SpookyEF

Hello,
I have a 1988 Honda Civic LX with nearly 300k miles on it that was running fine before I parked it where it sat for approx 3 years. Recently I decided to get it up and running again but before I tried to start it I replaced the battery, air filter, and valve cover gasket (cause there was oil on the plugs although the plugs looked good otherwise). After getting that done I put the key in and it started right up. It idled strong for multiple minutes, and then it started to bounce somewhere between 1k and 2k rpm (it was only a few hundred rpm bounce but was in that range) over and over. It would rev up a bit and then fall back down and did this continuously for a couple minutes before I turned it off and decided to look into it the next day. So the next day I go out and put the key in and it starts right up but then dies a few seconds later. Trying to start it again after this has only resulted in it cranking and cranking without starting even when putting my foot down on the accelerator and with using starting fluid. I replaced the gas in it and the fuel filter and made sure it had fuel pressure at the engine and cycled the new fuel into the engine to no avail. I checked spark and it looked good. Timing belt and distributor look good as well. Really not sure where the problem is here and don't know how to get to the bottom of this so any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

stampern22

If you have fuel and spark, the first thing I would do is poor some oil down in each cylinder - like a mtn dew cap full, let it sit for 5-10 minutes then try and fire. I've revived quite a few cars that way. Just too low of compression, the oil will help seal the rings back up.

SpookyEF

Tried that and did not seem to have an effect.

stampern22

Hmm - well have to narrow it down, do you have a compression tester? Need 4 things to get it to start - compression, spark, timing, and fuel. We can bypass fuel with the start fluid, so since it's not starting with starter fluid we'll move to the next one. You said the timing belt looks ok, did you verify that it's still timed correctly? I have seen them jump a tooth or two before. Not likely, but still worth checking. Compression is next, but need a compression tester. Last is spark, you me have spark but still could be weak. Might try some new plugs - just the cheap ngk coppers.

scelestus

If you have fuel and spark, perhaps you have an air issue? Roving/bouncing idle could be the IAC, have you removed that and made sure it is cleaned out? Would also check your intake tubing and air filter. 3 years is a long time, uninvited guests are almost guaranteed in that time frame.

There is also a chance that your fuel injectors are a problem. The dual point injectors can experience internal seal failure, supposedly due to something in modern fuel mixes. This leads to fuel leaking into the intake, and basically pre-flooding your engine. I had to pull spark plugs and air out my cylinders for an afternoon to get my old dual point to fire up after it sat for more than a few days.

SpookyEF

I swapped out the spark plugs and that didn't really have an effect but they were cheap so no big deal. I then pulled the plugs and let it sit overnight with them out before putting them in today and trying it. It seemed to make some small noises like it was trying to start while cranking so I feel like that had an effect just not enough to actually start it. I think I'm just gonna go ahead and replace the injectors since they probably need to be replaced by now even if they aren't the source of the problem (and they're pretty easy to access and not too expensive with there just being two of them). I've also checked through the air intake and there aren't any blockages, just dust. Will post again when I get the new injectors in.

Also I do not have a compression tester so I cant really check that properly at the moment.

SpookyEF

Put new injectors in it today after letting it sit overnight with the plugs out and the battery charging. It sounded really really close to starting multiple times but still wouldn't quite go. Only had a little bit of starter fluid left and used that and it seemed to get it close as well but just not quite. Gonna buy some more starter fluid tomorrow and let it sit with the plugs out til saturday and try it then. I really don't see it being the timing because it hasn't backfired or done anything typical of a mistimed engine. Also I don't see how it could have lost compression from one day to the next when it was running so well the first day and there wasn't anything to cause that.

SpookyEF

It was the distributor.