A friends 2000 civic coupe ... d16y8 sohc vtec Auto tranny recently broke down on her on the highway out of the blue. The car has been working great since she had it. There was some bad weather and i was unable to check ecu codes or really pull the sparks as such and see if there was anything wrong.

You can hear the ignition firing and the car trying to turn over but it never starts. I asked her how it felt when it died and she said it just aggressively felt like it wanted to stop and died once she stopped.

On the On position of the key turn the battery light and oil lights are on. I checked and the oil is fine. She said the battery was changed about a month ago, I dont know if the alternator is bad... but the way the lights interior/exterior work and the car is trying to start it doesnt sound like its begging for power.

I was wondering how it sounds when say ur distributor rotor brush thing is gone.... or maybe the cap.... or maybe the coil is gone and she needs a new one. But i am hearing the ignition firing, but im not sure if when something is wrong it would still sound like its firing. Recently before it died i heard her start it and it did sound like it took a while once in a while... but i dont know if that was ignition... maybe she was low on gas..

Could it be the fuel pump?
I listened for it to prime... but with me I never heard a noise in my car from the car priming with the stock pump... and i didnt know what to listen out for on hers.

Basically i just wanted to know whats the most common thing it could be... which it probably is. The car is kept in good working condition and is never driven hard or anything being auto. So your help is appreciated
thanx

 

i dont know what you mean by "hearing the ignition fire"

does it make any kind of backfiring noise when you try to start it?

make sure the distributor rotor is still attached or didnt come loose.....