hey guys... newbie here! ok... her is my delema. my car won't start up anymore. it first started while i was driving, then all of a sudden, bam! car just shuts off. so first i replace the fuel filter, cap, rotor, and the ignitor. then everything was fine... for awhile. next day i'm coming home and all of a sudden it does it again... motor shuts off. it still cranks, but doesn't turn over. my mechanic said it might be the fuel pump. what do you guys think? thanks!!!


Modified by PETEROCK1 at 2:41 AM 6/14/2005


Modified by PETEROCK1 at 12:10 PM 6/29/2005


Modified by PETEROCK1 at 12:19 PM 6/29/2005

 

Check to see if you're getting fuel/spark

Do you smell gas when you crank it..
Take off one of the spark plug wires from the dizzy and see if you're are getting and spark..

 

try to start the car, and if you hear a humming noise its the fuel pump...if you don't hear ****...then the fuel pump isn't working...

have you checked the battery or the alternator or starter?

 

Or most importantly, the IGNITION SWITCH? If it is going *****, you will have random failures of the car while driving and then a total lack of ability to turn it on.

 

What exactly happens when the car shuts off? Do the oil and battery dash lights come on, or does it completely die out with no lights whatsoever? Do you temporarily lose power before it goes, or is it lightening quick? When you are turningthe engine, does it sputter every once in awhile, or pure crank over and over?

-L

 

when the car did shut off, the oil and battery lights came on. i loss power right away. now when i try to start the car, it's just cranking over and over.

 

same thing happened to me when my rotor fell off...apparently that happens fairly often to these old Dseries engines. If you replaced yours, though, I guess that one's out.

Can you hear the fuel pump priming? Did you pull one of your plugs out to check if you're getting spark?

 

Did you check the main relay? does it happen more in real hot weather or wene you have the floor heater on? there easy enough to fix or you can buy one for about 50 $ . But there sort of tough to get at.Its worth a look.It sits on the driverside kickpanel.Its behind that little chang dohicky compartment.Not saying its this but even if you don't have a soildering iron or a soilder remover you can do this yourself in probably 2 hrs for abot 10 - 15 $ Just a thought.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ohwhatafeelin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you check the main relay? does it happen more in real hot weather or wene you have the floor heater on? there easy enough to fix or you can buy one for about 50 $ . But there sort of tough to get at.Its worth a look.It sits on the driverside kickpanel.Its behind that little chang dohicky compartment.Not saying its this but even if you don't have a soildering iron or a soilder remover you can do this yourself in probably 2 hrs for abot 10 - 15 $ Just a thought.</TD></TR></TABLE>


correct.. mine did the same thing.. if you do a diag. on the check engine code that flashes.. you'll get a code 16 for the injectors.. but.. really it's just the main relay. take it out and de-solder all the connectors and re-solder. It took me 30 mins to do everything.. good luck..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redlinetuning &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
you do a diag. on the check engine code that flashes.. you'll get a code 16 for the injectors.. but.. really it's just the main relay.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Are you serious? How do you know this?

btw, what i do when my main relay acts up is take my screw driver and hit it till it works. that does it everytime....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fast88std &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Are you serious? How do you know this?

btw, what i do when my main relay acts up is take my screw driver and hit it till it works. that does it everytime....</TD></TR></TABLE>

I took out the relays from 4 civics with the same problem, same check engine codes.. re-soldered them all and voila.... It may not be the case in every situation, but it's worth the time to de-solder and re-solder and also saves you $50...

and because the first car this happened to me, I changed out the injectors 3 times, tb 2x, fuel pump, fuel filter, dizzy cap 2x.. rotor 2x.. nothing worked till the relay was redone..

 

Make me the 3rd person w/ the same problem...well I did check the fuel pump, the main relay, ecu is blinkin..all of them work...I just recently put in re-manufactured dizzy...and still I aint gettin spark...Not even the color of wires arent matchin up...so im thinkin im gonna return the dizzy and just buy from the junk yard...So in this case...im thinkin its the dizzy...what do you guys think? Could it be more...thanks

 

ok here is an update. i changed the battery temporarily because the other one was dead. as soon as i changed it it started... for awhile then it died out. could this mean that the main relay is bad? i'm gonna check it out today. also, we got it started and it stayed on for a long while, drove it around the block a couple of times. but i just don't want to be driving then all of a sudden bam, car dies out.

oh one more thing, i tried to check and see if i was getting any spark. i took the sparkplug out from the blcok, reconnected it to the wire and started the car. my brother said he didn't see any spark what so ever, but the car started. then i di the same to cylinder 3 and 1, both the same thing happened. no visable spark. am i doing it right? thanks for all your input

 

ok, i replaced the main relay and the car started for awhile then shut off again. i reset the comp and started it, then when i gave it some gas it just shut off. i checked my plugs and they are black. so does that mean i'm getting no spark? i recently changed the ignitor, cap, rotor, and coil. but not the spark plug wires. could that be it?

 

If you haven't changed your wires then see if you swap with a friend to check. another good idea is to take out a plug one at a time and plug it in to the plug wire and have a friend crank the motor. at the same time ground the plug to the valve cover and see if you get a spark...

looks like you have more than a relay issue.