So I'll start from the beginning. About two weeks ago i bought a 1991 Honda Civic Dx 5 speed. When i bought it, it needed a new distributor, so i got one from a junkyard. It ran absolutely perfect. Then two days later, it died while i was driving it. It would not start back up, but would turn over and occasionally backfire. After consulting with some people we decided to check the timing belt. After checking the timing belt condition and the timing, everything seemed perfect. The belt looked new. I then figured that maybe the junkyard distributor went out so i bought a brand new one from Autozone. Once i replaced the distributor, now it doesn't even turn over. When i turn the key everything lights up and i can hear the fuel pump prime. However, now when i try to crank it, it makes a very loud whine. Could this possibly be a worn starter? I'm really stuck and any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

1991? Wrong section.

 

Sorry. Didn't see 1991. 1991 and 1992 are very similar mechanically if I'm not mistaken.

 

Could be the starter, if the solenoid doesn't push the cog onto the flywheel it can make a high pitched whine while it free spins.

A bad starter wouldn't have stalled it though... Unlucky if it's a combination of problems.

 

Anyone realize he said distributor from junkyard?

Got my money on the dizzy being bad. Backfires point to dizzy.

 

How did you guys check the timing belt exactly? Just because it's not in pieces doesn't mean it's good. I've seen them strip the cogs inside the belt right around the crank, so the crank would just spin freely inside the belt. Did you guys turn the car over while watching for cam/valvetrain movement?

 

I got the distributor from a junkyard, but i since replaced it with a duralast gold distributor brand new from autozone. We checked the timing belt by taking the belt covers off, then turning the crank manually until we got the No. 1 piston TDC (using a screw driver to see when it is TDC). Then we inspected the tension and condition of the belt. It looked almost brand new. Cogs were not hardly worn at all. I have around $900 in this car now and just want to avoid spending more on parts and just hoping they fix the problem.

 

And what results did the compression test reveal?

 

Dizzy isn't going to stop your motor from turning over.

 

There could be a bad spot (teeth missing) on the flywheel? Or the starter bendix isn't kicking out far enough to contact the flywheel and turn the motor over. I'd inspect the starter and flywheel next.

 

I've replaced the starter also and now it runs perfect! Upon inspection of the old starter, I saw that I had somehow bent the gear the makes contact to the fly wheel. Not sure how it happened, but it runs great now! I only had to remove the distributor, battery, and air box to replace it. Haha

 

Cool.