using WD40 and a papertowel. I put the cap back
on, and still no start. The fact that it was running (rough, but
running nevertheless) before I pulled the #5 plug wire with the engine
running is what has me VERY confused. The plug wires are less than a
year old. I bought a new cap and rotor button, which I will replace
tomorrow and report back results. If I do this, and it still won't
start, I don't know what in the ever-living hell is the problem. Some
have suggested blown head gasket, which could be possible, but I doubt
it. I have owned a car that had a blown HG and it ran very rough, but
it would start. I checked the oil, and there is no sign of water in it
as far as I can tell. If replacing cap and rotor doesn't fix it, I will
then check for correct electrical specs coming from the coil and going
to and from the cap; after that I'll check the fuel delivery system.
I'm pretty sure the fuel pump is working because when I turn the igition
switch on, the PGM-FI light comes on for about 2 seconds, and I can hear
the pump running at that time before the main relay clicks it off.

I guess my question is, has anyone else ever ran into trouble like this
with a 1st-generation Legend? Any input / ideas will be appreciated.

Thanx in advance!

Jonathan

P.S. This is my wife's car, and if I don't hurry up and fix it, she's
going to kick my @$$...

 

Avoid pulling the spark plug wires on a car that has a history of a
bad coil and igniter without proper grounding, especially when they
were already abused by the missing. Doing so can destroy the coil
and/or igniter. Story: A father got clever with his misbehave kids. He
pulls the coil high tension wire before he goes to bed. This
destroyed the igniter when his son spent the morning and
afternoon cranking.

First check for sparks directly from the coil. Then check all of its
input power with the ignition on. The igniter is inside the engine bay,
driver shock tower.

 

GREAT NEWS!! Replacing the distributor cap and rotor button did the
trick. Apparently the rotor button was a lot worse than I thought upon
closer inspection. The cap appeared as if some moisture had some how
seeped in and damaged the contacts and rotor button. The car runs
perfect now, firing on all 6 cylinders.

Thanx!

Jonathan