Brettboat

Tried to start the 94 civic for the first time in a week, and I got nothing. Fuel pump primes, starter turns over the engine. But no spark. I opened up the distributor, checked the points for corrosion... They were fine. Check the coil and I got the fallowing.

.9 Ohms on the primary (within spec)

Infinite resistance on the secondary (should be between like 8 and 14 kilo ohms or something like that). I go to advanced auto, to get a new one... Check the new ones primary and secondary coil resistance...

Primary on the new coil is also within spec at .9 ohms, but the secondary is still infinite resistance (tested with 2 multimeters). For the hell of it we grab another one off the shelf, same model, different manufacturer. Same thing as the other 2.

Well I figure it can't just be a coincidence, so I go back to the drawing board... I check the ICM (ignition control module), it's good... I check the battery fuse and the ignition fuse in the ignition circuit... They're fine...

Back to the drawing board... No codes are being thrown once so ever. I open up my trouble shooting chart and fallow it through. I then realize I don't have a test harness to plug into the ECU that the manual request to test 2 probes... Kinda screwed.

Unless anyone has any ideas I'm going to take this to my moms mechanic because I spent 6 hours on this today and I'm no closer than when I started and I got alot going on this month and I miss driving my car.

Cuba Rodriguez

this may be a dumb question, how did you check for spark? At wire to plug end? or main coil wire? or both? and did you use a tester or just a screwdriver (backyard mechanic method)? did you also make sure rotor is spinning? It just sounds like something simple being the issue and considering you didn't mention any runnability issues prior to this no-start condition.

Brettboat

Took a plug and put it against the valve cover and had someone turn the engine over.

Cuba Rodriguez

what size motor btw? Also make sure you have 12volts at coil connector with key on engine off

Brettboat

D15B7.

1.5L, 16 valve, non v-tec... Just a normal run of the mil EG hatch.

It's really crazy... I drove the car 450 miles 2 weeks ago but I needed my truck this past week so I parked in at my parents house... Went to start it today and all this **** happened.

Cuba Rodriguez

ok... so yes check for power 12v at coil connector (NOT one that goes to dizzy) and make sure ground side on connector is a good ground...I'm just double checking everything you've done so far and walking you through as I would check

Former User

Post a picture of your multimeter showing the how it was set when you measured infinite resistance on the secondary of the coil. Also show what you touched the multimeter probes to when making the measurement.

Definitely also make sure the Blk/Yel wire attached to the coil and igniter unit have battery voltage with the key in ON(II).

Have you already checked whether the timing belt snapped?

Brettboat

Timing belt has to be good, unless that distributor is driven some crazy way I've never seen before. I took the distributor top off, cleaned the points because I figured they were dirty (slightly, but not much). Put it back together and turned over the starter and got nothing. Took the cap off again and it had clearly turned. So timing belt is out of the question.

The multimeter is a Fluke 177, very easy to use multimeter. I got infinite resistance on the secondary when I had it set to Kilo, and when I had it on auto ranging. It's calibrated (had to be where I was working), the guy at the autoparts store had some no name digital multimeter that got the same results. I'll take pictures in the morning of what I'm getting.

When I got daylight in the morning I'm going to play with it some more. My garage is full right now and I need someone to help push the civic inside (it's in a bad position to move by yourself) so I have some light... But that's clearly not gonna happen.

Former User

Yeah, something is wrong with how you are making the Ohm measurements of the secondary because the probability of having two new coils that are bad is statistically an exceptionally rare event. But you need to sort this out.

The voltage tests are also clearly important.

Cuba Rodriguez

ok... up to now you seem knowledgeable enough, which is GREAT! so it's just a matter of testing.... I will check in often to continue to help you tomorrow then.

Brettboat

Honda says positive terminal to secondary coil (big nipple looking deal with a spring around it)). The coil manufacturer says negative terminal to secondary coil... Regardless, both methods read infinite on 3 different coils. I'm still puzzled over this...

Former User

Post a picture showing your multimeter setting. The problem will end up being something simple. Another possibility is that the multimeter is faulty or the battery is low.

Brettboat

But 2 multimeters being faulty?

And I'm sure it is something simple... But I'll be damned if I can find it with what little time I have.

Former User

That's your choice.

Brettboat

You have a good point, life seems to be good at throwing you more stuff when you're already swamped.

Former User

Life is like juggling six ***** while sprinting.

Brettboat

I'm just in a big bind right now, trying to study for this last FAA written test for my airframe and powerplant licence. Plane for a living, cars/trucks as a hobby.

But I'll be sure to take some photos in the morning for you guys.

Former User

FYI

For the primary winding test, be sure to subtract the internal resistance of your multimeter from the reading. Internal resistance = Ohm reading when the two probes are touched together.

Brettboat

Yep, that's pretty much the same thing my first edition honda service manual says... I did everything as per my service manual.

I just find it weird that the new coils read the same thing... Terminal A (+) to secondary is infinite, terminal B (-) to secondary... Same thing. All 3 of them got that. I don't think my meter was set up wrong, or is messed up because the one at the auto parts store read the exact same thing on all 3. And I got a proper reading on the primary... I used autoranging and manual ranging on Kilo mode and got infinite. The internal resistance with the leads touches is something like .003 Ohms

Former User

This^ indicates that the primary winding reading (0.9 - 0.003 Ohms > 0.8 Ohms) was also out of spec for all coils.

Brettboat

I didn't think .1 made a big difference honestly.

I'm going to try to go to another autoparts store in the morning too while I'm out and about in my truck and see if autozone is just cursed...

Former User

It's off by almost 0.1 Ohm.

Not trying to offend, but I think that it's another sign that your Ohm readings are off.

Brettboat

Yea that was a typo on my part! But I'm going to go to another autoparts store because i know this **** can't be right...

Brettboat

ICM was toasted as was the ignition coil... I've never going to autozone again, Staff didn't know what the hell they were doing when they hooked up my ICM to the machine, and also handed me 2 bad parts... I knew I wasn't crazy!!!