My car died on me. Now it turns over, I saw the spark plugs firing when I took them out, and a stream of fuel came out when I undid the bolt on the fuel filter. Timing belt is intact.

At first I though it ran out of oil because it burns it fast and it didn't want to turn over. I let it cool off and added some oil, now it turns over fine. Could the engine be still messed up? I don't know what to do, should I go ahead and replace the engine, or wtf?

 

drain the oil and look for metal. cut the filter open with a sharp chisel and do the same.

 

After trying to start, pull the plugs. Wet with fuel?

Fuel pressure at the filter is good (it means your pump works). But it doesn't prove whether the injectors are firing...

 

The plugs were dry.....
I guess it could be the injectors....but I also tried to start the car while spraying starter fluid into the intake, and nothing. Could the distributor be bad? If so, would that throw a code and/or would it still spark? So far the only code it's throwing is a code 1...O2 sensor.

 

You said you get spark - so the distributor can't be bad.

Check for battery voltage at the yellow/black wires of each injector. Measure to ground, not to the opposite wire in the injector plug. That should have battery voltage whenever the key is on.

Starter fluid doesn't work - that's wierd, if you get spark... Firing order??

 

Sorry to jump in your thread, but my car has the same problem, I have checked everything & I took off the fuel rail & injectors, I put the key in the on position to see if it was getting fuel, but my Injector's won't open up, does anyone know what would make injector's not open up

 

dirt and gunk could prevent them from releasing the fuel, but even so, you should see it dripping a bit i guess

 

I ended up having some other dude look at the car...he concluded it's not the fuel and it's not mechanical because I'm getting good compression (in at least some of the cylinders ). He says it's probably distributor because the spark seems weak. Is that possible that the distributor fails...but not really, but just enough to not be able to run the engine ?

 

could a weak coil or the pgm-fi relay, relay would cause no inj. pulse and coil would cause weak fire. you need to go to the parts store and buy a spark checker then ckeck fire. it has the resistance needed to check fire correctly.

 

Just because your timing belt is intact does not mean you did not jump a tooth. I few things... what were you doing when the car died?? It is possible that a dizzy fails. And you said you ran it out of oil?? Also what were the numbers from the compression test?? As for the injectors all you have to do to comfirm them is unplug them, take a multi meter and test resistance. You should be able to see if there is something wrong.

Derek

 

Man I had this same problem happen to me its the pistons, if the compression ain't right its not going to start no matter what because I used to have to use 20-50 oil so slow down the burning but it didn't help so either prepare to rebuild the block or get a new engine thats what I did but less hp now so at least you can drive

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by derekcarr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just because your timing belt is intact does not mean you did not jump a tooth. I few things... what were you doing when the car died?? It is possible that a dizzy fails. And you said you ran it out of oil?? Also what were the numbers from the compression test?? As for the injectors all you have to do to comfirm them is unplug them, take a multi meter and test resistance. You should be able to see if there is something wrong.

Derek</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was pulling into an exit to get gas...but like 30 seconds before that the car started feeling weaker. Anyways, I threw it in neutral, got on the exit, coasted a little bit, and then I'm like....uhh, why are my rpms at 0? So it just stopped. I thought it ran out of oil becase it was initially hard to turn over.

Compression was 90 on #1 and 120 on #2. So the engine is in not good shape, but it never was. It burned oil like mad ever since I got it. It works great when someone is tailgating you

 

my old crop duster 91 civic did the same thing... burned like a quart a day then one day just died. got fuel/air/spark, i think it just finally wasnt getting enough compression to run the motor.

 

Almost every ignitor-module in every distributor in every old Honda fails at some point.

I had the same symptoms - changed the ignitor and the world was peachy again

Worth a check at least...

 

most of you have only mentioned fuel and spark as to what he needs to check, some have mentioned compression, which is also an essential to making a motor run. if the compression is too low, like others have mentioned then its not going to run.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Wafler &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Almost every ignitor-module in every distributor in every old Honda fails at some point.

I had the same symptoms - changed the ignitor and the world was peachy again

Worth a check at least...</TD></TR></TABLE>

he said it is getting spark.

try the oil trick before anything - it doesnt cost anything.

 

lol, that compression is way more than what the car needs to run..

 

Do compression test again but before you do put a small amount of oil in the cylinders and recheck the compression. Also you might want to try a leakdown if you have the equipment to do it.

Derek

 

compression doesn't just stop all of the sudden without "some strange noise" or "I was shifting into 4th when all the sudden my tach went crazy (normally accompanied by "some strange noise") "

its' either fuel or spark, you said the plugs are dry.... so your not getting fuel. start off with fuses and relays

 

Well, I tried to change the distributor...and nothing. So basically everything works, except it doesn't. This is getting to me, I'm actually thinking about taking it to a mechanic!!

The fact that the car is stuck two hours away from me doesn't help the situation...

 

where's the car at?

 

Petersburg...close to Richmond. It died on the way back from DC, and I got it towed the 50 miles to my friend's house.

 

i've had coils that put out spark as well as ignitors but its not enough to fire..stick with the basics dude

 

eek, that's a little ways away...

 

i beat myself to death trying to diagnose something very similar. The car ran fine and burnt oil. THe all of the sudden i wouldnt start anymore. I was getting fuel, spark, etc. Turned out the alternator pulled was seized and the battery wasnt strong enough to get the car started. I put jumper cables on it and it fired up and made the awfulest screeching noise.

This probably isnt the case but worth looking at.