dubaholic2

Hello, I am needing some help with a no spark condition. I have a 97 Civic EX that died on me as I was driving home from work the other day. I was doing about 55 and all of a sudden the car just died. No sputtering or anyting, just dead. I had it towed home and started checking things and discovered that I am not getting spark. The cams are turning so I know the t-belt is not broken. I searched the internet and found a diagram on how to test the coil and ICM on this site. I did all the tests for both and determined that the ICM was bad. I have continuity everywhere I am supposed to (ECM to ICM, wires at the ICM, etc...), primary on the coil shows about .8, secondary shows 16.2k. I had the ICM tested at my LPS and it showed bad on their machine also. I replaced the ICM and the spark plugs (plugs were old and had a very wide gap) and I still don't have spark. Is there a way to check the crank sensor, or is there anything else that might be worth checking? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ian

Former User

Do you have a TEC or Hitachi coil?

The coil primary reading seems high - did you subtract the internal resistance of the meter from the primary reading?

dubaholic2

It's a TEC coil. I just checked it again to make sure I was remembering correctly and it's showing .6, and that IS taking into account the .3 my meter is off. Thanks, Ian

Former User

For precision, are you able to report the Ohm readings with three significant digits?

johnlundy

I may be way off on this but have you also check your roter and cap for cracks and wear. If the plugs were in bad shape they are likely to be bad as well.

dubaholic2

The lowest setting on my meter is 200, so it only shows one digit after the decimal.

dubaholic2

Cap looks great, with no signs of cracking or wear. I replaced the rotor button because it was in bad shape. Forgot to include that in my first post. Thanks for reminding me.

Former User

Are your Ohm readings made on the coil at room temperature? Those extra digits are crucial to make a determination given that the spec reading range is 0.63 - 0.77 Ohms.

Do you have a friend with a similar Honda? If so, swap in a known good coil to see if you get spark.

dubaholic2

I guess that means I'll have to go buy a new meter. I'm off to get one. I'll report what I find shortly. Thanks, Ian

dubaholic2

I went to 3 different stores and noone has a meter that goes under 200 ohms. I bought an auto-ranging meter, hoping it would do it, but it doesn't. The only difference between the 2 meters is that mine reads .6 and the other reads .8. The tests were done with everything at outside temperature (78 degrees today). I don't know anyone else with a Honda or I would have tried swapping them already. I may have to break down and buy a coil, I'd just hate to spend $70 or so on something I don't need. Thanks, Ian

dubaholic2

Correction, I just remembered that I have a buddy who has a 95 Civic. I checked Autozone's website and it shows that we have the same coil. I called him and he's coming over after he gets off work so I can swap them and see what happens. I'll post the resluts. Thanks, Ian

Former User

The service manual diagram recommends doing the coil tests at 68F.

dubaholic2

I'll go take it off and bring it in the house until he gets here. I keep the house at 69 degrees so hopefully that will be good.

dubaholic2

My buddy just left. I swapped in his coil and it fired right up and ran perfect. I also put my old ICM in to check it and it had no spark. I guess the ICM went bad and killed the coil. At least I know what it needs! Thanks for all the help!

Former User

Not uncommon.