First of all, I'd like to say I've been searching the forums and Google for a few hours and tried most of the basics. Here's the deal...

My battery died in my wife's 93' Del Sol. I tested the battery, it was bad, replaced the new one, and suddenly... the car won't start. It turns over great, all belts turning. It only sat for about a week with the dead battery but did get a jump in the parking lot and drove it home.

First, I checked all fuses, all look okay. Second, I placed a extra sparkplug in a pulled wire and turned it over, I get white/blueish spark. Third, I loosened the fuel line at the filter and turned the ignition to accessory, lots of fuel squirts out. Fourth, I turned the engine over for about 10sec and pulled the plugs, they were wet with fuel.

I've read this thread: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/92-civic-wont-start-has-spark-fuel-pump-primes-3053960/ which seems similar. But, this was a firing order issue. I have not pulled any wires or done anything to this car, just replaced the battery. It was my wife's daily driver until the battery died. For the belt to jump teeth in between it sitting in the garage and starting with a new battery seems unlikely (the belt is also new and I inspected the teeth).

Could someone please point me in the right direction for further troubleshooting? I really don't want to tow it to a shop. I do have a multimeter (cheap harbor freight). If the main relay was bad, would that stop pressure to the pump?, because I definitely have that.

Thanks so much!

 

If there are no CEL codes, then check the mechanical timing.

 

Have the alternator checked. It could be the root cause of the battery dying in the first place. Also, it's almost never a bad idea to pull the main relay and check for cracked/dry solder joints on a car that old and, besides, checking the main relay only takes a few minutes.

 

thanks for reply guys. a few questions...

one, I pulled the upper timing cover. I see the "up" on the cam gear, but don't see any mark on the valve cover or head to match it up with. My engine is D15B7.

two, is there an easy way to test the alternator?

thanks again!

 

 

Mechanical Timing
-----------------
First, make sure you're crank pulley is set to Top Dead Center. Put the car in neutral and turn the crank pulley (use a socket on the crank pulley bolt or a box wrench on the power steering pulley bolt) until the white mark (TDC mark) aligns with the little bullseye looking thing on the lower timing belt cover. The TDC mark on the crank pulley is maybe an inch or so to the right of 3 other colored marks (those are used for setting ignition timing so ignore them). Get a flashlight and use it exactly like a bullseye... Look down at your lower timing belt cover, close one eye, and line up the arrow, notch, and TDC mark. When all 3 of those things line up perfectly, your crank pulley is set to TDC.

For your camshaft pulley, "UP" should obviously be pointing up but you should also have three groove markings on it. Two should be at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions, dead even with the top edges of your cylinder head. The third mark should be at about the 7 o'clock position, slightly (i'm talking like 1mm or so) to the left of the little plastic arrow on the inner timing cover plate.

Use the pic Ron posted above for reference. It's straight out of the service manual.


Battery/Alternator
-----------------
Since you already have a multimeter check out this youtube vid for how to check your battery/alternator:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTGz0...feature=fvwrel

It'll explain it better than I ever could here.

 

As the battery cranks the engine and spark is bright white, a bad alternator is a very unlikely cause for the no start.

 

It's a bit of a long long shot, but since the current battery in the car is brand new it could be cranking and sparking using (ever dwindling) power from the new battery. Worth checking out, I suppose.

OP, has the timing belt been removed from the cam pulley for any reason recently?

Also, it's probably a good idea to check all 4 plug wires for spark. Just because one is sparking doesn't mean they all are.

 

Very unlikely and low on the priority list.

 

I'd say the same for mechanical timing if the timing belt hasn't been touched anytime recently.

The main relay on the other hand...

 

You're clearly are not very familiar with our Civics. If you'd like me to explain, PM me. Let's not clutter the OP's thread with our disagreement.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you, Ron. The OP's problem could very well be a mechanical timing issue. That's why I took the time to further explain how to check the timing after you posted the service manual excerpt. I'm just saying it's worth the OP's time to troubleshoot other things (main relay, alt, whatever else) if the timing turns out to be correct. I'm familiar enough with our Civics to know that the timing belt usually just doesn't jump teeth unless the timing belt or tensioner is very old and/or worn (which is not out of the realm of possibility here).

OP, please do check the mechanical timing as described above. If that turns out to be correct, I'm sure Ron here will point you in the right direction...

 

Borrow another ECU and swap it out.

This is a common problem - moisture/condensation effects the ECU circuit board and you will get a crank but no start especially during rainy damp conditions.

Del Sol's especially 93's like mine they leak plus the ECU is now 19 years old.