I have a 1996 Civic sedan LX 5 speed.

The car has 240k miles on it and it ran beautifully until today. I drove it in the morning without any problems for a short local commute. After about two hours, I drove it back home. After being at home for a short period of time (fifteen minutes), I came out and tried started the car. Started up like normal, I put it in reverse and stalled. Didn't think anything of it, since stalling happens when you're not paying enough attention. I went to start the car up again and nothing.

It will crank and turn over, but will not start. When I turn the ignition key, I can hear the fuel pump, all electrical stuff inside works. The temperature was 96 degrees today, with heat index of 116 degrees fahrenheit. So I let the car cool into the evening hours - tried again and same thing.

I'm confused. It worked perfectly before. What could be the problem here?

Please, any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Does it sound like the starter is bad? Does it make a click click when you start it? Does it try to start but won't?

I would check your dizzy and make sure it's in good conidition, check the wiring could be a bad ground.

 

Check all fuses, test ignition coil.

 

Check your battery voltage DURING CRANKING. That is the easiest thing to do. Rule of thumb is that if it falls below 8.5 volts during cranking then stick it on a charger for a while.

Might be somethign else, but that is where I always begin troubleshooting on a crank with no start situation.

 

Check the fuses, grounds, voltage, plugs. Check the basic stuff first.

 

Thanks everyone for their suggestions.

It doesn't make a click click noise. If battery voltage is low, wouldn't it just click? It's odd because it started right up before, then I stalled and it wont start after that. Would the A/C compressor being on when I stalled have anything to do with it not starting again?

I don't have much mechanical knowledge - how can I test to see if the distributor is bad?

As for the fuses, would I check the small ones, or the big block ones that are typically found in the engine bay? How would I even test those to see if they're good? (I don't have a voltmeter or anything like that)

As for spark plugs - is it possible for them to go bad from one (what seemed to be) healthy start to no start at all? I'll pull them tomorrow to see if they're soaked with oil, gas, anything.

Where is the ignition coil? How can I test that?

Thanks everyone again.

 

u welcome

 

First, this sounds stupid but make sure your battery clamps are tight. Second in under hood fuse box, make sure fuse 41(80amps), 42(40amps) are ok.Third Check the main terminal connections in the underhood fuse box, their known for commin loose. Stock honda ignition coils suck, it is located under the cap and rotor in the distributor. 3 screws Remove the cap(dont take the wires off the cap, that way u dont mess up the firing order). Screw on side of rotor pull rotor srtaight off, remove black plastic cover. Coil on the right, 2 screws, unplug electrical and remove. Get a digital volt ohm meter ( walmart sells little ones in the auto section for under 10 bucks ( good to have). Check continuity(OHMS) between terminals A and B should be 0.6 to 0.8 ohms if good, then put one probe on terminal A and probe 2 on coil tower(part with little spring, should be between 12.8 to 19.2 K ohms. if both values within specs coils good. I hope this answers your questions.

 

are you getting spark at the plugs? if not, I'd suspect/test the ignition coil and the ignitor in the distributor. well known honda weakness.

 

pull spark plug wire, put a test light to the end of it, have a friend crank the car,, if the light doesnt come on dizzy is your culprit

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jay-Dee-Em &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pull spark plug wire, put a test light to the end of it, have a friend crank the car,, if the light doesnt come on dizzy is your culprit</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, this is easiest way to test for a bad dizzy.

 

my dizzy went out while i was going 80 on the freeway, and there were no shoulders cuz it was under construction, luckily i was near an on-ramp and pulled to the side just in time!
had a test light so pulled the wire and checked, dizyz was dead cost me 100$ to tow it 20 miles home and 200$ to buy a rebuilt dizzy at autozone

 

so any updates&lt; is your car starting yet?

 

Hi,

How did you know it was your distributor that went out?

After all the advice people suggested, I went and bought a distributor on eBay. Should be here in a few days. I'll be sure to update the thread in case anyone else has the same problem and finds this thread through searching.

Thanks,
-Brian.

 

had a test light so pulled the wire and checked, dizyz was dead cost me 100$ to tow it 20 miles home and 200$ to buy a rebuilt dizzy at autozone

 

Can someone tell me what a test light is? Sorry if this is a stupid question.