I went to to the store today and it starts up fine. I pull into the gas station, get 89 octane (8 gallons). Try to start it up and the damn thing doesnt fire. I keep trying for 5 - 10 min and finally all of a sudden it comes back to life again. This is the first time I've had this happen before. Its an old '89 civic hatchback with 208K and all stock. Any ideas whats going on?
Oh yeah, I'm a poor out of state college student so I dont have the money for a big repair nor do I have any tools available. Plus I'm car illterate but willing to try stuff if its not too involved. thanks,

 

Did it crank over or just click? Check your main relay and battery, especially if it was hot outside a bad main relay tends to do funky things with starting.

 

Fuel pump maybe?

 

texan: it would sound like its going to start, so I guess crank, but it would never 'catch' and fireup. The battery is about 6 months old. How do I go about checking the main relay? Any guides online?

slomofo: How would I go about checking the fuel pump?

Both of ya remember I dont have lots of tools nor the knowhow to do this....

 

i say you charge up your battery cuz after 5 minuntes of cranking you undoubtedly sucked all the juice out of it

 

Okay.... heres the question for the day... does the starter turn over at all (i.e. crank the motor over like a regular start would)If yes, read below.... If no, check your battery(its prob. dead from all the cranking you did give it. Take it to autozone, have them charge it ) Then, if car cranks with new charged battery, proceed below. Pull a spark plug wire off from the spark plug (leave the wire attached to the distributer). Then, put a spare spark plug in its place on the end of the plug wire. Lay the plug and wire on top of the engine where the spark plug will contact ground (lay the side of the plug on something metal connevcted to the car. Crank the car over, and look for a spark from the spark plug. If you get spark, read below, if not.... follow me. No spark, take the ignition coil, and check for resistances across the primary and the secondary circuits (the guys at Autozone can help you do this) If the coil test within specs. to the coil the have on their self, your next step is the ignition module. This test, you can find in a service manual... or call up honda and ask them what ti pin out (i forgot the wire colors). But all in all... no spark means a coil, a module, or no 12 v source to the ignition. But, in the event you do have spark..... you are missing fuel. Check your fuel pump volume and pressure.....
Well, now you have enough info to try and diagnose your car. Any more problems, feel free to e-mail me back at : tevbax@yahoo.com

Import Master,
Mike