Of course: Middle of winter, a foot of snow, and another foot expected.

Cars dead.

Lets get into some history:

2003 Honda Civic Ex
254,000 miles approx.

Initial Symptoms:
-Initially had cylinder misfires
-Thermostat below threshold
-Car seemed to be leaking oil but now holds oil somehow
-Could hear what sounded like the rocker arms or valves when accelerating hard at 60mph and up intermittently but that's my non-technical analysis of what it could have been.

Brought to mechanic:
He said to junk the car, not worth fixing and troubleshooting anything VTEC

CLEARED CODES:: Car suddenly showed no symptoms of failure and worked great for a week.

Warmed car up after snow storm for 20 minutes, drove down side road at 10 mph, and accelerated to merge into traffic on a main road.

-Car died, dash blinked numerous times. Car won't even turn over at all.

-Checked battery voltage.... 12.2 volts...

Thinking it COULD be a battery but I really have no idea.

Thoughts would be greatly appreciated or I'm sending this car to the junker!

 

Went to AutoZone today, and got a new battery.

Car cranks so I know its not the starter or the battery now.... So now my attention is on the fuel system, and ignition system.

I got a few misfires on random cylinders a few weeks ago... Is this usually because of compression, spark plugs, or the fuel pump/relay?

 

Checked the fuses, and they are all good.

Had someone crank the car, opened oil cap and looked in to see if the valve rockers were lifting... They are, so it's not the timing belt....

Next, I am going to check the spark plugs to make sure I'm getting spark. I have to touch the tip to my finger while I have someone crank the car to see if I feel it, is that right?

 

CLEARLY no one cares to respond... haha I purposely said that id check the spark plugs by touching the tip while cranking....

not a soul cared to warn me


good bye forever Honda civic forums

 

Have you ever had the timing belt replaced? Just because the rocker arms were moving when you cranked the engine doesn't necessarily mean that the valve train is OK. If the belt has slipped, your timing will be off and the engine will not run. It's a lot more complicated than just that, but you'd need a mechanics course to learn it all. By the way, when I check for spark, I get my wife or the kid next door to hold the end of the plug wire while I crank it over!
Duane

 

I'm a huge believer of going after the simple fixes first, and not overthinking it until you've tried the obvious....

It ended up being a ground wire that had corroded and created a failure. The ECU had no ground and was essentially preventing the car from starting.

That wiring has been replaced and the car now starts no problem.
Mechanic gave me what I believe is a fair deal.

$750 for
A new battery
Valve cover gasket replacement
Cam shaft sensor replacement
Oil Change
Diagnosing WHERE the problem was with the no start

And that's that folks!