Greetings knowledgeable Honda people I have a 95 civic with a 1.6 vtech sohc L4. I am about to drive myself nuts with this problem im having. I have had my honda for 2 years and never really had a problem til now.

It all started the day after I hit a small puddle. The belt squealed then went back to normal and I drove home no problem. It is a low riding car and ive done this 1000 times before.

Next day when I went to goto the store I noticed the speedometer was out. CEL came on and pointed to the speed sensor. So I bought and replaced it and got my speedometer working again. Same day I drove it about 20 miles into town. I noticed a slight hiccup every now and again also noticed my tac bounce a little bit. I parked it in town for about 20 minutes went outside to start it and it started and then died then didn't want to start. Pushed the gas to the floor and got it to fire up. Then it stalled out about 5 miles down the road and was hard to restart. Got within two blocks of where I was going and died. This time it didn't want to restart and I had to push it there.Checked with my timing light and I had no spark so I pulled the cap and checked the rotor all was ok from what I could see.

Next day it started right up and ran til it got up to temperature then cut off and wouldn't start for about 20 minutes. Then it would run for a minute or two then shut off and not start again. Once again no spark. No solid CEL or anything.

I had a spare coil that I put in just for the heck of it and the car started and ran for 20+ minutes fine. I shut it off then when I went to start it again in wouldn't fire. This time my tac wasn't working at all when it was running

So I did this test Part 1 -Honda Igniter, Ignition Coil Test (1.5L, 1.6L, 2.2L, 2.3L)

Best I could tell I was getting 12 volts to everything at the time. Step 6 is where u check the switching signal. The LED indicated the ecu was sending the signal to the ICM.

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/...psaf4cb1b0.jpg

When I checked here right after the no spark the test light stayed solid when I was cranking. After I let it cool down a bit the test light started blinking when I was cranking but I caught it go dim then back to solid with no blink. The engine will start fine when the switching signal is working at the icm. So I was confident it was the ICM so I bought one. Installed the new ICM ran for 2 minutes and died and stayed dead. Tac was working at this point. Now the test light is dim when I check that connector. Im showing 12 volts going into the distributor with a multimeter but only 6 volts at the above connector. Was showing 12 before when it was blinking and when it was not blinking.

Im literally stumped now. The actual distributor was replaced less than two years ago but im not ruling it out at this point. Any advice will be beyond appreciated.

 

Failing test 6 means that the ECU is not driving the ICM. This could be because the ECU has no input from a distributor sensor, or the ECU is not receiving power, or (rarely but it does happen) the ECU itself is bad.

It doesn't matter at that point whether the ICM is good or not, as nothing going in means nothing comes out. The ICM is simply an amplifier that takes a properly timed low-power pulse from the ECU and amplifies it up to the current and voltage necessary to drive the coil.

Bad distributor sensors will usually be detected by the ECU and set a code. So the next step would be to scan for codes.

You can tell if the ECU is even trying to work by watching the CEL when you turn the key on but don't crank. It should light up then go out. If it doesn't light, or it doesn't go out, the ECU is in a major problem. This is done with the test jumper out. With the test jumper in, the CEL will light up steady if there are no codes, or it will blink out codes if there are any stored.

All testing, of course, must be conducted while the car is not working. If it's going to start anyway, tests will come out normal. That's the frustrating nature of intermittent problems.

 

Thank you for the quick response. I apologize when I said it failed step 6 I meant step 5. Step six checks the signal wire from the ecu. Im showing a steady blink with my LED. In step 5 it had me check at the coil and thats where I saw a the problem with the test light blinking when it was cold and then going dim and back to bright with no blink after.

For whatever reason I thought I couldnt check for codes without it generating one while it was running so I will jump the test thing tomorrow after it malfunctions again assuming the switching signal at the coil decides to start working.

The CEL will come on for afew seconds then go out when the keys on I hope indicating the ecu is working.

 

Okay, so I went back to it this weekend and found out the following.

I stuck my old icm back in and got the car to fire up for its usual 2 to 6 minutes. When it died I checked the ecu for codes, all I got was a solid CEL when I jumped the nodes. When I cycle the key on the CEL will do its usual thing where it comes on for afew seconds then goes out.

Best I can figure at this point is they sent my a bad ICM. The one I bought claims it fit my car but I had to modify the mounting bracket it attaches to to make it fit. It did run the car for 2 minutes before the car shut off.

The test light was very dim where the switching signal is sent from the icm to coil. When I put my old icm back it in was bright as day and will pulse like its suppose to til the engine warms up then it just stops. The led test light still shows the ecu is sending the trigger signal.

So unless anyone has any more input for me i am going to get this ICM replaced. A little weary of using the same kind again though.

Also thank you mk378 for giving me the helpful input.

 

I agree, try another ICM. There's no reason to have one that doesn't fit.

As your new ICM seems to be completely dead now, a parts store tester may be able to confirm that.