gen2_4door

Alright guys so i've searched all over and cant figure out why my car wont start. I have a completely stock 92 civic dx sedan for a daily driver. I went out one day and i couldnt get the car to start. When i turn the key to the on position, i cannot hear the pump cut on anymore. When it started acting up, i could jiggle the key on and off a couple times and get it to cut on. When i did this and it would click, it would start right up without any problems and would run for hours if needed to UNTIL i cut it off again. Then it wouldnt start again.

So i've replaced the cap, rotor button, plugs, plug wires. I cant seem to get spark OR fuel! I've tried sticking a screwdriver in a plug wire, and i dont get any spark. I've checked for fuel as well, and im not getting anything anymore when trying to start it. So like i said, when i turn the key to the on position where you would hear the pump click, turn on, prime, whatever you wanna call it.

I'm thinking its either the main fuel relay under the dash now. I've had problems with it in my DA before so i'm kinda leaning towards it now. I've unbolted it from the underdash, and have been holding it to feel if it clicks when turning the key, and i dont feel anything click like i did on the DA. Should i be feeling a click? I tried one relay already that i bought from Orielleys. The part number on the factory one is RZ-0132 and the one i ended up getting was not the same. I figured it may have just been that it was a different manufacturer or revised and better part for the same car. But when i tried it, it still wouldnt cllick like the one in my DA did.

Any ideas or help??

gen2_4door

Anyone have any ideas?? What all does te MFR control? Does it really control sending the signal to the fuel pump to send fuel and spark?? Thats what i've been told, but cant see anything about the fuel on the wiring diagrams

97twodoor

By the symptoms you are giving it sounds like an ignition switch.

Jockone

Do you have a buddy with the same year or gen car that you could try his main relay.
It does sound like it could be ignition switch also as posted ^^^

BoostdKseries

iTrader: (2)

Yup, what they ^^^ said. I would first check the main relay since it's prob cheaper. Just swap it out with someone else that you know if they have one.

gen2_4door

Well ive called everyone i know that i thought might have an eg civic and nobody has one anymore. So could it still be the ignition switch if everything else still works when i turn the key? It will still crank, it just wont start. And how much more expensive is an ignition switch than the mfr? Cause the MFR is about $50 already!

97twodoor

The reason i thought that it might be an ignition switch is because you said you had to jiggle the key for the car to turn "on". If you say that the lights and everything come on but it just won't start (no fuel or spark) then i would be checking the main relay. Just open it up and inspect the solder joints. More times than not thats all you need to do is re-solder the terminals.

nsxter

try replacing the entire distributor

97twodoor

Why would he want to do that? It's best to diagnose the problem, repair, then verify. Not guess, guess, guess.

talkerty

I agree with the ignition switch, jiggling the keys means the problem is right there by the ignition switch. unless its just a coincedence

gen2_4door

The only reason i jiggled the key was really just turning the key on and off trying to get the pump to cut on. All the lights will still come on and the ignition would click when i first turned the key but nothing clicked after it reached the on position when you would hear the pump cut on.

I know that when you hear the pump cut on, you also feel the click from the MFR i guess from it sending the pump the relay to send fuel or whatever. I've already pulled apart the relay to see if the solder points are cracked or broken or anything, but nothing is obviously wrong with it like the one in my integra was. All the points look good and theres no corrosion or anything anywhere on the relay. Which makes me believe it may be something wrong inside the relay. The thing that makes me think it may still be something other than the relay is that when i bought that new relay, it still wouldnt start. It only started after i bought the new cap, rotor button, plugs, and wires, but then later that day it died again and hasnt started since.

I'm checking today while i'm off work to see if i'm still getting power to the relay and if the pump is getting power as well. I'm not sure how the dizzy would control the spark AND the fuel as to being my problem. I've inspected the inner dizzy and everything looks ok. It spins just fine when trying to crank and it cranks REALLY well, just not getting the spark or fuel to get ignition.

kaka10

main relay

gen2_4door

So you guys think the one i had bought from orielleys was just a bad relay or something? Because even after i put it on the car still wouldnt start. Probably just gonna go get another relay today instead

EnviedByMany

Sounds like a relay or fuse....
so your pump doesnt prime? could you hear it when
you open the key? if it doesnt check your relay. try another one.
your getting power and everything? double check everything.
is your fuel filter clogged? where you having trouble starting it before?

gen2_4door

I had NO problems until the first day i went out and tried to start it and it wouldnt start. I have full power it seems like to everything, just not getting the spark or fuel. I've checked just about every possible fuse i can think of. But like i said, the first day once i noticed it wouldnt start, i went and bought a new carp, rotor button, plugs, wires, and the main relay. The car really needed all of this anyways since it hadnt been done in some time. I put the relay in and it still wouldnt start.

