egb16civic

My 01 civic died while driving on the freeway. The car cranks and starts for a sec then dies. I checked the fuel pump for humming noise and looks like it works and I also changed the spark plug still the same. I looked for a distributor but it does not have one. I am looking into changing the crankshaft sensor. I also didn't see a check engine light turn on. Need help! any suggestions?

os17

A bad fuel pump won't always throw a code (if ever) and it can still hum if it's bad sometimes. My '00 mustang would sometimes start and sometimes not start but still made a humming sound. It turned out to be a bad fuel pump.
On my g/f '92 accord, there is a fuel pump relay waaay up under the dash that can go bad and cause your symptoms. Hers just wouldn't start on a hot day though and it was that relay because it gets really hot up under the dash, especially on hot summer days because no air gets up in there....kinda like a hot attic..lol

Hope this helps at least a little bit

Rick hybrid

Get a spray bottle of carb cleaner, take the top of the air cleaner off and spray it in the intake and try cranking it over.

os17

I think what he means is to spray it down the throttle body, since todays cars don't have air cleaner lids like in the 60's,70's and early 80's. Your air cleaner is inside an "air box".

A better way to check to see if it's the pump or not is to do a fuel pressure test.

egb16civic

I've tried spraying the throttle body with starting fluid but seems to start but dies seems to be the same. I tested the spark plug and it has spark so it's not the ignition system. I also looked at the oil cap fill hole and saw the rockers move. When I first removed the spark plugs they were black and looked oily. I looked it up on the charts and it is classified as oil foul? Is this bad?

Rick hybrid

Do not use starting fluid but use carb spray. Have a friend crank over the engine while you spray into the throttle body. Does it keep running?
starting fluid creates an abnormal combustion and is hard on the engine!
Use carb spray!

os17

How many miles are on this car? Yes, your plugs are oil fouled which means rings are probably worn. Change those and try again, if it still does not start, I would start checking for fuel problems. Don't forget to use anti-seize compound on the new plugs if you buy them!

egb16civic

Civic has about 142,000 miles. I sprayed the carb spray and still the same as it'll start a few seconds when pumping the gas then bogs down and dies. The throttle caught on fire a few times i may have spayed too much. what does this mean is this a still a fuel promblem? I tried looking for main relay under the driver side dash but only found the auto cruise relay. Do you know where I can find it? Thanks for the help,

Phoenix5

Did you check all the plugs for spark? Each plug has its own ignition coil. Also, the oil foul bit is likely more the issue at hand. You ahould buy some very cheap spark plugs, install them properly and try cranking it. If it runs as normal then you should monitor the problem. Check the spark plugs after driving it for a day, check after 3 days etc. See if the oily stuff comes back. If it does come back, especially after dieing and not starting again, then you should look into changing the piston rings.
on another note, have you checked the oil for discoloration such as when the head gasket is blown?
The timing could potentially be off, check the timing belt with a timing light, the enging has vvt or variable valve timing, but even so check the belt anyway.
Have you tested fuel pressure? Its actually easy and you dont really need a guage. Find the fuel filter in the engine bay near the fuse block, lossen the bolt on top slowly. If you get a spurt similar to opening a bottle of coke then you have fuel pressure.

martpav

IIRC, fuel filter is part of the pump assembly and its in tank, unlike the previous models, 2001-2005 Civic dont have the filter on the firewall

thetut

In post #5.

egb16civic

I checked timing belt and apparently it is shredded and still on the cam gear it looks like it was walking off. I am pissed as the timing belt was changed by Honda 2yrs ago on 4/2011 at 117,000 mi and now it's at 142,000 mi. Honda said warranty is only good for either 12,000 mi or 12 months. Why would they warranty it for 12 months when the belt replacement is usually 100,000 mi? Anyhow I took it to a local mechanic and did a diagnostic check. He said the valves don't look bent and said hopefully changing the timing belt will get it back on the road. He will be further looking into it today and hopefully doesn't find anything else.

egb16civic

My civic is back on the road. The promblem was the TSB bolt cracked and tensioner came loose and the timing belt jumped a couple of teeth causing the car from starting. The timing was off I'm guessing causing spark plug to be black. I'm gonna check after 5000 mi to see if they are really black/oil fouled.