22re vtec

I traded my old reliable (NEVER LEFT ME STRANDED) toyota pickup for a 97 honda civic ex about 3 weeks ago. The car runs great, low miles, clean underneath, awesome gas mileage (5speed D16Y8). The car died in my driveway a week ago...so i changed fuel filter (which was pretty clogged) still wont start....the fuel pump runs, pcm turns on, and its got new injectors & cap/rotor....the car starts initially and idles great but when i rev it up it dies when rpms hit 3 grand then wont start again....whats going on here?? FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR??? is there a weay to test that?? ive got it to start like 5 times and it runs great then dies when i rev it up and wont start again. new to hondas, be gentle please lol

oh and i did the "jumper test" (correctly i think??, stuck a paper clip between two terminals near pcm but did not disconnect anything so not sure if i did test right or not)to get obd1 codes and the check engine light just stays on and doesn't blink...like i said, im a noob to hondas

thanks,
Mike

Former User

When the engine won't start, listen for whether the fuel pump primes and whether there is spark at all 4 plugs.

If those are fine, check the mechanical timing.

22re vtec

the fuel pump kicks on man, i stated that in my post, it runs great and will idle great until i give her some gas then it dies and wont start again until the next day when i try again, then it starts right up and dies when i give it gas... i do not own a computer or have the internet and am just lucky to be at a place that has both!

Former User

Your post did not make it clear whether the pump primes when the engine WON'T START. Unfortunately, you still haven't.

Also no response to these:

22re vtec

the fuel pump kicks on every time i turn the key whether it starts or not.
and i guess i dont understand what u mean by "mechanical timing"? the car runs and ran great so how could the timing be an issue??
i'm not at home (no internet at home/car is dead at home)so i cant go check the spark plugs. Id assume that they were/are gettin spark if it starts and idles smooth...right?!
the problem is it dies when i rev it up past 3 grand...would a faulty fuel pressure regulator cause the stalling symptom?? and is there a way to test the regulator without shelling out 80 dollars...
the car showed no prior symptoms before this happened, i sprayed wd in and around distributor cuz i thought it may have gotten moisture in there.
its 12 degrees here and snowing and im whooped from working today...figured the internet here would be an avenue of help instead of standing outside in the dark troubleshooting freezing again

28,000 posts? thats a lot of typing man! ever do any fishing?

vitamin_c95

Ron is a very knowledgeable person and moderator. Thats why he has so many posts. Mechanical timing is checking the timing marks alignment on the cam gears and crank pulley. Only way I can think of testing a FPR is with a vacumn gage

22re vtec

im new to the whole internet thing....Ron has some very useful links im discovering.
.the bottom line is i believe this problem is something very very simple so im not trying to look at any kind of camshaft marks or any of that, i aint crackin into that motor cuz i'll mess somethin up AND i shouldn't have to...its a honda not a chevy....this car is my only vehicle and my first experience with hondas, its kind of a bad 1st impression for me so frogive my blatent ignorance but i have faith in the quality japanese engineering.....i live in the woods and have run old toyota pickups for years and years with no problems and this is my 1st honda car and its the only vehicle i ever owned to give me problems like this....

im really thinking fuel pressure regulator (but will test spark to make yins happy )was hoping to get any kind of assurance from this forum...when the guy at the auto store said 81.99 for regulator i said "you are crazy" and hung up!

vitamin_c95

just because your first honda is giving you problems doesnt mean hondas suck. Every make has their demon childs. Do you have junk yards in PA?

Lantz

Check your main relay and fuel pump relay.

22re vtec

i'm a demon child...Thanks Lantz, will be sure to check that out....finally got a day off tomorrow so I plan on testing a few things....too broke for j-yards and its the depths of winter up here, besides all the older Honda's in the junk yards are picked clean or smashed all to heck....i never said honda's suck either!! Why would i buy one if i thought they "sucked"??? lol Japanese auto engineering is far superior to american auto engineering... thats simply fact!! The car trouble is something simple, i'm just too busy/broke to do the legwork at the moment...Thanks fellas....keep ya posted on results

22re vtec

we discovered yesterday that one of the three nuts holding dizzy cap is gone. the cap was loose and the rotor must have collided with contacts and is all chewed up, dunno if PO forgot to put the 3rd nut in or forgot to tighten it or what...really really really hoping its only the rotor thats junked but knowing my luck the whole distributor is shot (quiet spuealing noise from general area of distributor) The car starts and runs so fingers r crossed...thanks god she died in my driveway!!....new TEC dizzy is 180bucks which i cannot afford....gonna buy a cap and rotor tomorrow after work and pray...another sleepless night

22re vtec

faulty rotor...50$ fix....running great now
now to get rid of these useless/non functional oversized rims and low profile tires and get some stock steelies

22re vtec

oh btw....way to throw ur precious honda motor company under the bus! u oughtta be ashamed for being so blasphemous

vitamin_c95

Why would I be ashamed? Its the truth. I've seen many demon hondas. I love chevy too. I own 3 of them. I work on many lemon chevys for a living. Are you saying there are no demon child toyotas?

Glad you got the honda fixed for cheap BTW.

22re vtec

yotas are all demon children....4wd 2nd gear, thats all you need to know,....the starting problem turned out to be a loose terminal on the ICM. The rotor collided with a loose distributor cap and then must have made contact with the ICM, cracking the plastic housing and breaking the one terminal. OEM Honda ICM was 33$ on ebay.

sleepyaccord96

glad the OP has it fixed. It is usually the most simple things that can make a situation seem bigger than it really is.