Ok, maybe ya can't think of 10, but suggestions are welcome. My car is a 94' with 92K miles. Got in a VERY minor wreck ( radiator, hood, radiator support ) and now won't start.

getting fuel ( hear the fuel pump kick on, and wet plugs )
weak ( IMO ) spark at the end of the spark plug, but its there
compression test and timing check tonight.
No ECU codes
Checked all fuses in the car and under the hood


Modified by 89dxhunchback at 10:04 AM 11/14/2004

 

Check distributor cap and rotor for cracks. Check ignition coil resistance against specification w/ a good Volt-Ohm meter. If all those check out, pull the ignitor and have it checked. If you're not getting rpm indications during cranking, the coil or ignitor is likely.

Make sure plugs are cleaned and gapped correctly. Spark plug wires should be in good condition (check resistance).

good luck

 

Definitly check your igniter, and if it's not the igniter, check the coil...

 

Yeah def check for spark. If not work back from there.

 

wiring to battery (Place where you would jump start).
It happened to me once , wires were loose

 

I tested my coil on a friends 97 accord, and the coil is good, his dizzy is OBD2, so we couldn't test that, I'll see if I'm getting any RPM reads while cranking.

Thanx for the great tip.

I replaced the entire valve cover gasket set, new plug wires, new NGKs, and cleaned the rotor button, but it still didn't crank.

 

Check for GAS in the car
Is there an ignition cut off for an alarm?
Is the starter turning over?

 

It has gas...

It doesn't have an alarm ( I installed them for 2 years at best buy )

The starter turns over the engine, it just doesn't start...

 

I guess its the ignitor, since I tested my coil on a friend's car and it was fine, and I'm NOT GETTING ANY MOVEMENT FROM THE TACH while cranking on it...

How would I go about testing the ignitor ???

 

Pull the igniter and take to auto parts store w/ a tester. Many have them.

good luck

 

make sure there isnt a ***** in your intake

 

I said top TEN things !!! Not top NINTY-NINE !!
I guess checking the intake for a ***** would be number fifty or so...

Wow, I didn't think autoparts guys even know what an ignitors look like !!!

 

Well... I swapped an ignitor from my civic in ( same part # on it ), and it still didn't run...

I swapped in some new gas... Still didn't run....

Tried both firing orders in the "Hayes manual" ( sucks BTW ) ( and yes, it listed 2 different firing orders on different pages... )

We killed 3 batterys trying to get it to start....

Finally my friend turned the dizzy about 75-degrees in the "retard" direction, and it started and reved fine !!! I'm going to make a new thread about what still needs to be done to fix it, but I'm pretty happy it runs fine...

Thanx to all the people that took the time to help me out.
94' accord, total cost ??? $563.00 !!!!

 

You may have installed the distributor in backwards (w/ key upside down). It's supposed to be impossible, but isn't. Guess how I know

You need to remove the distributor and turn the key 180 degrees, if that's the problem.

The key has a slightly smaller width on one end which is supposed to prevent incorrect installation, however the width difference is so small that it is difficult to visually determine which is narrow/wide end of the key. The trick is the key should engage w/ no effort. If you forced the key into engagement, you may have damaged some distributor an internal sensor bracket. That's what happened to me. I had to remove distributor, disassemble and straighten the sensor mounting bracket.

good luck

 

Thanx for the advice, but I know about the key ( I found out about the same way you did, but it was on my civic when I converted it to MPFI about 3 years ago ). I'm 150% sure that's not it.

Hopefully I'll do the timing belt today ( needs done anyway ), dispite the idea that I'm going to have to work about 11 hours tonight at work ( ummmm warehouse work ).