Well, I'm not actually on the side of the road, I was able to pull into the parking lot of some weird bar, but my CRX won't start. Here is the story...

Over the last several months, my car has struggled a bit on rainy days. If it was in the garage, no problems, but after getting rained on all day during work, I would get it started fine, but it would run really poorly for about 5-15 minutes. What I mean by run poorly is that it would cut out, almost as if there were no spark or fuel getting into the engine. I would floor it and it would cut in and out until it started getting close to redline, then it would run better. Let off the gas, however, and it is back to its hesitation. It never did completely stall out.

Fast forward to day before yesterday. Same as above, but a little worse than normal. I get about a mile from work, revving the crap out of the engine to keep it going, and the hesitation is getting worse. Finally it dies. I am able to restart it, go for a few more yards, then it dies again. Won't restart. That is where I am at. I tried to start it yesterday, thinking that it will be ok after a nice sunny dry day, but it shows no life. The starter is working fine, spinning the engine, but there are no sounds of actual combustion taking place.

I don't know much about engines, but my uneducated guess is that there is either no spark, or no air/fuel. Water in gas or distributor maybe? Distributor/wires look ok, but that is without a thorough inspection. Fuel filter maybe?

Any ideas are appreciated. And please remember that I am a novice, if you tell me to "check the thermographic ECR valve stabilizer," or the "redundant passive exhaust gas recirculation module," I won't know what you are talking about.

Thanks in advance for your help....


Modified by FriendshipExpress at 9:46 PM 11/20/2003

 

well, first thing i would do is verify if your geting spark or not. use a screw driver and put it into the spark plug wire, and get that close to the frame while someone else is cranking the car. that will show if you have spark or not

 

My first guess would be a faulty distributor cap and/or spark plug wires that are covered in grime. OEM Honda parts are the best choice for replacements in my opinion. Next, check the spark plugs themselves. The oil seals on the valve cover may be leaking or the plugs themselves are worn beyond spec. Pull off the plug wires one at a time and look for oil on the end of them. Also look into the hole that the spark plug sits in and look for signs of oil.

 

Thanks for the advice. I will check the plugs tomorrow.

 

check the thermographic ECR valve stabilizer.....

sorry...just couldnt resist...

 

Check to make sure that the seal that goes around the body of the distributor to seal it against the cap is intact.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HF2ZC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Check to make sure that the seal that goes around the body of the distributor to seal it against the cap is intact. </TD></TR></TABLE>
yes, make sure of this. i had this problem and it sucked. easy replacement and peace of mind.

 

I just pulled the plugs. The look really bad. Black, kinda oily, one had a thick layer of gunk caked on it. Bought new plugs, will install them later and see what happens...

 

Since you are replacing the plugs-which appear fouled, I would also do a new cap, rotor and wires. Honda OEM is an excellent choice for a daily driver. Make sure that the inside of the distributor is clean. If there is some red dirt the bearing in the distributor is starting to go bad. But try the easy things first.

 

Okay, huge revelation today. Removed the distributor cap and had someone crank the engine over to see the rotor spin. Guess what, it didn't. According to my knowledge, the rotor, which is connected to the end of a shaft (which also wasn't spinning) is connected to the camshaft. This could have major implications...
What is the connection between the distributor shaft and the cam?
If the cam isn't turning, what does that mean?
New timing belt?
It sounds like the starter is engaging the engine, so I don't think the problem is there.

 

If the rotor doesnt spin, then it sounds like the timing belt has gone out. Get it towed buddy. It may actually sound like the motor spins a little faster than before (when tryin to start).

 

hope you don't need a new engine. gl