adam4826

Hi, i have just recently purchased a 93 Honda civic. The story im told about it is that it ran great, then he had problems with a clogged fuel filter. When he replaced the fuel filter the car ran great again. Not 3-4 weeks of minimal driving it died, only showing the dash lights, and check engine lights. The main relay was swapped with a new one, no help. The car would go a week or two and it would start every once in a while, but now i cant get it to start in the past few months.

My thoughts were to replace the ECU, or the fuel pump.

Any thoughts or suggestions are very welcome.

pArAdOxsqUArE

turn the key to "on" position **don't try to start the car*** ON POSITION

listen for the fuel pump.. trust me you can hear it.. if not the fuel pump is out or you got some sort of open wire that's touching somewhere some how.

or your starter might be going out. like it'll work one day and another day it wont..

try reading the check engine codes. that'll help or shine some light on your issues

adam4826

pArAdOxsqUArE, there is no fuel pump sound coming from behind me, i did the test in dead silence. So now do I need a fuel pump or is is something else.

Another thing, the car DOES CRANK, so i am going to get some either tomorrow and try spraying it into the throttle body. That test will confirm if my fuel pump is damaged. Ill let you know how it goes tomorrow.

pArAdOxsqUArE

check your relay and fuses as well... I know this kid around the corner from my house.. he had a hf crx.. and his wiring was hoky.. he left his fuel pump wire exposed and let a buddy test drive his car.. fried it never started ever since..but he muist've went threw 5 chasis harness and 2 engine bay harness.. what a nightmare.. he gave up and never figured out his problem.. hope your wires aren't fried..

that's the worst case scenario.. but you can also hook it up to a stealth "fuel pump kill switch"

hope you figure out your problem..

as for now i'm out of ideas

adam4826

Ok. I got the car to start with starting fluid, but it was missing/sputtering for about 15 secs, then died. What should be my next step? Is it time to drop the tank and change out the fuel pump? Or should i try another cheaper fix before i do that?

adam4826

I just read that the fuel pump can be accessed by removing the rear seats and unbolting a panel. Is this accurate? If so, looks like i am going to do the job myself.

adam4826

Now i don't know what to do... the old owner came over and i did the starting fluid test to show him the engine will run. So i sprayed the tb, it started right up, and this time it was running smoother than it was the 1st time i started it. Then it started missing real bad, i floored the accelerator, it continued to run fine. So i took it for a test drive around the parking lot, ran good except for some terrible vibrations causing the dash to make an annoying sound, i want to guess that it just needs a solid tune-up and oil change. Anyways, i parked it and let it run for a min. Then i shut it off and waited a few seconds, tryed to start, just cranks. So i turn the car off, then back on and waited for the check engine light to go off, when it did, the car started nicely. Then i turned it off, waited for a min, put the key in and started with no pause, it fired up fine.

My question now is, whats going on, who or what possesed the poor car. I think i am going to get another main relay and test it, maybe the new one i got was bad. If that doesn't work, replace fuel pump, right?

Now, i have to goto work, so before i leave i will try starting it again, and then again when i get home.

Jimster480

wait so does the car crank or not? becausey ou said it wouldnt crank and now you are saying it is cranking.

adam4826

yea i know, got mixed up sorry, but i also stated that in a previous post....


It does crank, and has started every time as long as i try to start it (fuel pump makes no noise), turn the key off, then turn the key back on. wait for a sec. then you hear the fuel pump kicking in and the car will start and run fine.

Just took it to the store, drives around likes nothing wrong with it. I still want to fix the problem, because i don't really trust the car to get it legal yet.

Any thoughts?

Jimster480

it sounds like a bad main relay, or one that is dieing atleast.

adam4826

I agree Jim, but i purchased a new one, replaced it and there is no change in the way its acting, so i want to guess that the whatever is telling the main relay to engage might be the problem. ECU maybe? Is there a way i can retrieve the codes from it, or see if theres some diagnostic test i can do?

pArAdOxsqUArE

even if there is no cel(check engine light) there might be a ghost in the system.. being obd1 check out the sticky to retreive the code

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/how-pull-cel-d4-srs-abs-codes-code-lists-1901557/

you can try to attempt to change the fuel pump.. any civic or integra one will do but as i remeber the integra needs a little modification.. not much.. if you can change a tire you can get it to work.

hope you solve your problem

adam4826

I need a lift, or at least ramps, Don't i have to drop the tank?