thecorey

i have a 99 crv that was running perfect, never given me any problems till a few days ago. i was running low on gas, so i put about 5 gallons in, drove about 30 miles then parked it. the next morning i tried to start it and it cranked fine, but wouldn't start.

so far i checked:

fuel - loosened fuel filter, it sprayed out when i turned the key to II, so the fuel pump works.
spark - sparks on all cylinders but possibly weak..also i just added new plus, no difference
timing - put engine at top dead center, cam gears are lined up perfectly.
exhaust - blows exhaust when cranking, smells strongly of gas
battery - never been a problem till i tried cranking it over and over, so i put it on the charger overnight. seems to be fine.

also, sprayed starter fluid in the intake while cranking, nothing happened.

so it doesn't seem to be fuel, i'm guessing it must be spark related. what's my next step? distributor? possibly bad gas??

fcm

Check both the coil and ICM, [igniter], both are susceptible to instant failure, check spark using an HEI spark tester to get proper spark information, [$10 or less at any auto parts store]. 94

joeyb

Yep it seems to me that you have a spark issue!

thecorey

i ordered a new distributor from amazon, should be here tonight. hope that fixes it!

thecorey

must of been the coil or ignitor. i put a new distributor on and it fired right up! thanks!

thecorey

solved

fcm

Although a complete new distributor can't hurt you could have got away with just the coil or igniter, [whichever one was bad] may have been cheaper. 94

thecorey

yeah, for sure, but i found a complete distributor on amazon prime for $90 shipped 1 day. i could have prob ordered a coil or ignitor from the auto parts store, but it'd take a day or 2 also. i decided to go the easy route and just get the whole thing.