[jthondaracer]

ok heres it is. my 92 honda civic lx wont start. ive replaced the starter, battery cables, battery.. it turns over but it just wont start. im thinking it might be the distributer but idk, is there a seperate coil? its kinda pissing me off:bash... anyone got iany ideas?
thanks, josh

 

[jae8908]

Is it getting fuel? check your fuel pump and filter.

 

[mattliston]

When the car is off, unscrew the gas cap to relieve pressure, and put it back on. Get into car, and turn the key til the dash lights up DONT start the car. What you want to hear is a whirring noise, then a click, then it goes quiet. If it does that, your fuel pump is working fine.

Next, go under the hood, unplug all your spark plug wires, keep them in order, or write it down and maybe stick some tape on them and write there location.

Take off the disty cap via 4 screws, and pull straight towards the passeneger fender. Look at it underneath. Does it look burned or warped at all? If it is even a little dirty, you have your problem right there. cap and rotor is 10 or 20 bucks

the rotor slips off once you remove a screw on the shaft. be careful not to strip it, some cap and rotor kits have a screw, some dont. Depends on the packaging worker that day if he was lazy or not.

keep us updated on your progress, we're here to help :btu

 

[drummingpariah]

Verify that you have spark: place a spark plug (attached to a spark plug wire) very close to a ground (piece of the body will work), and crank the motor. Each cylinder should produce a spark.

Verify that you have fuel: explained by mattliston quite well

Load test your battery. 150a load for 10 seconds should do it. Ensure that you're putting out > 12v

Check your grounds. Check them again. Now one more time. It's amazing how many people drive around with terrible grounding systems that are only partially connected some of the time.

 

[jthondaracer]

ive replaced the distributer cap, haha i undid the fuel filter and got fuel sprayed all over me, so its getting fuel, however its not getting spark, is there a way to test ur disty/ i dont wanna replace things i dont have to.

 

[mattliston]

did you follow drummin's method? get a buddy in the car, and ready to turn it over. take a screwdriver, unplug a wire form the VC, and touch the tip of the screwdriver carefully against the tip of the wire end, and put the shaft of the screwdriver about a 1/8 of an inch away. Make sure to wear rubber gloves or get a rubber or other insolated material on the screw driver, and see if a spark is made when you tell your buddy to try to start it. Do this on all four wires

Be careful, leaving it unplugged can ruin the disty more then you want or need.

 

[mattliston]

Also, if its a manual, your clutch switch might have gone bad. Go under the dash (very uncomfortable) and make sure it looks good. Mess with it as you have a buddy try to start it (make sure its in nuetral :lol)

keep us updated

 

[slow_eh2]

...did you cheeck the main relay...? and mattliston if its cranking then its not the nuetral safty switch. at least it shouldnt be haha (and yes make sure its in nuetral lol) it could be the main relay


op turn the keys to the accesory position and look at the check engine light. you should hear a buzz and then the light will go off. if it doesnt go off. then you are not getting fuel and is possibly the main relay. check that

 

[mattliston]

main relay ia AKA fuel relay, if his pump is operating, the relay is good.

The clutch switch wont let it start period. I forget whether it limits the injectors or the ignition

EDIT nevermind Im an idiot, clutch switch would stop it from even cranking, thanks for the input

 

[drummingpariah]

...did you cheeck the main relay...? and mattliston if its cranking then its not the nuetral safty switch. at least it shouldnt be haha (and yes make sure its in nuetral lol) it could be the main relay


op turn the keys to the accesory position and look at the check engine light. you should hear a buzz and then the light will go off. if it doesnt go off. then you are not getting fuel and is possibly the main relay. check that

If the fuel pump is coming on, the main relay is in working order. You'll need to test your distributor on a proper test bench. Of course, you could just test for continuity on the + lead to the distributor (one wire should get power when you turn the key to "on", use a test light), and check the other end of the distributor (called a "spark plug") against a piece of ferrous metal (like a screwdriver).

If it's cranking, there are only 3 things that could keep it from starting (or at least sputtering to life briefly, then dying):

• fuel
• spark (with enough fuel, it's possible to "diesel" so this doesn't technically belong on this list)
• air

 

[94_teg]

this happen to my buddies integra the other day. it was the ignition coil