if it was a bad coil, i would probably see just a weak spark, not no spark at all right?

 

No spark is common for bad coils.

 

damn lol...well i bought a distributor rotor, so ill put that in and see what happens. clean up contact to and hope for best lol. than ill go to coil. thanks

 

ok still no spark....replaced rotor and cleaned everything....contacts connecting to coil were a little dirty but i cleaned it up pretty good....still nothing. please help, thanks

 

Really since "cranks but won't start" threads occur daily here, I shouldn't have to review the basic checks:

Turn key on but don't crank. The Check Engine light should come on for 2 seconds and then go out. Correspondingly, the fuel pump runs and then stops.
Pull the hand brake handle up. Observe the BRAKE light on the dash comes on. Turn key to crank, the light should stay on.
Check that the rotor rotates when you crank or turn the crank pulley by hand. If it doesn't, usually that means the timing belt has failed. If the cam and distributor does not rotate, the ECU will not fire the coil.
Put the ECU test jumper in. Turn key on but don't crank. The CEL should light up steady. If it blinks out a code, look up the code, or if 1996 or later, scan further with an OBDII scanner.
Check that battery voltage is being supplied to the black and yellow wire on the distributor, both with the key on and while cranking.

 

you know what in my civic i have that tiny battery and if my battery is not above 11.8 volts car wont start it will crank over fine even with 11 volts but needs the 11.8 to run. weird i know but mabe check the voltage at the battery. I had a similar problem but with a different car.

 

thanks for info ill give it a shot...but the car started fine before, jus cut out about a quarter mile down the road? so idk if battery would be problem but ill check that real quick. thanks

 

it was the ignition coil! runs great now. thanks everyone!