On the road at 40mph and my 95 civic SI just lost power and quit. I'm getting fuel, because I can smell it at the exhaust and plugs. The rotor turns while cranking so I don't think the timming belt is broken. It'll crank like a champ and I've replaced the ignition module, cap, rotor, and plugs but i'm still not getting spark. I thought for sure the Ignition module was the problem, but it still won't start. I'm 1500 miles from home and all the local shops here in Okcity want to rape me on costs. Any Ideas? Thanks.

 

check the grounds on the valve cover, tranny, and therostat housing.

 

when you say ignition module do you mean the ignightor or the coil pack. ( 9 times out of 10 it is the coil pack)

 

I beleive it was the ignightor. It was a small square peice that slid into a slot under the rotor shaft. it had several wires connected to it. If I'm not mistaken the coil is the larger black peice with the spring at the top. Does that sound right? Thanks for all the help so far.

 

Did you check for spark or are you just assuming that because you have fuel you don't have spark? Had to ask.

 

First check for spark at the plugs, pull a plug out, and touch it to a ground still plugged into its wire (you can burn up a coil VERY quickly if you just pull the wire out and let it arc all over the place) If you fail that test, check the test below, in order.

Take a multimeter and check for 12V between the distributor power wire (blk/yel) and body ground with the key in the ON (II) position. to ensure there is power available up to that point. If there is, you have eliminated everything but the dizzy at the problem.

Check the coil primary terminals, The two screwed in terminals need to be checked for resistance, take an multimeter set to ohms across the + and - terminals, your reading should be less than 3 Ohms. Now check the secondary by performing the same test, but connect one end to the spring looking terminal that sticks out into the cap, and the other between the positive terminal, and then switch to the negative. Your reading should be around 16,000 Ohms. If the resisance is out of spec by 30-40 Ohms for the primary, or over 25,000 for the secondary, replace the coil. More often than not resistance will be much lower, caused by an internal short of the windings on the secondary side.


If you are good there, do this next. Check the Crank Sensor for continuity at the ECU. Remove the B plug from the ECU, and look for terminals B15 and B16, check the sensor by using a multimeter set to Ohms and connect the leads to B15 and B16, you should have around 350-700 Ohms of resistance. If this checks out, then suspect the module. The ECU will only need the crank sensor to fire a spark along with a ground and a power supply which you are check by performing the above for the ICM. If all that specs out, replace the Ignition Control Module.

Post back with an update with these tests.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDM-97CX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you check for spark or are you just assuming that because you have fuel you don't have spark? Had to ask.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Once the PCM determines there is no spark it will automatically cut the fuel, and it will normally do that within seconds of cranking, and store a code.

 

Wow. That is exactly what I needed. I was wondering about power to the distributor myself. I'll check all this and let you know how it goes?. Thanks everyone for your help.

I'm a little emberassed to ask, but what is a dizzy?

 

thats your distributor

 

Thanks everyone for your help. It was the coil. I had ruled it out since I got it the night before, but the parts store sold me a bad one. the step by step check from slowcivic led me to it. Thanks again for all the help!!

 

No problem

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