A few months ago I let my brother borrow my 92 civic and in exchange he got me a new radio, although i insisted in installing it myself, he felt he could do it and i allowed him to do so, in which he was not successful. When i got the car back i went to fix whatever he did wrong and as i was pulling the radio out of the dash a bear 12v wire touched the metal inside the dash and grounded itself, burning the insulation off and producing copious amounts of smoke. I located the wire and traced to the underdash fuse box where it was connected to the 2nd option output from the left, most online diagrams label it as ''B''. It supposedly is connected to the #17 fuse but there is no fuse there making the situation even more weird. Ever since then the car does not start, only turns over. No fuses were blown, I have test lighted the fuel pump and the distributor and they both have power to them. I have not tested these parts themselves. As far as i can tell all the other wires are intact. I have no basis to start from and have just been pretty much left googling for answers with no avail. Can someone please shed some light on a possible issue here? Thank you.

 

Check 40A hood fuse 40.

 

Yes there was an inline fuse but whoever last replaced the thing replaced it with a 25 amp fuse rather than a 1 amp as labeled on the yellow casing. I know what caused the problem, but i dont know the problems it caused.

 

The fuse is intact but the white plastic around the fuse appears to be very slightly melted.

 

Voltage test the fuse. You should read battery voltage on both sides of the fuse.

Do the same for 50A hood fuse 36.

 

Yes there is voltage on both sides of the fuse, and across all the larger fuses in that fusebox

 

 

All the center fuses have voltage across them, along with the 80a fuse 41

 

Back to no start basics.

Does the fuel pump prime for 2 seconds when you turn the key from off to ON(II)?

Is there bright white spark at all 4 spark plugs?

Any CEL codes?

 

No spark, both i and a mechanic have verified that, he replaced the dizzy with a new one but it made no difference, i havent been able to hear the priming of the pump for sure due to constant traffic noise outside my house when i work on it, the mechanic said there was fuel pressure. i had completely forgotten that there was a check engine light on and forgot to include it, however the mechanic also said the car does not give any codes, i question his honesty but i do not own a code tester. So in short, there is no spark. looks like forgot to include that also.

 

You don't need and can't use a code reader to pull codes. Just need a paperclip or piece of wire.

When you turn the key from off to ON(II), does the CEL turn on and then off after 2 seconds?

Remove the fuel fill cap and put one ear up against the fill hole. Cover other ear with your hand. Have a buddy turn the key from off to O(II). Do you hear the fuel pump prime (buzz/hum) for 2 seconds?

Have you verified lack of spark yourself?

 

Yes there is fuel priming, no there is no spark, and jumping the diagnostic connection does not cause the CEL to blink, just stays on steadily.
So is it the ECM?

 

Test whether battery voltage reaches the coil and igniter unit inside the distributor.