seminoles2005

Trying to help my buddy get his 94 civic ex back on the road. It's an auto with 250,xxx and its never given him any major problems preventing him from driving until now. He drove the car 50 miles out of town and said that is when he realized how badly his car shakes on the interstate(first time taking it on there in a while) and when he was leaving his destination the car struggled to turn on but was able to get going and drove back home 50 more miles.

Since returning he cannot get the car started. I pulled all 4 spark plugs and can see no spark on the plugs when he turns the car over. Still smells like gas down inside the holes so I think hes having an ignition issue.

The previous owner hacked some stuff up around the car with a cold air intake and re wiring the interior but since my friend has owned the car it has never failed to start until now. While inspecting the engine bay I found a plug on the same harness as the coil pack but its just kinda hanging there along with another wire that has no plug on it but I can tell it was spliced with a wire that is no longer on the other end.

I have taken a picture of this circling the two wires who aren't plugged up and possibly hoping this is the culprit causing the car not to fire up. The arrow in the picture is pointed towards what the wire on the right is connected two but I have no clue what exactly it is.

If anyone can give me some hints on what to check to figure out this problem itll be much appreciated!

delsolo95

does it just cranks?

if no spark is present, the ignition coil or ignitor unit is bad.

delsolo95

those plug are for vtec solenoid

seminoles2005

Car just cranks. Do you think I should re-wire the loose wire and that plug back together?

seminoles2005

Is there anywhere online that is similar to a haynes or a car manual for a honda civic so I can look up any information

delsolo95

check the faqs on the top of the main civic forum. >>https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/faqs-frequently-asked-tech-questions-1998336/

delsolo95

on the sohc motors which your friend has you cant even tell when v tec kicks in, although if that is not plugged in, a check engine light will appear.

ej1b18c1

You can hear it with a short ram, with my buddies hatch d16z6 built with a crower cam you can feel it.

ej1b18c1

open the dizzy up and check the cap/rotor/ignition coil. Also check fuses/relays as well. so pretty much check if you're getting spark if you are then check to see if your getting gas.

seminoles2005

When I pulled the plugs i left them still connected to the plug wires and had my friend crank the engine and the spark plugs were not sparking at all. Maybe theres a blown fuse/bad relay i need to pull

seminoles2005

How can you determine if the ecu is bad?

Tried looping the plug required to retrieve the codes on the check engine light but the light remains solid. I've turned the key to the II position and the check engine light does not flash at all with the wires looping on the port.

Even with the wires removed the check engine light remains on.

delsolo95

im talking bout bone stock breh.

delsolo95

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/diy-how-test-spark-troubleshoot-spark-problems-2919450/

delsolo95

HELPFUL TIPS

Tip #1: To know whether your CEL works, turn the key from off to the ON(II) position. The CEL should turn on and then off after 2 seconds. If the CEL never turns on, this could mean that the CEL bulb in the cluster is blown, a CEL wire is bad, or more commonly that a previous owner has removed the CEL bulb to mask a problem that would have hindered sale of the car.

Tip #2: In some cases, for 5th generation Civics (92-95), the CEL may turn on while driving, but if the engine is turned off, the CEL and CEL code will be lost. The workaround to allow recovery of the code when this happens is to safely pull to the side of the road and leave the engine running while you jump the service connector.

Tip #3: After you retrieve the CEL codes, then reset the ECU to clear the codes. This is most easily done by removing the 7.5A hood Back Up fuse for a few minutes and reinserting it. Then drive the car to see whether the CEL again remains on steady. If so, pull the codes again to see whether any of the original codes has repeated. This step is important because you only want to troubleshoot codes that repeat. In general, ignore codes that pop up once but don't repeat.
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-----CEL # List-----
0 (defined by CEL remaining on steady both without and with the service connector jumped) - indicates ECU power or ground problem when engine will not start; begin by checking the three main relay fuses and the G101 ground attached to the thermostat housing.

seminoles2005

wow......thanks a lot delsolo! I pulled the main fuse and noticed there was no clicking when I turned the key to the on position. Drove to a local junk yard and got lucky and found another main relay in a civic. Plugged it up and the car started right up. Crazy. But thanks a ton man my friend appreciates the quick responses!