I've about beaten my head into the wall with this one, so I hope someone can help. I recently had someone bring me an 89 Civic Si 1.6 with a crank no start condition. Upon inspection I found that the small bolt for the rotor had backed out. I went ahead and replaced the cap and rotor and it still wouldn't start. I checked timing marks and it appeared to be off a tooth. The timing belt was shot so I went ahead and replace the belt. I checked compression after I was done and everything looks good.Its about 130 across the board. Nothing to write home about, but not bad for a car that has over 250 thousand. I checked fuel pressure and its within specs. It wouldn't hit off starting fluid either. I knew fuel was good anyways because the plugs get soaked after repeated cranking. I rechecked for spark as well and its great on every cylinder. Is their any way it could be the distributor? I just wasn't sure if that rotor screw could have shorted something out somehow causing the spark not to advance. This might seem like a stupid question, but Im out of answers. Id appreciate any help I can get. Thanks.

 

Yeah it sounds like the distributor if you got the timing right. Could be just the coil, or a lot of times the bearing in the distributor seizes and it won't fire up.

If the rotor was melted then it's the bearing/dizzy.

 

Thanks for the reply. I checked for fire at the coil, and its good. The distributor seems to turn fine. The rotor wasn't melted either. Thats whats so confusing about the whole thing. Everything seems in order as if it should fire up.

 

i would say double check your timing because i had the samething happen to me and my timingwas of a tooth or so.

 

are you sure its getting spark? and fuel? and the timing is right. something has to be wrong with those. if it gets spark and fuel and the timing is right it should defintly turn over. are you throwing any check lights? i had a problem like this but it would crank turn on for milliseconds and then kill when i let go of the key. turned out to be the little white plastic thing on the back of the ignition that actually turns the car on. it was worn out, and wouldnt stay in place.

 

Oh and quadruple check the firing order when you hooked the plug wires back up. That happened with me several times, and I was just reminded with another thread I was posting on.

Unfortunately I don't have the correct order right offhand. It's in the FAQ of this forum w/pics.

 

Check your main relay, does your check engine light make a click sound once it turns off after KOEO (key-on-engine-off) if no click then your solder joints are bad on your main relay, quick fix if that's your problem. Just resolder