I live on campus so I usually on drive my car on weekends because I have to park kinda far. It has happened in the past where on a cold morning it kicked a very long time but finally started up. Besides that, I drove it all winter and it was fine. Also, for a while I have been smelling fuel under the hood and sometimes, when I first start up, inside the car. I dont know if that is really related though. This past friday was a warm day (60s). I got out to my car and the battery was dead. No idea why. My lights were not on and I had just drove last weekend. Got a jump start and it drove absolutely fine and normal. Drove on friday. Did not drive saturday. Sunday, the weather suddenly got cold again (36). Went to start car on sunday and it would not start.

It was kicking and kicking and it would not start. I inspected the spark plugs. They all looked healthy. 1 2 and 4 looked dry and 3 looked a little bit wet. Also I did smell fuel under the hood though not more than I always smelled in the past. I kept kicking it until the battery died again. By that time I could kick it once or a few times and get it to turn over a few times by itself then die again. I got another jump and after kicking a lot more it would start up for a few seconds and almost reach idle rpm then die. Finally I got it started. hitting the gas too quickly would make it die. Besides that, when in gear it still pulled as strong as it always does, but a few times i hit the gas and felt no power (kinda like when you are very low on gas and go wot). Got to the parking lot and pressed the gas in neutral again and it died. Kicked it a few times and it would not start back up.

I also checked the coolant level and it was pretty low. Overflow was empty and i could see the fins. I will top it off next time when I go to my car. Could this be the problem? Perhaps because the fast idle coolant lines have air in them? I dont think this really is the problem though. Perhaps fuel pressure regulator or pump is going bad? I dont have my helms with me right now but when I do get it ill look at fuel system troubleshooting. Any suggestions on how to check the pump? Any other ideas? Thanks guys.


Modified by JKingCivicSi at 3:42 PM 4/6/2008

 

Sounds like you have a fuel leak and the car isen't getting enough fuel pressure to run properly.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crx-si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like you have a fuel leak and the car isen't getting enough fuel pressure to run properly. </TD></TR></TABLE>I was wondering/afraid of that. Why would it sometimes run normally once I get it started up though?

 

Its pretty warm today and it still won't start. I am pretty sure I can hear the fuel pump priming if I put my ear up to the filler port. Looking in the manual the fuel filter is next in line. I don't know if it ever has been replaced, but I know for sure that it hasn't been replaced in the past 3-4 years. Could this really make the car suddenly stop working like that? Also, in the helms instructions for testing the pressure, the last step is to start the engine. Without being able to start the car, can I still accurately test it? Should I just leave the key at ignition point or crank it?

 

If it has bee that long replace it, it could be plugged causing not to get proper fuel pressure, in my experience with these engines it is either the main relay ( but you hear the pump running) distributer, and coil in the distributer. Possibly one of these

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crx-si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If it has bee that long replace it, it could be plugged causing not to get proper fuel pressure, in my experience with these engines it is either the main relay ( but you hear the pump running) distributer, and coil in the distributer. Possibly one of these</TD></TR></TABLE>Coil went bad about 1 year ago. Replaced whole dizzy with brand new DistributorKing dizzy. Think it could be that again? Or perhaps I should inspect cap and rotor. Found out filter was replaced about four years ago. I will still replace with new one. How should I test fuel pressure though? Is anything above 0 gauge press acceptable since it wont start? Should I read while cranking?

 

I think its about 35 psi you should read.

 

Dizzy is 1 yr old distributor king dizzy. Just replaced plugs with ngk, gapped at .044. Tested for spark by pulling wires and arcing against valve cover bolt and have spark on all 4. Replace fuel filter. Pump primes and there is fuel pressure at the regulator. I am about to pull the plugs and put a towel over holes to see it gets wet. B&M fuel press gauge on the way, so have not checked pressure yet.

Just took a look at cam timming and it mightbe slightly off. Here is with crank pulley lined up with tdc mark:


This is what it looks like with the intake cam aligned where I think it should be:


Is this off enough to not start? What should I check next? Please help!

 

The timing does not look bad I think mine looks close to that. I would think that the pump is not giving enough pressure. Check the pressure when the gauge gets in it should have around 35 psi and it should go to that when you turn the key on.

 

Ok will do. I someone also suggested starter fluid. I will try that too and let you know what happens.

 

Did you check for codes?

 

No CEL or codes (CEL does come on for a sec or two to indicate fuel pump is priming but thats it).

 

Ok, so I am really pissed at myself. Got the fuel gauge, tested it and it was fine (35psi). Also tried using started fluid with and without fuel pressure, and it didnt help. Fuel not the problem. Compression tested it, 170 160 170 128. Dropped some oil in #4 (too much) and compression shot up to over 260. Got it towed to mechanic to confirm what the problem is so I could determine if I want to rebuild or get a new block (if it was piston rings, I can't really do that right now; I would get a new ZC then rebuild this one for boost). He calls me back in an hour and says he fixed it. Dizzy cap and rotor. I didnt think to replace them because the whole dizzy is 1 year old and I was getting spark. I guess this is a lesson to me. Always try that. $20 is a lot cheaper than $200.

Drove it back home, and I park and there is steam coming out from under the hood. Pop the hood and it looks like the steam is coming from under the exhaust mani. It was dark, but I think it was smoking white. I topped off the coolant last weekend and the overflow is empty already. Didnt check the coolant level cause it was hot (not over heating though). Head gasket? Pretty sure, but is there anything else I should check before replacing the head gasket?

 

Ok, well confirm exactly what is leaking before you just decide to replace the head gasket, in either sense, you would be overheating if it was that. Check for a leak somewhere else and make sure you didn't just spill coolant on the mani and thats what is smoking and burning off. It seems that you don't want to be in the position of aimlessly replacing parts this time. Was it smoking white OUT of the exhuast or under the hood? It doesn't sound like a headgasket to me though. Also check to see if your radiator is leaking.

 

I thought it was smoking more than usual from the exhaust. But that could have been due to the fact that it hasn't been started for so long. It was also smoking under the hood. It ran just as strong as ever though. I will have another look today and look for leaks.