justin_s

first time poster, been lurking all day; thanks for the help i have gleaned thus far.

i have a stock 98 civic lx with 150k that turns over but will not start. it was running perfectly before i parked it for 3 weeks. the following is the rundown of what i have tried thus far.

tried to jump it with the chev 2500.
--didn't start
didn't believe i had spark. checked all the fuses my limited knowledge felt applicable; under hood and dash. all were good.
tested icm at napa, checked out ok.
removed and tested coil. on the coil i checked resistance from the pos screw to the coil spring and got 15.?? can't remember. resistance from pos screw to neg screw was 0. so i replaced the coil.
--didn't start, released clutch slowly and car began to move. was wondering if the fly wheel was shot or if the starter wasn't engaging.
checked voltage on blk/ylw wire on icm 12.?? volts with key in pos II.
--didn't start
checked spark in cylinder #1 (arbitrarily picked that cylinder) spark was very good; white in color.
--still doesn't start
tried to pull codes by jumping the connector under the passenger side dash, no codes; just made the cel stay on. cel does turn off when key is in pos II and the connector is not jumped.

began running down fuel system....
filter under hood horribly clogged so i replaced it.
--didn't start
disconnected fuel line down stream from the new filter (at the rail perhaps?) and turned key to posII. I collected about 3 oz of fuel in a mason jar. is that sufficient to rule out the fuel pump? not really sure how volume and pressure work in this instance.

checked voltage at all 4 injector connectors and got 12.4 volts.

side note, anytime i checked for voltage i grounded to the neg terminal and also to the thermostat housing. i got very similar results in all cases.

took a peek in the air filter housing, no critters have taken up residence there.

had the timing belt changed about 30k ago, starting to wonder if it skipped perhaps? no idea how to run that down.

at this point i'm pretty stumped but pretty committed to figuring this out without putting it on the trailer and admitting defeat. in other words i'm very open to any suggestions or new tool purchases.

thanks for any possible help,
justin

Former User

Possibly a bad fuel pump. I think you should measure the fuel pressure (see below).

Did you remove the plug wires? Are they installed in the wrong firing order?

Next check the mechanical timing of the cam and crank (see below).

justin_s

ron, thanks for the info and diagrams! i should probably get a book, that would be a good place to start.

i did remove the plug wires, forgot to mention i replaced the dist cap and rotor. i replaced the wires in this order, from the top of the cap going clockwise, as i look straight at the dist cap is 3, 4, 2, 1(basically standing at the rt front wheel and looking at the installed dist cap like a clock).

probably have to wait until tomorrow to check the timing and fuel pressure, mosquitoes are getting brutal. the fuel pressure gauge is different from what i expected (not the typical shrader valve set up). i live in a small town with no import car shops, is this going to be a tool unique to honda?

thanks!

Former User

paton5g

You have your plug wires in the right order. I would do as mentioned above and check fuel pressure. Then go from there. Keep us posted, as you have been.

justin_s

well, had to take a break from the car for a while, job got in the way. so i took, i mean pushed, the car to the largest shop we have here in town to have the fuel pressure and compression checked. they weren't able to check the fuel pressure as they don't have the adapter. but the compression test came back as follows: cyl 1=75lbs, 2=30lbs, 3=100lbs, 4=40lbs. seems to be the timing is off, other possibilities? so i've started to break into the timing belt, i need to see if we have a crank pulley holder available in town as i don't own one so i can the alignment of the drive pulley. but when i align the cam pulley cyl 1 TDC the crank pulley is off by a minuscule amount. looking down the alignment guides on the lower cover (looks kind of like a rifle sight) the TCD mark on the crank pulley is still within the "rear sight" but just to the left of the "front sight." so maybe i skipped one tooth on the belt? is this possible? am i even on the right track anymore?

thanks,
justin

justin_s

probably time to take the civic to a tech, but i am completely open to suggestions now. got the timing dead on now and the car still doesn't start. still sounds like it is turning over very easily, not sure what the compression is at now. any ideas?

thanks,
justin

Former User

Better recheck the cylinder compression. Your first test suggested some engine damage. This link shows how to compression test the cylinders yourself.

boostISbest

yah those compression test numbers were super low...my brothers sohc d15b vtec was 180 all 4 cylinders wich seemed high to me but it is the jdm version.....this is a long shot but could ur main relay also have went bad. good luck with ur fix