Here's the rundown. The car is a 91 Civic Hatch. Alternator is brand new along with the battery. The other day is was driving and the car sarted to sputter (was making a little backfire gurgle noise from the exhaust ). I tried giving it gas but it wasn't going anywhere. So I pulled to the side of the road cause it died. After several attempts to try and get it started the battery finally died. Now the night before it was pretty cold out and my tank was less than half full so I topped it off in the afternoon.
Right now the car is just sitting because I'm stumped. Some people say maybe the timing is off or the timing belt broke or that either the fuel filter or fuel pump have failed.
Has anyone encountered this before or know of a resolution? Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

bump

 

its simple turn prime in the fuel system to see if the pump turns on or you can brake the fuel nut loose at the fuell rail 22mm. then turn the key to see if you have fuel coming up from the tank and if it comes out then not the fuel pump. check the timing to see if it is off a tooth and when you pull the vavle cover off you will also see if the belt is broken

 

Have you checked the ECU for a CODE. When you turn the key to RUN it should blink 1 time. You should also hear the fuel pump run for about 2 seconds. At that time the Check light will also go out. If these tests are not OK then you have a failed MAIN relay. If you get a CODE 4 you need a new distributor. There is NO reason to open the fuel line at this time.
I had it happen while on track-simply lost all power from the engine-had voltage, but would not restart. The CRX Distributor is known to fail at some point and the Crank Angle Sensor is buried in the baseplate-so you are forced to buy the whole thing. If on the other hand you have dropped the screw out of the Rotor-that will also bring you to a halt.
Hope this helps you solve the problem.

 

Thanks guys! This info helps out alot, most definetly on the pockets! One!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jc836 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have you checked the ECU for a CODE. When you turn the key to RUN it should blink 1 time. You should also hear the fuel pump run for about 2 seconds. At that time the Check light will also go out. If these tests are not OK then you have a failed MAIN relay. If you get a CODE 4 you need a new distributor. There is NO reason to open the fuel line at this time.
I had it happen while on track-simply lost all power from the engine-had voltage, but would not restart. The CRX Distributor is known to fail at some point and the Crank Angle Sensor is buried in the baseplate-so you are forced to buy the whole thing. If on the other hand you have dropped the screw out of the Rotor-that will also bring you to a halt.
Hope this helps you solve the problem.


</TD></TR></TABLE>
Well I tried to get a code from the ECU and nothing. I can hear the fuel pump turn on. But what gets me is that the ECU is not flashing anything at all not even in the run position. What main relay should i be looking at?

 

If the fuel pump does exactly what I said along with the Check light then the ECU is usually OK. However-you must watch the little window for a very fast blink. The MAIN relay is not easily located on some Honda cars. The CRX and certain Civics have it on the driver's side just above the Hood release. To get to it takes patience and the removal of the coin box. I doubt that is the problem in your case since the fuel pump does come on. The issue with the relay concerns the solder joints-they need to be redone every so many years-or replace the relay; just a Honda thing. If the engine cranks and you have spark then the ECU is probably OK (I do have a PM-6 for sale). If you do not have spark then something has failed elsewhere-such as the distributor--but that will also throw a code in some cases.

 

jc836 - Do you think the fuel filter could be clogged or part of the problem?

 

If your getting fuel then it most likely is your spark, you need fuel and spark to start a car, check your ignition timing should be at 16 degrees plus or minus 2 degrees i believe if its to advanced or to retarded it wont start.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civic_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If your getting fuel then it most likely is your spark, you need fuel and spark to start a car, check your ignition timing should be at 16 degrees plus or minus 2 degrees i believe if its to advanced or to retarded it wont start.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Car is definetly too retarded! j/k Thanks! I'll check into this weekend and get back to you guys!