ok the car is a 1989 Prelude Si 4ws and on his way down to college today he said that the cel came on and the car jerked and rocked and then just died. He is going to UTI so he knows a thing or two about cars and he said that when the key is in the on postition it has power but when he goes to start it nothing happens. His thought is maybe the ignition switch or could it be the main relay? I am not familiar with preludes, i have a crx, but since it is a 1989 i am assuming that it is obd 0 so can you check the codes on that like you can on the civics and crx's with the light on the ecu? He didnt have time to look at the ecu or anything to check the code because his classes were starting so i am just wondering what you guys think.

 

timing belt? does the motor turn over at all?

 

no he said when he trys to start it nothing happens no crank or anything.

 

I'd check the main relay

 

Main Relay has nothing to do with the starter. Only Fuel and Ignition.

If the engine doesn't crank, its 1 or 2 things, Starter = dead doesn't explain why the engine died, so next would be battery, however you said all the lights come on so that rules that out.

This leads me to believe he locked up the motor. Look for signs of a rod sticking out with Oil everywhere, if thats not it, then the timing belt probably snapped. Try to turn the motor with a Wrench and Socket see what happens.

 

if the timing belt snapped it should still try to turn over.....with no success obiviously.

 

like i said it threw a CEL right before it died and we havent gotten a chance yet to check it. Are the numbers for the codes the same as a obd 0 crx or civic would be?

 

i could be wrong but check the bearings of the crankshaft and the main bearings...a similar situation happened to me last week...i was at a stop light and when i was about to go... my car suddenly stopped like if i hit the brakes hard...and therefore locked up my motor and it wouldnt start nor turnover...when i went to check it was my bearings (crankshaft and Main bearing) when i toke the bearings out it literally looked like the letter C because 2 of them fused to together

 

Might check the alt. Get some juice to it with a jump.

If it ran the battery down far enough it wouldn't start but it would have enough juice to turn the lights on.

All other suggestions here are good too.

 

do you have spark? let it cool down and try to restart it...

if it starts up, swap the ignition module inside dist (common problem that it wont crank when hot)...if not, test the coil

 

you guys will laugh when you hear this but the dang alternator belt was loose so there was not much charge and it finally gave out.
thanks for the responses though

 

Ignition switch, starter, out of gas, engine siezed, possibly bad coil