Hi, I'm new to this forum and look forward to being part of it.

I need some help to solve a problem with my wife’s 1997 Honda CRV.

A few days ago (raining) she made it 5 KMs from home when the battery light and oil pressure light came on. When the lights came on, she can't remeber if it stalled but could no longer accelerate and had to pull over (she coasted a few hundred feet while not responding to any throttle command). By the time she came to a stop, she's sure it wasn't running and would not start (wouldn’t turn over). I arrived on the scene within 10 minutes and lo and behold, it started so I drove it home (battery and oil lights were off). I checked the voltage on the battery with it running and had more than 14.5 volts.

The next day (raining), the darn thing didn’t start. It turned over and the oil pressure light was on.

The next day (not raining), it started and ran fine all day.

This morning (raining), it didn't start. It turned over and the oil light was on.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

NOTE: the dipstick shows the correct oil quantity.

Thanks.

 

Check all the electrical connections, because water must be getting into one of them to make it not want to run.

 

here's where i am with my troubleshooting:

Checked spark, all 4 spark plugs are sparking.
Fuel pump is humming when key turned to on.
Checked compression: #1 = 180 psi, #2 = 179 psi, #3 = 156 psi, #4 = 150 psi.
I put a little oil down the weaker #3 & #4 cylinders, #3 had 250 psi and #4 had 172 psi with the oil.

Any suggestions?

 

Check to make sure your coolant temp sensor is working. If it's not it will not start as well, because the computer will think it's cold the all the time and just keep dumping more fuel and it floods it, so it will not start from that.

 

thanks sticker bomb, i'll check it and let you know. What does everyone think about the compression values? Should I be concerned?

 

Yeah I was going to say that sensor as well. I had it go bad on my civic and I'd be stuck at the gas station for 20 minutes waiting for it to cool down so my car would start.

 

The compression should all be around the same, so you could have a bad rings, a bent valve

 

keep in mind the car has now been sitting in the driveway and hasn't run for a few days...

I checked the coolant temp sensor. Supposed to have 137 ohms with a cold engine (sensor to engine ground), seems like there's an open circuit, no reading?? I can't check the sensor with a hot engine (46-30 ohms) since the car won't run.

Any advice?

 

well this is the strangest problem.

I decided to put a little gas down each cylinder. I turned it over and it seemed like it wasn't going to start, but after holding the gas pedal to the floor and cranking for almost 10 seconds it began to sputter and eventually started. So it's idling in the driveway now and I don't know what the issue is/was.
As a foot note, the rain has stopped.

Part of me thinks its an electrical issue, but I'm doubtful since I had spark yesterday while it was damp and raining. Part of me thinks it's a a fuel problem, but it should have died after the fuel from what i poured in was used.

I'd like to figure this out as I have very low confidence sending my wife with it since I didn't actually fix any thing yet...

Comments are welcome...

 

On the temp sensor connector, jump it so it thinking the sensor or there. You can do that by putting 2 pins in the connector and join the 2 together with a something that will keep them touching (like a alligator clip) then try to start it. It should start fine then, because it thinks the engine is warmed up, so it will not put as much fuel.

 

Status update:

I haven’t had time to see if the spark is blue or yellow (strong or weak), but after all kinds of other trouble shooting and trying to decide what action to take, here’s what happened:

After getting the car started a few days ago and starting and stopping it several times since, last night it started with no issue (weather was clear with no rain).

This morning, 12 hours later without the car having moved, it did not start (but turned over as usual). Guess what? It’s raining out. I now believe the problem is related to the rain/damp weather.

I’m planning to test the ignition coil and replace it if required. And, either way I’ll replace the distributor cap, rotor, wires and plugs.

Any thoughts?

 

Hi,

first of all do you have any logged error codes?

next I would ask what is the service history like and has the fuel filter ever been changed?


Kev

 

Problem fixed, for anyone interested, here’s what I did to complete my troubleshooting. Got the car running on a dry day and sprayed a little water on the distributor cap. Within a few seconds I saw some arcing from the cap then the car died. Changed the cap and rotor and she’s good to go.

 

awesome, the ole dreaded leaky cap.

 

Nice thread for the history/Learning books
Good job