Steftravels

Hi I have a 1991 Honda Civic SI 2 door hatchback, We are the original owners. It has a 1992 Motor as we went to look at a repair book for the 91 model and the parts did not correspond!

We have had a problem with the car refusing to start after parking for a few minutes. You will go to turn it on and the car refuses to start. We have to sit and wait for 5 min or so till it decides to turn back on.

The other night we were driving uphill, earlier that day we had one of those refusing to start episodes but otherwise it was running fine. The first stoplight on the hill the car hesitated , the second light it hesitated again and by the third light it just stalled and refused to start again, we heard a booming type sound from the car not sure if it was a backfire..... We tried for about 10 min to get it started and then had to push it to the nearest parkinglot and have it towed back home...

Unable to start it since. We tested the fuel pump and gas was still flowing, we also tried to test the relay today by turning the car on slightly we heard a click and the fuel pump turn on so it's not that.

We don't know what to do from here. Is there anything we can do at home to fix the car before attempting to take it to a shop and spending a lot of money for something that we might be able to fix here and towing it there won't be cheap either. Would love some input thanks!

Mr2Rotor

Are you getting a spark? Have you done a compression test? Also how did the car get a 92 motor if you guys are the original owner?

RoidBear

My brother was having a similar problem and it ended up being the distributor that had completely finished burning itself off. He replaced it and now hasn't had rough starts nor has he been abandoned on the road again.

Steftravels

Mr2 How do I check for spark & compression test? Well it seems to have a 92 motor because when I had the repair book that you can buy (that famous one I can't remember the company name) The dipsticks etc did not match up with the configs in the book. The motor was not the same as the one up to '91 so I am guessing this model was made at the end of 91 and had the second gen motor in it.....

Roid I will get my mom's husband to check the distributor....

any other ideas?

tonylovesjdmEF9

pics of your engine bay will help alot

also if your main relay is clicking and fuel is flowing it should be spark or not enough fuel pressure

here are the things i would do to trouble shoot this

1 get a fuel pressure gauge from the local autoparts store and put it where the fuel filter is at.( put it on the line coming from the tank not the one after the filter it will show you the fuel pump pressure) it should read 40 or so psi with the car on the ignition on

2 have someone in the car unplug one of your sparkplug cables (front the motor side not from the distributor) then tell them to crank it and you should be able to hear the spark if you pull it all the way out put it by the nearest ground and it should show you spark. do it to all 4 cables. if no spark take your distributor cap and rotor and take it to your nearest autozone and have it tested

LaynLo

Sorry to hear about the troubles, I hope you get up and running soon!

Sweetfish89

x2 on checking the main relay. Same thing happened to me.

sumdewd

Back when I had my 91 Auto DX (rip), we were coming off of an exit ramp from the expressway and heard a low boom and lost all power. Car did not restart but you could crank it over and hear a random pop out of the exhaust. The car had spark, fuel, air, and compression. It turns out the distributor rotor screw popped out... Give that a check and if it did in fact come out, put some Loctite on the screw and tighten it back down and try starting.

Steftravels

Hi Everyone thanks for the tips. we have gotten to a point with some of the diag here... looks like there is no spark. First we need to replace the timing belt we are just over 200,000km now so just curious can we do that ourselves or do we need special machines. it seems real expensive.....

second the reason for the stall looks to be the ICM or the small amp type looking silver box that is close to the steering (I'm sorry I can't remember the name) .. so big question is can we replace that timing belt ourselves and secondly if it's the icm or other box which would we want to replace first and any way to tell which one it is for sure without buying the parts as we can't return electrical parts of course. thanks so much!

tonylovesjdmEF9

um we need pics to give you better advice

icm you mean the igniter on the dizzy???
if you got it checked and came out bad i recomend replacing the complete dizzy if its the original one and about the timing belt i recomend you getting it replaced by some one mechanical inclined

Steftravels

Ok what do I take a picture of in the engine? do you want me to open the parts?

DCRB

check main relay, and then check the rotor in the distributor.

steftravels, just pop open your hood and take a picture of what's there, no need to start undressing her

TearSDMF89dx

ill bet 5 bucks its a lose rotor screw those things are always backing off

Steftravels

Ok thanks everyone here are some pictures I hope these are clear enough and if you need more let me know and I will take them

crx_si-r

Loose or fallen out rotor screw. It's the culprit a majority of the time

schueytenten

I'm gonna got out on a limb and say that's not a 92 engine.

DCRB

out of curiosity you aren't in canada are you? no ed hatch/crx in the states came automatic MPFI (just the ex sedan) yet your hatch obviously is...

also can you post up a pic of your engine code?

located here:

JJ-N-TX

CORRECT!!

Steftravels

Ok I will get a picture of the engine code. Also, we did a compression test 2 were only at 30% but the neighbour put some gas in there before so we are taking the top off the engine to see what is in there. Yes I'm in canada maybe that's why my engine looked slightly different. Must be the '91 engine then sorry. At this point everyone is saying the engine is screwed but I won't give up maybe it's just the head gasket or something in there.

mann-nyc

had the same problem last summer. turned out to be the main relay

Steftravels

Hi All
Got in there tonight and opened the top of the motor with my mom's husband. I even got my hands dirty. We removed the casing off the timing belt. The casing was cracked where the nuts attached to the motor so I got creative with needle nose pliers, and a kitchen knife and we were able to get a grip so I could loosen the nut. (big thing for me here haha) anyway the belt looked good in my opinion. I am thinking it might have been changed a few years back but not noted. It didn't seem to have any cracking or dry crazing spots looked good. Only thing I noticed it wasn't 100% centered on the piece it sits on (the drive maybe? I don't know what to call it) it was slightly to the left but it was very tight so I don't think it slipped at any time probably the last person who installed it just didn't line it up 100% straight. (I'm **** like that where I will make it super lined up haha) just wanted to point that out if it does make a difference. what I will do next day we work on it again (hopefully tomorrow night) is take some pictures of inside the engine and the timing belt and see what everyone thinks. We haven't gotten too far into the engine yet but hopefully we will find nothing broken ......anything else that can lower the compression besides something being drastically wrong in the engine?