i have searched and i think i may know the answer, but i am not certain.

i am helping a friend of mine fix their car. he was driving, just went through a toll booth and after leaving his car started loosing power then shut off. he had been having some starting problems lately... left the light on for and had to get a jump hen if he left them on for 5 mins after turning car off it would drain the battery. so after it just died, we assumed it was because the alt. had died , so i helped him replace the alternator. now it cranks over, but does not seem to start. (i forgot to test for spark) when you turn the key you can hear the fuel pump kick on for a few seconds, but it just cranks and cranks, but never starts.

he is about ready to take it to a shop or get rid of it.

i am thinking maybe it is a main relay or EFI relay? any thoughts? thanks a for any suggestions you can think of.

 

first thing you need to determine is ,, if it is lack of spark or fuel.. do not assume anything till you properly diagnose it .. if lack of spark could be a bad ignitor, coil . also remove the distr cap and make sure that the rotor is ok i have seen the hold down screw come off on a ferw of them , then the rotor just spins to a different position car won;t start.
if you get spark,, chk the fuel pressure should be around 35- 40 psi with key on ,,

also you said that you can hear the fuel pump ?? if so relay is ok,, fuel pump gets power from the main relay

 

thanks for the info i will check out the rotor and distributor.. i have also read that maybe moisture in the distributor could be the cause.

when you turn the key you do hear the pump start.

so maybe it is related to the dizzy, coil or rotor.

trouble is, the car is bout an 30-40 mins away so i want to try to narrow down the choices before i head over there.

thanks again, anything else let me know.

 

Its always a good idea to start with the simple stuff first. Like id there gas in it? If not I'd pull the main relay and check the sonnections and resolder them as that is a very common problem on that generation. If its none of that then you can start diagnosing for the big stuff.

 

yea thanks. it has a full tank of gas. i will check the main relay. the dizzy cap is the cheapest, so i might start there.

 

does anyone know where the fuel pump relay is and does anyone think that might be the problem? i am headin over there tomorra and want to get as much info as possible so i dont have to run back and forth to auto stores.

 

ok so it hink i nailed down the problem and we had it running. then is died again. we swapped out the dizzy, coil, and rotor, then it started right up. as you can see from the picts the dizzy coil prob fried inside the coil/ignitor. after we changed them it worked fine.. managed to drive some then it cut out again.... but the cap rotor and coil all look fine... any ideas what could cause this or what is wrong now? still turns over, but not starting.

[IMG]local://upfiles/26544/1F8047C4AD00492DA8824350DBE5C103.jpg[/IMG]

 

What year and model is the Civic in question? Did the Check Engine Light ever turn on during your recent problem?

If you think the original problem was an electrical short, then you may still have one. Carefully inspect all relevant distributor/coil wires and replace if they are suspect.

 

Check your main relay here is a link and it also shows for other trouble shootings [&:]

http://techauto.awardspace.com/mainrelay.html

 

we did change out the main relay as well.

the check engine light did come on after we installed the new dizzy, coil, and rotor.... even after the new main relay the check engine light would turn on and off intermittently.

1990 civic dx hatchback