mcwave

I have a 93 Civic. From beginning of summer it became difficult to start it from time to time. Sometimes it did not crank. Sometimes it cranked and did not start. From this Sunday (when it was very hot and humid) I could not start it any more. I took it to a auto repair shop, and the mechanic told me that there was no spark and I should change the distributor.

I wonder how probable it is the problem of the distributor. Is there any other possibilities? I just hope that changing distributor can really solve the problem.

Thanks

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mcwave &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a 93 Civic. From beginning of summer it became difficult to start it from time to time. Sometimes it did not crank. Sometimes it cranked and did not start. From this Sunday (when it was very hot and humid) I could not start it any more. I took it to a auto repair shop, and the mechanic told me that there was no spark and I should change the distributor.

I wonder how probable it is the problem of the distributor. Is there any other possibilities? I just hope that changing distributor can really solve the problem.

Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was getting no spark and found oil puddling up in the distributor cap. Replaced the distributor and guess what? Still no start.

Pulled the starter and tested it, the armeture would come out but would not spin. Hoping new starter arrives today and hope she starts up.

Point is that if the starter is not cranking the engine the dizzy cannot produce spark.

Does your engine crank at all? What did he say was wrong with the dizzy?

mcwave

Actually when it is not humid, my car can usually crank. The mechanic only said that the distributor is bad and need to be replaced.

Guess what, my car also has much oil on the top of the engine, close to the left most spark plug. Last time when I checked my car, the mechanic said that the engine was leaking oil and maybe it was because the oil change people put too much oil into it (higher than maxmium). Don't know whether our cars have the same problem.

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mcwave &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually when it is not humid, my car can usually crank. The mechanic only said that the distributor is bad and need to be replaced.

Guess what, my car also has much oil on the top of the engine, close to the left most spark plug. Last time when I checked my car, the mechanic said that the engine was leaking oil and maybe it was because the oil change people put too much oil into it (higher than maxmium). Don't know whether our cars have the same problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No I know where my oil leaks are and I have remedied most of them, I do my own oil changes so overfilling isnt gonna happen. I know the starter is bad and I know my dizzy needed to be replaced(oil comming out of the electronics is definately a bad sign). A possibility is with the high humidity maybe the seal on the dist cap couldnt keep the moisture out and it rusted up?

mcwave

I think it is possible that the problem was with the distributor cap. Otherwise the problem should not appear more and more as humid summer came.

Acutally if distributor is the only possibility of not producing sparks when cranking, maybe I should just have it replaced.

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mcwave &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think it is possible that the problem was with the distributor cap. Otherwise the problem should not appear more and more as humid summer came.

Acutally if distributor is the only possibility of not producing sparks when cranking, maybe I should just have it replaced.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Seeing as how cheap used dizzies are I would just pick up a good working used one(what I did) get an new OEM honda cap and see if it starts. There are plenty of peeps selling used dizzies here on HT.

mcwave

The mechanic told me that I can get a used one for $275 and a new one for $460.
However, he said the old one might be as old as my car (12 years).

I searched on the web and found that some store only charged $260 for a new one. However, I do not feel I can do it myself since I haven't even changed oil before.