Hello,
My wife has a 95 Civic that just quit while she was driving it and it won't start now.

There is no spark. I put a reman distributor in, new dist cap, rotor, plugs, fuel filter. All this needed to be done, so....

The engine turns just fine, but there is not even a sputter.

It must be a relay, sensor or something simple....

I'm looking at the troubleshooting thread and will check the main relay.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

 

My first thought is a stripped timing belt-- make sure the distributor rotates when you crank. You can just take the oil cap off and watch the rocker arms, they should move when the engine turns.

If it's not that, consider an electrical problem. First make sure the Check Engine light comes on and then goes out when you turn the key on and don't crank. Check that power is reaching the black and yellow wire to the distributor, both with the key on and while cranking.

A bad main relay will disable the fuel system and prevent starting, but the ignition will still fire.

 

Hello,

t-belt seems to be OK rotor rotates with crank.

no spark while cranking.

Will check the yel +blk wires to the Dist.

It is parked 4 miles away in church parking lot with rain today...

 

OK,

I checked if there was any codes after connecting the test point.

I got no blink, so the manual says ECU. I started with the flow chart in the service manual and checked voltage on the two test points. They were less than 1 volt to ground and the flow chart sends me to check the fuel pressure at the filter.

The last time I checked there was no spark. If there is no fuel pressure, is there a sensor that shuts down spark???

I hear what I think is the fuel pump when I turn the ignition switch on. I also changed the fuel filter. Fuel was present but it wasn't under high pressure.

 

Does the CEL cycle on and back off when you turn the key on with the jumper out?

With the jumper in, the CEL will come on steady when there are no codes. That is usually OK.

 

Thanks for your reply,

The CEL comes on then of after 3-4 seconds with the jumper out.

I got no CEL light the first time I had the jumper in and turned the ignition on.

I took that as a 0 which. If I read right, that means the ECU.

I measured the two points to ground listed in the service manual flow chart and they were OK. The flow chart was sending me to measuring fuel pressure.

I tried pulling the code again an it seemed to respond just like the jumper was out... Maybe it slipped out. It was just a wire jammed in for a jumper...

I had the battery out for a few days to charge it. I drained it cranking it while trying to diagnose. Would that clear any code memory? Does the ECU collect codes if the car doesn't run?

I later tried to reset the ECU by removing the 7.5 amp fuse in the engine compartment.

I have the ECU at home now and was thinking of opening it up to take a look-see. I have a ~ knowledge of electronics. I'll do a thread search to see if anybody has done troubleshooting on an ECU.

 

I found a good thread on troubleshooting a 95 civic ECU with advice on testing power to the ECU and sensors. That is a good place to start.

I brought the ECU home and took the covers off. It looked pretty good. I'll check solder joints with some magnification to see if any look dodgy.

All the caps look good and not bulging, but that doesn't mean something hasn't failed...

 

I had a 1993 Honda Civic DX D15B7 1.5 Liter a year or so ago. It sounds like you may have burned your ignition coil from trying to start it. You may have flooded it, and when it didn't start kept trying, and burnt the ignition coil. I did exactly that one time.

Take a spark plug out, plug it into the wire, hold it with rubber insulated pliers, and put the spark plug tip near a frame bolt. Try to start it and see if it sparks. If not, it could be your distributor or ignition coil.

If it only does it when it is hot or cold or raining, it is your fuel relay. These are easy to fix, just re-soldier 2 points and it will start every time.

Worked like a charm in my old 93 Civic D15B7.