I have a stock 89 civic and recently it has been dying for no apparent reason and won't restart but starts and runs fine a little later. I'm thinking it may be the coil but thought I would ask the experts.
THanks

 

If it's the coil, you should be able to test that when it quits running. If you pull a wire off of one of your spark plugs, you can stick a Phillips screwdriver into the plug connector and it should be able to shoot a spark about an inch. If it's shooting like 1/4 inch or nothing, then it's probably either the igniter, in the distributor, or the coil, in the distributor.

The best cure if it's either one would be a new distributor from Distributor King. No, I'm not a rep., I fixed mine, but I bought a new one for my daughters car and it was a whole lot better way to go. They have addressed a couple of thermal issues related to the distributors.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stillerfan13579 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a stock 89 civic and recently it has been dying for no apparent reason and won't restart but starts and runs fine a little later. I'm thinking it may be the coil but thought I would ask the experts.
THanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

Check your main relay out, it's a pretty common fail point in the fuel system. If that doesn't fix the problem, see if you have spark like suggested above, then check to see if your fuel pump is operating.

Just search "main relay", you'll find approximately 63746321879458732 threads about it.

 

I agree with above post.. check main relay. Had to change mine after intermittent start ups..

 

time to replace the distributor

 

OK I have changed coil and main relay appears to operate as it should (closes when key is turned) but still same problem .I'm begining to believe it could be the fuel pump the first 2 times it died on me I was on interstate and could not hear how it was running but the most recent 5 or 6 times it has died on me I was in town and could hear it sounded like it was starving for fuel. But I don't understand why it would start again later and run for a mile or 2 before it dies .does this sound possible or does anyone else have any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

As has been said before replace the main relay

just because it works when you look at it does not mean its good