Alright so this is gonna be a little bit crazy... But i really need help with this :/

I drive a 93 Civic EX, D16Z6, manual transmission, coupe, 100% stock except for audio system

I am fully aware i do a lot of risky and dumb things...

In short: The car is cranking like it doesn't have gas

In long(super long):

I actually live in my car 4-5 days of the week, I'm in Columbus Ohio and there was windchill on tuesday that had temps outside of -35F, the car was idling all night and sitting in a breeze strong enough to rock the car pretty firmly, the car was on a slight incline with the front end up

I woke up at 10:30A and noticed the RPM's start to slowly go down and stall out, i went to start the car and it stayed on for maybe 15 seconds, i tried to fight the stall out by putting gas into the motor... Each time i started the car it got progressively worse... It now cranks and cranks and cranks like it has no gas (it has a 75% full tank)

I heard a very small slushy kind of sound and thought maybe my air intake had snow or something inside of it. (I rear ended someone and my hood got bent so now rain and weather can get underneath, core support is also slightly bent) i got out to check the air intake and it had nothing... I checked the exhaust and the inner part was layered with minor snow... Nothing i'd imagine can cause a blockage,

The temps at the initial stall out were normal

There was almost no motor oil showing on the dip stick

Gas is 75% full

I can hear the fuel pump when i switch it to the on position

I got out and pushed the car into a not-so-breezy spot, i can still feel the stings on my fingers :/

Next day, nothing... Had someone try and jump start it and it didn't start, so we just charged the battery for 5-10 mins, also put some 5W-30 in and some "HEET: Gas line anti-freeze and water remover" in, i know this is useless until it thaws out :/ but hours later, still cranking...

Thursday is going to be a low of 32F, so it will be the last day i can blame a possible frozen fuel line...

I have a 750W RMS power inverter and 400W AMP that are always hard wired, and not fuzed, to the battery... Both were not turned on at the time

I really need help... I depend on this car for my survival, which is ridiculous but i gotta do what i gotta do.. It will be a project car when i am on good feet, i LOVE my civic!

I have a video of it cranking if anyone would like to see, my starter will sometimes click before it kicks in, this is normal, has done this for over 1.5 years


Thank you so much to anyone who has taken the time alone JUST to read this... And thank you for any and all replies, wishing the best for you and your families

[edit] i forgot mention it literally rained the night before the initiall stall out

 

If the fuel pump is priming, then maybe the injectors arent getting signal, while someone cranks the car, use a volt meter at each injector connector and look for voltage spikes on the meter.

Have you checked all fuses?
Checked for spark?

 

Thank you JDMswagSerf for the reply... No i have not checked fuses yet, primarily because i imagined it would be an instant stop if a fuze went out, i will check them asap in the morning

How can i check for spark? I'm a big noob making fast progress x.x

I do not have a volt meter but will try to borrow one from a friend asap

 

Remove a spark plug wire and hold it near a good ground, or against the negative battery post, then have someone crank the car over, there should be blue spark between the wire and negative terminal. Do this to all the wires to make sure they all have spark.

Also to check for fuel, loosen a spark plug about half way, and crank the engine over for a few seconds. Then pull the plug, if it's wet with fuel or smells strongly like fuel, then you're getting fuel. If it doesn't, then yes, no fuel is being sprayed.

Have you run a compression test?
And cel?

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/diy-how-test-spark-troubleshoot-spark-problems-2919450/

 

Could need a new ECU.

 

Sounds like a bad ground.

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showthread.php?p=49426431#post49426431

https://honda-tech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1

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Thank you guys for the replies, i really appreciate it

i just checked the fuzes, i didn't check anything under the steering wheel but from what was under the hood, nothing was broke... I don't know if this makes a difference or means anything but i took the 15A Fuze out for the ECU and tried to start the car, there was not a single bit of difference, if i did need to replace the ECU: is there a difference between the manual and auto trans ECU?


How can i check for compression?

And what is CEL? Check Engine Light? It is only on for the initial priming of the pump, can i still pull codes even though it's off?

