Okay I've been awol that past few weeks, clutch issues, oil leak issues, spring cleaning (car & house), haven't been online much and haven't really been in much of a pro-honda mood. I've managed to take care of the other problems, but this one's got me by the *****.

The patient: 2000 Civic Si, stock cept for the short ram, high floww "cat.", & the dynomax muffler.

The problem: I swapped out the rotor, cap, and plug wires, in that order. I turned the key, it fired right up, then died about 30 seconds to a minute later and now it wont start again.

Heres what I did; Remove cap, rotate engine about 20 degrees to gain access to screw that holds rotor on, pull old rotor off. Install new rotor and reinstall screw, install new cap, install new wires in the correct positions.

I've got the firing order as 1-3-4-2, starting at the lower left of the cap (about the 7:30 position) and rotating clockwise. Cylinder #1, as far as I know, should be on the driver's side of the car, the side of the engine the belts are on.

Tests so far:
- I hooked up a timing light, but it never lights.
- I put a known good spark plug on the end of plug wire for cyl #1 and there is no spark.

Something else I don't get, after attempting to start the vehicle, before shutting the key off, there is a sort of vacuum cleaner sound, not the sucking sound, but like the wierd woooooooo noise that comes from the short ram at idle, only the car is obviously not idling because then I wouldn't be here asking annoying questions, instead I'd be in my usual "I need nawz" kinda mood. Anyway, the sound continues until you shut the key off.

So, if anyone can provide any useful insight, I would greatly appreciate the help. I'm gonna go destroy something and start chain smoking and bitching to myself about how everything pisses me off.


btw, I think I gave up the EG or EM build due to the fact that everyone that responds to the ads I have up for the car think they're gonna get an Si for $5k, and that was when it was running, though right now I would probably take that offer.

btw again, this is the FIRST car I have ever had not start on me. I've had cars that ran lousy, I had a car catch on fire once (fuel leak), had a clip on a throttle cable snag something leaving me headed toward a line of cars at a light while stuck at W.O.T. with an automatic so it just kept shifting, but never have I had a vehicle that wouldn't start, even after the fire.

 

u need new dizzy or ignition coil

 

your firing order is spot on. i would def. check into the two items listed in the previous post. start with the ignition coil...this is probably the culprit.

 

Thanks for the info, I kinda figured.

Just an update: I tested the coil, primary & secondary resistance is on the low end of the scale, but still within spec. It was around 0.7 and 13.85 (K) respectively. That was taken while slightly cold, probably around 60-65 degrees, I've got it sitting in the kitchen now, let it warm up a little and check again.
I'm off to check everything else before I drop the $175 on a new setup, fortunately that includes everything (coil, mod, rotor, cap, etc.). Here's hopin the Honda elves fixed everything last night.

 

Try getting a new ignitor module


Thats what I needed one winter after getting sluggish starts and no start soon after.

 

Thats what I'm hoping for, its actually in stock at the parts places. If not I'm kinda fuct cuz my bike has no lights and I won't be able to get to work (the bike tops out at 123 measured, the highway P71's and 5.7 Chargers get up around 140-ish).


Just a thought, but why would it run for a minute and then die? Seems an odd time for something to just **** the bed like that.

The distributor itself is purely mechanical, it just has electronic parts that are easily removed bolted to it. So why would it need to be replaced rather than just replacing the guts, or could this be another example of japan's superior engineering? Seriously, this car has been the biggest pain in the *** of any vehicle I've ever owned, everything turns into a big damn project.

 

Please excuse my b!tching, It's just irritating that I can't just buy the damn part I need. Really, this is nothing, don't get me started on the other projects.

Anyway, it runs now. I tried a new module ($95 at the zone), nothin, so I got my $140 back for that, the cap & rotor. I found the distributor online Sunday night, ordered it, they sent it out Monday and it was waiting on my door step when I got home today. The whole thing, mod, coil, cap, rotor, pickup, harness, etc. to my house in two business days for about $135, and that includes shipping.

So, thanks for all the help, its greatly appreciated and I may very well be still f*kin around with it without it.


Now, its on to the clicking injectors, or possibly the alternator, depends how my check looks on Friday.

 

If you're using an inductive timing light (most new timing lights are inductive) then you have to hook it up properly to the spark plug wires; i.e. if you have spark and the timing light doesn't light, then you have to flip the pickup the other way around on the spark plug wire in order for it to be able to pick up the signal from the spark plug wire.

 

so the car runs fine now?