My friend car 91 honda civic 4dr died while driving. It cranks but won't turn over. After work I am going to go and check it out. She told me that someone who was helping her get started told her that it needs a tune up really bad. I was thinking maybe the main fuel relay.

If someone could please recommend other things to check.

Another question, how do you check the spark plug wires for spark without a tester?

UPDATE2 - Finally got it started!! But it's still giving me a code 8. I pulled the ecu fuse with the car off but it's still giving me the code. The car drives normal. Any way to fix that?

UPDATE1 - Ok I just got back...
I took of the dist cap and the rotor screw fell out. So that must've came off. It was a bitch getting it back in there with the allen key. It stopped turning halfway, kinda felt like it stripped. I cranked the car little by little to move it so I can screw it in. It's really tight to work on but I got it in there halfway. We put the cap back on it and then jump started the car. It started for 2 seconds and then died. I took of the cap and again the screw came out. But this time, I got a check engine light. I checked the ecu and it gave me a code 8 = TDC Position. My timing is off isn't it?



Modified by superthug at 5:46 PM 12/6/2006

 

Did the tach jump around at all?

 

check the timing belt

 

ooof...it better not be the timing belt because she must have cranked it a few times.

 

Shouldve checked the t belt before cranking away. Typical american driver.

 

could be the screw that holds the rotor in place came loose & is not allowing the rotor to touch all points in the cap

 

can be a lot of problems.

dizzy, main relay, wiring, sensors..

belt broken..

 

Ok I just got back from checking the car out but still didn't get it start.

The plugs are sparking and the fuel pump is working. The ecu light comes on and then off. There's a click when it turns off.

What do I check next?

Is it safe to say that when I opened up the oil cap and had my friend crank the car and the cam was turning that the timing belt is still good?

The car is cranking but does not turn over, sometimes it chokes like its about to but it doesn't.

 

if the cam is turning then the belt must be fine or else there would be nothing to crank the cam.

right?

my timing belt snapped on the highway going probably 75, being a 17 year old with not much knoledge i cranked the car multiple times, before having my uncle on the cell tell me to check my timing belt. now im replacing the motor with an sohc zc with 35k miles, never did check if any pistons or anything were bent, but dont care either, just gave me an excuse to get a new motor.

 

well, do some diagnostic. u know that id the dizzy is giving spark that it must be rotating. leaving out the possibility that is the timing belt. listen to how it cranks. does it crank evenly? it could be tat the timing belt skipped a few teeth and still being able to rotate the cam afterwards. BUT. u shoulda opened the dizzy cap as stated avove. those screws tend to go loose at the worst possible times leaving u stranded. check these things. it ight help

 

Maybe the coil went bad..? You can always check that. It sounds like it might be something to do with the dizzy, like the rotor or mabye the coil. Hopefully you get it fixed

 

Is there air kinda backfiring back out of the intake? This happend to me a few months ago and it was the rotor screw.. Some mild locktite and a screwdriver fixed it. Worth checking.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89cmutr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is there air kinda backfiring back out of the intake? This happend to me a few months ago and it was the rotor screw.. Some mild locktite and a screwdriver fixed it. Worth checking.</TD></TR></TABLE>

exactly what 89cmutr said an. that happened onmy lude.

 

t-belt may not have snapped...could have just ate a few teeth or skipped timing, has happened to the best of us

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89cmutr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is there air kinda backfiring back out of the intake? This happend to me a few months ago and it was the rotor screw.. Some mild locktite and a screwdriver fixed it. Worth checking.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So let me get this straight, even though I'm still getting spark, it could still be the rotor screw?

Could it be the ignitor?

 

Yeah you will still get spark but it will be very sparatic. There is no flat spot on the rotor shaftso it spins freely inside the rotor. It could be the ignitor but rule out the loose, free spinning rotor first. A much cheaper fix.

 

I was telling my buddy yesterday to check it out. He kept saying that since there's spark there's not need to check the rotor. I had brand new rotor, plugs, wires with me that I bought from autozone. But my friend insisted that it wasn't the problem. Guess I'll check it out again today.

 

I don't think it will have spark if the timing is off.

or will it..

 

Is the car throwing any codes?

 

nope no codes

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hamstr323 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">could be the screw that holds the rotor in place came loose</TD></TR></TABLE>

hes right happend to me

 

Will check the rotor screw tonight when I get out of work. Basically take of the distributor cap and then crank the car until I see the screw for the rotor. Unscrew it and replace it with a new one.

 

egg sack leee

might be prob. never hurts to check it out

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by superthug &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was telling my buddy yesterday to check it out. He kept saying that since there's spark there's not need to check the rotor.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by superthug &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> He kept saying that since there's spark there's not need to check the rotor. But my friend insisted that it wasn't the problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i feel like stabbing him in the eye. bad asumption

 

having the same problem with a friends car.

If it sits for about 2 hrs it will start just fine. He gets about 2 miles down the road and then the speedometer drops and the gauge cluster dims till the car dies. We can push start it immediately after a few minutes and then it dies again.

I was reading the helms manual and it all points to ignition. Where though?

Could it be the starter solenoid?