I will have to check for the fuel from a spark plug later, i don't have an extension for my socket wrench yet x.x

 

Anybody in Ohio who can help this guy? He really could use it. You can check compressipon with a compression tester(A kit that costs about $30 or so, or you can rent it from autozone)

 

Oops, sorry for the links at the top of my reply... i copy and pasted this from my notes on my phone lol

Yeah i'll look into it, i'd probably go the route of renting...

 

check ecu fuse.
check for fuel pump sound under seat with key "on" holds for 2seconds.
swap out MAIN RELAY..........

 

It sounds like you do a LOT of excess idling. This is something that can and usually does foul plugs. It also sludges the oil so you will need to adopt a much more aggressive oil change plan (every 1500 miles instead of 3000?).

I suspect your spark plugs are fouled and would act like a slow crippling affect to the point of no start.

Fortunately the plugs are cheap so is an easy fix. Torque specs for the plugs is 13 ft-lbs and make sure to put some anti-sieze on the threads before putting them in.

The spark plugs are meant for a certain tempurature range of operation and large amounts of idling don't reach the optimum tempurature especially when it's darn cold outside. Need that high RPM to keep them clean.

 

Yes i idle the eff out of this car, i have an xbox 360 and 18" monitor i run off of the power inverter, and a few other pieces of computer equipment, including a touch screen computer and bluetooth audio system which i constantly blast o.o

I will buy an extension for my socket wrench probably tomorrow and check my plugs,

I just opened my ECU and checked both sides of the PCB, i see no burn marks and this think looks incredibly new, i have an oil leak so i have gotten into the habit of changing my oil more frequently

 

The oil leak is terrible btw...

 

wooooaaah, you do alot in that car, might be time to get a trailer ;O

But check the spark plug and the ECU fuze as the person said below, I hope you get it rectified soon.

 

lol yeah i do quite a bit here, had a buddy come and pick somethin up from me, had him crank the motor while i tested the spark plug wires...got jumps from all of em, very bright blue I'll have to get an extension soon here, the ECU fuze is good and not broken,

He is convinced it's the main relay, what should i do about this?

I got another friend who's a Honda fanboy like myself, he's advising i spray a bit of starter fluid into the air intake past the filter

 

Swap out the relay for a known good one or new one.
Ask your honda buddy if you can use his to see what happens.
Yes you can spray cleaner in the intake to see if hesitates to start.
On the plugs, check color and gap.

 

This is the main relay being spoken about, correct?

 

Yeah you still haven't replied about your spark plugs.

Have you pulled them out to see if they are a beautiful tan color, or are they black sooty fouled pieces of junk?

I can't say how a dying relay would act, but I do know that fouling plugs would act exactly as you described and you have touched and replied about every other piece people have mentioned. I'm not sure why you haven't pulled your plugs yet to read them.

I would think you would want to rule that out first being an easy fix and all.

 

I don't have the extension for my socket wrench yet :/ gonna buy it tomorrow x.x

 

It was a frozen fuel line!! More details in a bit

 

Glad you got it sorted.

 

I just want to thank every last one of you for the help and all the replies,... So this is what happened

So, i had a family member come and help me, we started by charging the battery back up because i had killed it from charging my phone all night with the cig lighter

I started cranking it and it was acting like it was trying to start, i finally held the gas down while i did it and i started to hear a slush sound and it was struggling to reach 5000RPM

i revved it and held it at 5000RPM for about a minute and let go of the gas and it didn't stall out, i test drove it and it's working like nothing ever happened!!

I am SO HAPPY lol thanks again to all of you for your help

 

If it had no oil that could've caused your issue.

How is it cranking like it has no fuel? Does it seem to crank faster than usual? Faster than usual cranking could mean you skipped timing, which I don't think is possible at idle unless things were really worn or you have bad compression like when you remove your spark plugs and crank your engine over.

Maybe it's just that time to get an engine replacement.

 

Wow frozen fuel eh
If there's snow near you, I'd clear an area where you're gonna park the car so it doesn't sit right over snow and cause this again