Car is a 91 crx, bone stock, with 200K miles.
Ok, symptoms....
Turn key, car starts and catches, but then dies.
It did this a few times over the past week, and on like the fourth attempt, it would start and run. And when it ran, it ran fine...full power, and everything.
Finally, a few days ago, it wouldnt catch, even after trying many times.

I couldnt hear the fuel pump humming. I even jumped into my eg to see if I could hear the pump hum, and sure enough I could... so I removed the rear storage thing to expose the wires.
I pulled apart the connector, hooked up my voltmeter to the correct side (going toward the key), turned the key to start and got 12 volts. That seemed to tell me that the pump is getting voltage, which would tell me it isnt the main relay.
I reconnected the connector and tried again, and even with the storage bin removed and top of tank exposed, I still couldnt hear anything from the pump.

I did buy a new pump, and am draining the tank, but now am having second thoughts.

Is there anything else I'm missing? Anything else it could possibly be?

thx

 

did you test the fuel pump that might be bad by actually giving it known power and known ground?

 

well, yes. As I said it was getting 12V from the key?
How would you suggest doing it otherwise?
and, how do you know if it is running?

 

you can hook up power and ground to it with it out of the car and you will physically see and hear the motor working if it still works.

 

Projekt ED3 is right, i did that with mine a few years ago. and sure enough, it was dead.

 

Are you talking about this? (circled in red)

if so, that isnt the pump. that is the Float sending unit. it will get a 12volt reading when the key is in the position II . just try the main relay. it isnt hard to get to and is extremely easy to switch out with a known working one.

 

actually yes, that is what I'm talking about!

Okay, so it seems like the consensus is that it is the main relay.

I guess I was kind of thinking this because of the fact that once it did get running, it ran fine...which wouldnt seem to indicate a failing fuel pump.

ok, i will get a main relay and let you guys know what happens

 

having same issue after replacing relay with a new one. What year was your car? mileage? I've never had a fuel pump go out on any car.

 

ok, replaced the main relay, and the problem still exists.

I still dont think it is the fuel pump though, as once it starts it runs fine...no sputtering or anything.

so, my ignition tumbler is pretty worn....always has been since I owned the car.
It is very vague between stations as you turn and has lots of slop.

so, I hate to throw parts at a problem, but I am thinking this is my next step?

thoughts?

 

yo dude

i've got a 90 crx si with about 170k on it, bone stock.

my car did this same exact thing about 5-6 weeks ago.

it's the fuel pump.
take it out and put 12v to it, it won't work.

before i found that out, i tried everything else, including pulling another relay from my other civic, and also buying a new one from autozone or something.

i took out my original main relay and resoldered it just in case, still works fine. i returned the other one to the store.

before i had it fixed it wouldn't start when it's humid or hot inside the car, and once it started it ran fine/normal. that got worse and worse. then stopped altogether.

let me know how that works. cuz it sounds like you've checked/done everything else

 

my question is.... is the car just going dead at once or does it sputter and then die? I would say check your distributor. usually if a car is not getting enough gas then it will sputter and die. but you say that it will crank and run sometimes and then sometimes it just up and quits? sounds like an electrical problem. you don't have to hook power to pump when checking to see if it is working. Just loosen the bolt on the out side of your filter and see if gas shoots out or just dribbles. If it has pressure then your pump is working (of course it could be its not pumping the proper amount but then it would be a sputter and die and not just a complete shutdown.

 

I just had this problem with my 90 Civic, turned out to be the distributor.

Remove a wire and see if you get spark with a screwdrive when starting it.

 

I mean, if it was the relay, i would think that it would start up when its cold. Unhook the fuel filter in line, turn the key to || and if fuel comes out, than maybe spark is your problem.

 

You are correct, it does not sputter and die, it just dies...
it starts, runs for half a second, and dies.
It will not start AND run for like, say for instance, 5 key turns. In other words, you turn the key those five times, and every time it starts and dies immediately.
Then, out of nowhere, on the sixth try, it starts and runs just fine.
I'm really thinking this is not a fuel pump...it really does seem electrical to me

 

so, your problem was the same as mine? Where it would start and die, but maybe on like, say the 4th or 7 th try, it would start AND run. And then run just fine with full power and no hesitation?

cause that is what mine is doing....

I just wonder how this would be a distributor? What is it on the distributor that failed?

thx

 

I will do the fuel filter test today, thx

The relay, if bad, shouldnt work in either cold or warm conditions...right?

anyways, I'm not pulling off the new relay that I just put on, because I know how often those things fail anyways, so I'll just leave it on.

thx

 

okay, so didnt want to start a new thread...
I'm replacing the ignition cylinder like this one here.....http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/199..._cylinder.html

The old one was very worn, and you could pull the key out at most of the stations (0,1,2,3)

so i think it may be causing my problem, and even if it isnt, it needed to be fixed anyways.

I got the old one out pretty easily. You push in a detent button from the top of the casing with something like a small allen wrench, then put the key into position 1, and pull it out.

Now, the instructions for installing the new one are to put key in position 0, align the cylinder up with the casing, turn the key to almost/near position 1 and push it in, once the detent pin hits the casing, you turn the key to position 1 and push it all the way in. At which point the detent pin hits its hole and you are done.
I get to the point of where it is almost all the way in, when I turn it to position 1, it doesnt go any further in.


Anybody have experience with this?

Maybe I'll start a new thread....

 

i got it

put some lube on the little ramp that the detent ball rides on, and it finally went in.

Okay, so guess what? It is fixed!!!!!

So, it wasnt the fuel pump, or the main relay.

It was a heavily worn ignition cylinder. This cylinder cost me 60 bucks from the dealer.

So happy, and glad to share my experience with others who may have the same problem.

peace

 

I'm glad you got it in. I was going to say it is a pain in the *** to get it in. I had to replace mine awhile ago after my car was almost stolen.