hockeydave

1996 Civic EX (stock)

Details
Current: 175,000 miles
Purchased @: 60,000 miles
Manual transmission

The Civic died after 5 minutes of driving and hasn't started since. The engine will turn over, but will not fire up. I've never had this problem or any other engine problem before.

Here are the following items that have been tested/replaced:

I thought it may be the fuel pump until it passed the second fuel pressure test.


Any advice you can give to repair this is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help with this!

Dave

HondaPartsHero

check the timing belt?

hockeydave

That's one thing I haven't done yet. I'll let you know what I find.

Assuming that's not it, what else do you think it is?

hockeydave

The timing belt is intact. What else could be causing this problem?

Former User

The fact that there is spark at the plug indicates that the timing belt did not snap. The question is whether the timing belt skipped some teeth. With the transmission in neutral, turn the crank pulley with a 17mm socket and breaker bar ONLY counterclockwise until the cam gear is perfectly positioned at TDC1 (see diagram). Then look down to see whether the pointer on the lower timing belt cover also perfectly aligns with the lone white mark on the crank pulley.

hockeydave

Thank you Ron for the prompt response. I will do that within the hour and let you know what I find.

Also, I did a compression test yesterday and three of the four cylinders came back around 105 psi. The fourth was around 60 psi. From what I've found online, this is probably a bad exhaust valve, but won't keep the car from running. Is this correct?

Any guidance you can give regarding is greatly appreciated as this is becoming uncharted territory for me.

Former User

Set the compression test results aside while you check whether the engine jumped time. If the timing jumped, install a new timing belt with perfect mechanical timing and then redo the cylinder compression test.

hockeydave

That makes sense.

Ron, I'm not sure what to make of the results. The reason I say that is that there are multiple marks on the crankshaft pulley. I took a picture so you can see what I'm referring to. The camshaft pulley aligns with one of the marks on the crankshaft pulley when TDC, but not the other. The one it does not align with has three marks altogether, two faint marks on either side of a deeper one (highlighted in yellow and blue). I looked at it multiple times to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. What do you make of this?

Former User

The three marks boxed in yellow are used for setting the ignition timing. It's the lone white mark to the right that is used for setting the mechanical timing. The pointer near the crankshaft is used in conjunction with the V cut out higher up to aim the pointer as would be done with a gun sight. The V, pointer, and white mark should align on a single line when the crank is positioned at TDC1. From what I can see in the picture, it's pretty close.

Can you also post pictures of the cam gear at TDC1? At TDC1, the arrow points up and the horizontal marks align with the top surface of the head. The latter is most easily viewed from the rear of the cam gear as the same horizontal marks are on both sides.

hockeydave

Oh! Gothcha...well it lines up the way it should in that case. Here are a few picks of the cam gear. I couldn't take the photo head on because a few engine components were in the way. You can see, even at the angle of the pictures, that it lines up.

hockeydave

Oh, I failed to mention that I replaced the fuel pump prior to checking the timing belt as that's what some suspected was the cause. What do you think it is at this point?

Former User

At this point, everything now points to the cylinder with 60 psi compression. If you do a cylinder leak down test, you'll be able to determine the reason for this dead cylinder.

hockeydave

Understood. At least we have it narrowed down. I've never done a cylinder leak down test before, yet I did just watch some videos on it. It seems a lot like the compression test except the engine is off and you need the cylinder in question to be at TDC. What do I need to do at that point to determine the reason for the dead cylinder? One of the videos showed the guy listening for air in his exhaust and looking for bubbles in his radiator. I know sound in the exhaust would mean exhaust valve, but I'm not sure about the radiator. Also, it there somewhere else I need to be looking/listening? This is new to me, but I'm not scared to go after it. I greatly appreciate any advice you have for me. Thank you Ron!

SItimSI

Do you have spark?

SItimSI

just re-read your tests, still thinking about your issue

Former User

If pressure from the bad cylinder leaks into the cooling system, then the head gasket is most likely bad.

If pressure from the bad cylinder leaks into the intake manifold, then the intake valve is bad.

If pressure from the bad cylinder leaks into the crankcase, then the piston or piston ring is bad.

SItimSI

Does the engine turn over?

hockeydave

SItiSI - Yes, I have spark and fuel which is why this is puzzling to me. It'll crank, but won't fire.

Ron - Thank you for the prompt response. How do I check if it's leaking into the manifold, crankcase or cooling system?

- Dave

Former User

hockeydave

Here's a video of me trying to start it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knJkJXFBk_0

hockeydave

Got it. Thank you Ron. I'll check that tomorrow as soon as I get my hands on one of those testers.

JDMpride

u need a new coil for the distributor. that just happen 2 me like a week ago

hockeydave

If it was the distributor, wouldn't this cause there to be no spark?

hockeydave

Ron - I did the cylinder leak down test. The cylinder with poor compression passed the test with 30% leakage (see picture), but the one to the left of it had "moderate leakage" around 60%. Isn't this strange as the one with good compression didn't pass the test yet the one with poor compression did? What do you make of this? Also, I didn't hear any air coming from the exhaust, throttle body, radiator cap, etc.

hockeydave

Ron - What do you make of this?