syldacat

My son was driving his 92 Civic when it just died. After awhile, he restarted it (easily) and drove off. Twenty minutes later, it died. He waited, it restarted, and 20 minutes later, it died again. So, he had it towed home. We found the battery was bad, so got a new Sears Diehard battery. The car wouldn't start, so we got a new distributor cap and rotor. Still no start. Tested the fuel pump and fuel relay sensor---everything okay there. Got a new fuel filter. No start. Got a new igniter, and it started and ran for 1-2 minutes, then started surging/slowing until it stalled. Got a new Idler Air Control Valve and installed it. No start, but the check engine light does not stay on and never has come on and stayed on, so we think there are no codes being registered. New spark plug wires within the last 6 months. As soon as it gets dark, we are going to try to see if we can get a spark from the spark plug wires again. Before we changed out the igniter, we were able to get a spark arc. I sure hope somebody has an idea. We are about running out of things to replace.

DragII

alternator, vac lines, all plugs, and sensors tight...

you have done just about all the things you can so far....so there is NO check engine light while driving?

DragII

this is the part that is bugging me

BreakStuff

Well, you sure covered alot of components, but apparently have not repaired the problem one yet..

I would strongly assume the problem is with an electrical component in the system.. Does the car initially run normal before the problem starts??
this is a good sign that an electrical component is heating up prematurely causing a failure in the system.. When the motor is cool, car runs normally.. when the motor gets hot, component fails...

I would definately attack the ignition system, but you left out the most important component in the ignition system.. give up??
Check the coil! , before replacing anymore parts, check for overheated parts when the car is acting up, cool down any overheated component and then see if the car runs normally.. concentrate on the following components..

Coil
Plug Wires, including the external coil power supply wire if your coil is external..
Distributor Cap Pick-up pin
Igniter and connections

syldacat

There was a loud buzzing coming from the Idler Air Control Valve, and so we thought that what was causing the surging/failing. We replaced that and now there is no buzzing--but the car still won't start. Then, we replaced the igniter. We waited until dark and tried to see if there was a spark getting through to the coil. There is a spark, so we didn't take out the coil. I guess we are down to the Fuel Pump and the Fuel Relay Sensor. No, there have not been any "Check Engine" lights on at all. Would the Fuel Relay Sensor affect the car starting? Wouldn't that be a problem only after it had been running awhile?


[Modified by syldacat, 5:34 PM 10/12/2001]


[Modified by syldacat, 5:35 PM 10/12/2001]

ghostdog86

i own a 92 civic same problem.........

one night just shot off never turned on...towed to the house...
replaced coil & ignitor worked for three days and shut off again....
finally took it to a honda mechanic...fuel relay sensor went bad been working fine
for the last three months never shut off and stranded again

towing costs......150$ still kills me fuel relay sensor cost with labor 45$
hope it helps

markaria

I had a similar problem in my 93 hatch, it was the main fuel relay located behind the hood latch release (under the driver side dash). it costs about 40 bucks at the dealer for the part

syldacat

We fixed it! Finally! The final clue was that the spark produced was yellow and when someone told me it was supposed to be blue, I ran down and bought a new coil. Once installed, the problem disappeared! Thanks to all for helping me out with this puzzle!