i have a 91 civic hatch with mpfi swap. IT has been running perfect since i did the swap last summer. However its getting a little hotter now(weather wise) and I think that the following problem is probably related to the weather.
I drove to work and back today and everything was fine. But tonite i tried cranking it over and there was no click from the starter or anything ..just the ebrake light...engine light, and a few other idiot lights came on with a click at the beginning. And 2 idiot lights stayed on for a bit even after key was removed.
I was told this is main relay related. However i decided to push start it and it started up, then i shut it off to see if it could start under its own power and it cranked over just fine.

I was lucky today but in the future if i cant get it started eventually...what is this problem related to?

 

odds are you probably just got a bad spot in your starter, but the electrical part sounds iffy, could be the main relay

 

Two "easy" things to try.

1) Kick your dash in the area above your left knee - if the main relay goes bad, as they sometimes do, this might wake it up.

2) Get a metal rod (a huge screwdriver, a tire iron, or something even heavier and long at the same time). Find a spot behind the distributor to squeeze it in, aim at the starter and smack it a couple times. If the starter got stuck on a bad spot, this will likely be enough to move it just a bit off that spot, enough to start.


This advice reminds me a scene from "Armageddon":
"This! Is! How! We! Fix! Things! In Russia!!!""

 

Main relay troubleshooting:

http://www.teirney.net/civic/KnownProblems.htm

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq....html

 

I had the same problem, the last post shows how I fixed it, test if you can jump starter, 10 bucks says you can.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1561097

 

So the engine doesn't crank over right? Is that what your saying? If the engine doesn't crank over, here is the solution:

1. Bad battery (but if everything else works fine, and it does crank the engine over without boosting it, it's fine)
2. Bad ground at starter. Sometime a loose ground can disconnect and the electricity won't flow thru the starter, you'll just hear 1 click, that's it.
3. Dead Starter. Easy to check, simply take it off and hot wire it for a split second.

Main relay problem the engine usually just crank over and over and over for about 5-20 minutes, then it will finally connect again and let the fuel pump prime.

 

ya i remember the fuel pump priming....but it was like u described it, "just one click but starter did nothing" so it must have been on a wierd spot as it has never happened before and hasnt since...thanks again for all the help

 

sounds like battery to me lol bad alternator maybe

 

its a wierd one....as i dont think its battery....its an oversize 850 cca battery...and always cranks super strong and never had issues even in -50 *Celcius weather. and alternator is b18.....but anyways its going good...but if it happens again ill use everyones wisdom who replied in troubleshooting