I have a 93 civic manual transmission that wouldn't start. Sometimes it would start, but most of the time it would just crank. I checked the distributor and the rotor was busted and worn so I replaced it and my car ran great that day. The next day it started and then rumbled at like 300rpm then died. Now it cranks and won't start again :/ could it be a timing issue now that I've replaced the rotor? Or could the whole cap need be replaced?

 

personally, I would start with the cap. The damaged rotor could have cracked or damaged the cap. they are fairly cheap, and should be replaced periodically anyways.

 

Timing does NOT need to be adjusted for replacing the cap or rotor. Be careful to plug the wires on the new cap in the correct order. Move them one at a time from the old cap to the same place on the new one. It goes 1-3-4-2 going clockwise looking at the top of the cap. The place for wire 1 should be marked.

If it still won't start, make sure your coil is good-- with the cap off, hold a grounded test wire near the post on the coil that touches the contact in the cap. Have someone turn the key to start and it should fire strong blue sparks. Never try to start with the coil open-circuit (i.e. cap off or spark wires disconnected and no test wire). That includes "bumping" the starter to get the rotor screw where you can reach it. Leave the key off and turn the crankshaft with a wrench instead.

 

So I haven't checked my coil yet. My car started right up this morning and didn't die on me. It has been doing this back and forth thing for 2 years now. It seems to be worse when its hot outside. This morning it wasn't hot and like I said my car started. Could it be that the ignition relay is bad or master relay? I am thinking about checking those two things after I check the coil.

 

The main relay under the drivers kick panel is known for cold solders for that series civics. My 94 had them. It's pretty easy to fix
and there are quite a few videos on the net about it.

 

So I replaced the main relay and the ignition coil. When the battery is on(II) the coil is getting about 11 volts so all good, but when I crank the engine the coil doesn't spark. What could be going on?