My daughter's 91 Civic has issues. While driving down the road, all is well and then all of a sudden the car COMPLETELY dies, and the check engine light comes on. The car then will start once pulling over, and sitting for a moment. The local automotive repair shop does not know what is wrong, and their diagnostic machine will not give up any clues. Is there any known issues like this with this car? TIA...

 

Check the ECU(located on the passenger's side floor baord under the carpet) and tell us if the l.e.d. light is blinking if it is tell us how many times it blinks and we'll go from there.

 

what code is it throwing! More info!

 

Do you hear the fuel pump prime when you try to start it and it does not start?

 

The repair shop got a code 15 - IGN failure. Thanks for the help guys!

 

Code 15= Ignition Output Signal missing or defective ignition output signal.

 

Yeah, but that doesn't tell us much.

 

Check the ICM (Ignition Control Module) which is located inside of the dizzy cap. It's a small grey box that should have 4 wires plugged into it. This is the device that receives the signal from the crank trigger reading TDC. It then sends it's own signal to the coil telling it when to FIRE. Also check that the ECU harness is properly connected along with the ingition harness, try these things then reset the ECU by pulling the ecu and hazard fuses in the engine bay.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by UNDER PRESSURE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Check the ICM (Ignition Control Module) which is located inside of the dizzy cap. It's a small grey box that should have 4 wires plugged into it. This is the device that receives the signal from the crank trigger reading TDC. It then sends it's own signal to the coil telling it when to FIRE. Also check that the ECU harness is properly connected along with the ingition harness, try these things then reset the ECU by pulling the ecu and hazard fuses in the engine bay.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

better yet print out what under pressure just said and bring it to the shop. if he understands what it says and give you a big OOOHHH yea. then bring your car in. but if he looks puzzeled or tries to read it upside down then get the hell outta there. or you can follow the directions yourself

 

Thanks guys - I am going to put in a new cap/rotor/wires. They are pretty wore out looking. If that doesn't work, I'll try the ICM. Thanks again!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 91civicLX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if he looks puzzeled or tries to read it upside down then get the hell outta there. </TD></TR></TABLE>


That was freakin hilarious.

 

Are u able to turn the car back on after a couple of minutes?? If so its your igniter. i had that problem with a 91 integra. Good luck

 

Just an fyi, the ignition control module is also commonly referred to as the ignitor. Just so you dont get mixed up thinking theyre 2 diff things.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lance &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks guys - I am going to put in a new cap/rotor/wires. They are pretty wore out looking. If that doesn't work, I'll try the ICM. Thanks again! </TD></TR></TABLE>

While you have the cap and rotor off... check the wires going to the ignitor (ICM). I used to have a similar problem and it turned out that some of the wires were just loose!!!

 

if the car has never had it done go for a whole Distributor change. even if it doesnt solve the problem its one less thing to worry about. The whole distributor assembly runs a buck and some change and its way worth it for piece of mind.