Hello everyone. Major problem. I have a 93 Honda Civic EX with 1.6L, automatic. Background, I reclaimed this car from a barn recently where it had sat for 7 years! Sounds bad already, but after replacing the battery, draining the gas tank, replacing the varnished fuel pump, fuel filter, oil and filter, took injectors off and cleaned them by running carb cleaner through them, and doing the bare minimum financially (unemployed), I got it running. Started up and ran it out on the highway in front of the house. Was running a tad bit rough (not bad very slightly), but I chalked it up to it sitting for so long, told the wife I wasn't going to worry about that until we had ran a couple of tanks of gas through it. Well after getting the tag current and insurance, sent the wife off to her new job in it, 35 miles away. Checked on her throughout the day, (she does home visits) and everything was great started and ran over and over again all day. She started home and she said that the last couple of miles before she got home, (we live on a mountain) the car lost power and barely made it home. She said she was watching the temperature gauge and it was normal. Ok, no problem I thought, maybe the fuel filter or the fuel pump strainer got clogged from something I missed when I drained the tank. Tried to start it after a couple of hours, but it just turned over rapidly. Checked antifreeze and oil, both were good and still in the correct places. Disconnected battery, pulled pump and strainer was ok. Changed fuel filter. Still no start. Took injectors back off, still working fine. Read forums on here and tested for spark. Tested all the spark plugs, seemed fine, looks bright white. Tested the coil, .9 between the contacts with meter set on 200. 15.9 K between (-) and secondary. So well within limits from what I've read. Took spark control module to auto store. It tested good. Bought new plugs, new plug wires, new cap and rotor. Came home, reassembled. Still no start. Same symptoms, engine turns over rapidly, doesn't seem to try to start. My next thought was timing. Ended up pulling crank pulley and covers off. Inspected belt, checked mechanical timing. All good. Pulled cap, rotor pointing to #1. Fuel pump working, I can smell gas at tailpipe. Everything seems to be working except it doesn't start. I'm at a loss. Haven't done a compression test yet but seems like it should at least try to start. I have had vehicles in the past that had horrible compression and no power but would still start. Ether didn't make a difference. Figured the relays were fine since the fuel pump is working and the spark plugs fire. Fuses good. Help!

 

The next step is to compression test the cylinders.

 

I will have to see if my local auto parts store has a compression tester to loan or rent. That will be something I'll have to check out tomorrow. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

Well. Wow. Rented a compression tester, thought it was broken at first when I hooked it up to cylinder #1. Nothing. No compression. So I tried the other ones. Here are the results:

#1= 0
#2= 150
#3= 0
#4= 130

I'm not sure of the accuracy of the tester, it looked pretty used, but I know that doesn't account for the zero readings. I would think my next step would be to pressure test the cylinders but I'm not sure that would help as it seems I have MAJOR compression leaks. I'm thinking of removing the head and visually checking the valves, seats, etc. Could valves be "stuck" open?

It is amazing this car ran for two days and was running (I took it out on the highway, it had good acceleration and seemed to be running fine) and now these findings.

What do you think my next step is?

 

A cylinder leak down test will tell you where compression is lost.

 

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