So i just picked up a 91 civic dx hatch yesterday from a friend of mine. The reason he sold it to me was because he slid it into a ditch at 5mph and it caused some minor body damage and he's not a body man.

The other reason he sold it is because it wont start. It ran perfect up to and shortly after the accident, he drove it home and let it sit for 30mins then went back to start it and it wouldnt start.

When you get in and turn the key, the fuel pump primes but it doesnt seem to stop priming. There is a click from the starter solenoid under the hood,the battery is good and i tried it with my brand new optima and got the same results. the check engine light shuts off like normal,the headlights work, brake lights, hazards, blinkers, interior lights all work. One weird thing however is when i turn on the blinkers the arrows blink, and so does the seatbelt light, and other lights blink and light up when i push other buttons which leads me to believe there is a bad ground, but im unsure of which one it could be. I redid and remounted the motor,tranny,and battery grounds and nothing has changed. I have checked all fuses over and over and they are all good, and i replaced the main relay.

This dash light strangeness has led me to believe that possibly the ignition switch is bad, but i would think that it would at least turn over, and its very weird how the fuel pump continues priming, starter is 1 or 2 yrs old so i dont think that is a problem.

If anyone has any ideas on what this could be i would greatly appreciate it. Sorry for the long write up.

 

imo u should check your harness for a pinched wire, sounds like u do have a short to ground somewhere, but where?? i would start at where the area was damage from the accident with the ditch. i mean how big of a ditch?? and how bad was the damage in ur opinion?? i mean if it ran fine b4 the ditch there's difinitly a short somewhere, i would also check all your relays and fuses and see if n e of em is blown and start from there.
since your fuel pump is staying on i would start with that circuit. check and see if it leads to n e thing else???
well hope u find your short.

 

thank you for the input, i will have to check the wiring going to the main relay, and i will recheck all of my grounds, the damage was to the rear quarter panel, and its nothing bad at all so i dont think the damage has anything to do with it but i think the jolt from the impact might have knocked something loose. i think i will also replace my positive battery cable tomarrow and have the starter checked. thanks again for the help.

Since i have the dash out, does anyone know where all the grounds are under the dash of an ef, this is my first ef and i dont know anything about the layout of it. And what/where is the harness ground i have heard other people talking about in other threads, is this the main ground that connects to the motor(valve cover)??? Sorry kind of a noob question

 

problem fixed, just had to add a few ground wires, turned the key and it fired up. thanks for the help.