So i put the old one back in since i wasnt getting any difference in the pump still not clicking. Then i put all of the other parts on thinking maybe it was just not getting spark. It started just fine at that point. Drove it twice that day and after the last time i drove it, it wouldnt start back again.

I'm thinking now that maybe the relay they gave me just wasnt quite the right one, or it was just bad.

mtriples

I've had problems like this 2 or 3 times. I'll go ahead and say that I agree with the others, ignition switch sounds like the issue.

First thing you should check now, pull all your cables off of your battery, and clean them. If you have terminal blocks on the terminals, clean those too. Doesn't take much corrosion to drop your current draw. If there's corrosion, use 7-up and a toothbrush to clean it off. Works wonders, I **** you not.

Also, check to make sure all your ground wires in the engine bay are connected properly (assuming its set up like a D16, theres one on your P/S pump, one on your transmission, probably 2 or 3 others tucked away here and there). Can help to remove them and clean the area that they're bolted to.

Beyond that, and everything else you've done, there's only really replacing that ignition switch. Pain in the ***, hope you don't have to go there.

gen2_4door

Well i've checked all of the grounds in the engine bay as well, but thats still not getting me any fuel or spark. And the battery is actually only a couple months old and isnt corroded or anything. What would i have to do to replace that ignition switch??

mtriples

This should bring you to a basic guide. Hope it helps.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/rep...uctInformation

Hope this helps.

gen2_4door

Thanks man! If i end up replacing it i may just have to check that out further!

On another note, i bought a new MFR last night and tried it out, but NO LUCK!! It still wont start! Upon inspecting the dizzy further, i noticed what looked to be some sort of cam position sensor. I never knew these older civics had a cam position sensor, but it seems this may be something i've got to check out. Another thing i noticed was that there was a full 12 volts of current running through the coil. Its sorta hard to describe what im meaning here. I know there should be 12 volts running to the coil, but it seems as if maybe the inner coils inside the coil have shorted out and are touching and making the current run straight through the coil instead of being distributed or reduced or whatever if you get what i mean.

So what do you guys think now? Still think its the ignition switch? Or can it be the coil that is gone bad and sending the computer the signal not to send fuel since there is no spark? I'm really pretty stuck at the moment and i'm getting REALLY tired of not finding out what it is thats keeping me from starting it!

Thanks to everyone for their input and help! I really appreciate it!

mtriples

Still don't think thats the issue. Whether or not you're getting a spark, you should still hear your fuel pump priming when you turn the key to the ON/RUN position.

Hmmm...just for ***** and giggles, (And assuming your car will work like an EK) sit in your car, no keys in the ignition. Press the gas pedal all the way down, and hold it there. Crank over the car a few times, keeping the gas pedal still down. Then, remove keys, let gas pedal go. Doing this, your fuel pump should stay off, so you won't inject any fuel. (Keep this in mind for if you ever flood your motor.) Engine should not start. Go to the engine bay, pull a fuel line off, depressurizing the system. Might help if you pull your gas cap off when you do that. Reconnect it. Sit in your car, turn the key forward to ON/RUN. Not to START. Wait a few seconds, and do it 2-3 more times. Fuel system should be pressurized now. Start the car. Does it work?

gen2_4door

Will have to try this in the morning. Will let you know if it works! Thanks

mtriples

Here's hoping

gen2_4door

Well as if my luck couldnt get any worse with this car, i went outside to get something out of my other car and noticed that the civic got broke into the night before!!! Luckily there wasnt anything of real value in the car other than the cd player which they trashed since they couldnt pull it out, and made off with my Greddy weighted shift ****. They did however trash the inside of the car and busted up the dash and climate control a bit, but luckily it wasnt my Integra!

mtriples

Crappy deal man