Thankfully I remember the exact moment and what I did that caused my car not to start anymore.

A buddy from work who is quite car savvy (mainly old trucks though..) suggested I take a plug wire off of my engine as it is running and listen for a difference in the way it sounds. I was trying to diagnose a blown headgasket.
I took one wire off at a time and plugged it back in before going to the next. If I remember correctly ( this was a few weeks ago) the car died when I took the 3rd plug from right/2nd from left off. I think no big deal and plug it back in and go attempt to start the car. It turns but never actually starts. I'm baffled. I was led to believe this test would not harm the car in any way (might kill the engine). I wait a while and try again... no luck. I remove my plugs and noticed they are soaked with gas. So I'm assuming there wasn't any spark. I end up going to work out of town and leave the plugs out and wire off hoping everything will dry up and be good to go. Tried them again a week later without any luck. I decide to proceed with headgasket replacement since I had chocolate milk oil. I bring this up because as of today I've put everything back together, bought new plugs (bosch platinums.) I crossed my fingers after all this time my car might magically start with new plugs and hooking everything back up. Just turns (but a strong sounding turn mind you) and I think it will start any second. When I turn the key to the second click the PGM light comes on and I hear the fuel prime for two seconds and the light turns off. I have two sets of spark plug wires and neither solve the issue. I checked my main relay and the solder joints all seem fine. Since I'm getting fuel to cylinders I don't think this is the culprit.

So, here I sit thinking it could be a couple things. Ignition Coil? Perhaps Cap? Fuse/Relay somewhere? I This only started to be an issue after I tried that test. Hopefully, that will be a strong clue for you.

Thanks in advance for any/all help rendered.

P.S. I read about finding fault codes from ECU. Sadly, there isn't a blinking light on the box. Do I have to open up the metal case?

 

what year and how many miles.
the check engine light is a solid light (unless they changed it in later years), and if it is not on the there is no codes to try to find.
if you do not have a plug wire on wrong, i would think that the timing belt slipped - did you put on a new one when you changed the head gasket ? or how many miles is on the timing belt ?

first thing though is to check for spark.

 

Definatly sounds like you dont have spark. Maybe the coil went bad. Test the wires with a ignition light and see if theres a current going through them. I would check the cap too but usualy it will run, just real crappy. Good luck.

 

Let me know if you have any luck with this problem... the exact same thing happened to our 95 Civic yesterday. The engine started running rough and I thought it might be a bad plug or wire so I did the same thing by removing one wire at a time... while the engine was idling - it finally stalled and has not started since! I installed new plugs and checked for spark - they all work good... the top of the pistons have very little gas on them - just enough to coat the plugs but I am assuming not enough to start - does that make sense? I also tried to get a trouble code from the ECM but it did not register anything on the check engine light (no flashes). I read the prior suggestion about a possible timing belt. I changed the head gasket last Fall, along with a new timing belt and water pump. The engine was running fine up until a couple of weeks ago when it started to idle rough. But now, it will only turn over and not start. So, a couple of questions:

1) Would the engine flood (it does not look like it by checking the top of the pistons) even while holding the pedal to the floor trying to start? It appears there may be a gas problem but I dont know how if it was fine just prior to checking the plug wires.

2) I checked the distributor cap and it is fine - no cracks and I did clean the contacts. There is spark when I checked the plugs.

My assumption is a possible injector(s) problem - but would they all go bad at once, or is it another fuel delivery problem/sensor??

It appears that several Honda owners have had starting problems similar to this ... any other suggestions??

Thanks a million!

Allan

 

i am not too familiar with checking for gas on a port fuel injection of a honda; but i would get a small container with a bottleneck top and disconnect at the fuel railing (speaking from experience of working on a dodge colt vista) and put the fuel line into the container and turning over the engine just a few turns to see if the container has fuel in it.

 

I had this same problem and i replaced both my thermostat and fuel filter... fuel filter being more important as the thermostat was due to my car running hot, but it seemed to fix the problem and now my car is starting and running fine.

 

It does sound a bit like the fuel filter but again, it would be hard to believe that it would go bad all of a sudden... I will try to check tomorrow if there is any fuel getting to the injectors... but for some reason, it almost sounds like something electrical ie. relay or fuse... that is why I would like to hear of other's experiences with this type of seemingly prevalent Honda problem... when the car was running, it does run great, it's just the last couple of weeks that have been deteriorating... but thanks for the suggestions!

Allan

 

If you have spark and fuel delivery, try these below. If not, you know what to do. What I really think (to the original poster) is that the head gasket is blown and that you don't have enough compression to start the car. But, a lot of other things could have happened, so check out below.

First try using Starter fluid to get your car going. If it fires and runs, then check 1 and 3. If it fires but doesn't run, then I suggest trying all below except the #2 and #6. If it doesn't fire at all, then go straight to #5 as that is probably your best bet.

1. First try this. Check your battery at Autozone or something, EVEN IF IT IS NEW. You may have a low charge which will turn your engine just fine (it will sound healthy enough), but not provide enough power to start it. New batteries can go out too you know. I had one that died 2 months after being new.

2. If that is fine, try unplugging your battery for a few minutes to reset your car. Then replug and try again.

3. Still no starty, check the air filter. If it's bad, replace with new. If it's not bad, replace with K & N Just kidding.

4. If that doesn't work, check the fuel filters to see if they are too plugged. They will let fuel into the engine, but not enough to start it.

5. Car still no runny, then check your ignition timing. I had a buddy with a 92 Shadow that one day just decided not to start at all. He had spark, and did everything above to check it. He checked the fuel injection, the fuel pump, the battery, etc. When he checked his ignition timing, the belt had skipped 2 teeth over. This could happen to a new belt especially if it hasn't been tensioned right. It will work for a month or so until it streches out. Then, bam it skips and your toast. I think Hondas are interferance engines, so that might not be a possibility of the timing belt skipping.

6. About ready to call a junkyard to tow it away? Check the FI injectors to see if they be plugged. If so, replace or clean.

Still doesn't start? Well, now you got me. I tried.

 

correct - the hondas are interference engines:

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_250156/tm.htm

 

Thanks for the information. I am still trying to solve the problem before the inevitable tow and garage charges! I removed the relay last night to check for any cracks in the solder, but even under a magnifying glass, I could not find any. I am putting that back on tonite. I want to check the timing belt to see if it accidentally jumped a couple of teeth, but I forgot how much work it is to get to the belt - removing front tire, covers, belts, power steering pump, and loosening the engine mounts... probably a couple of hour job.... so I am going to try one other thing before I tackle that one - I am going out to get some starting fluid and see if it will at least spark with that - although that could still be a gas feed problem. I will try to keep posting... thanks!