So my 95 Civic (Not Vtec) failed emissions testing due to EXTREMELY high Hydrocarbon levels in exhaust. First thought was that a cylinder wasn't combusting completely.

So like a jackass [:@] I decide I will let the car idle and pull the plug wires one at a time to see if the engine "dropped". I did find the third from right cylinder had no effect on engine when I pulled the plug wire, but then disaster.[] I saw a blue spark down in the cylinder hole, Very tiny not scary or ominous at all, but immediately after the blue spark the engine shut down like the plug had been pulled.

Now it will not start at all. It turns over like a champ but no spark is getting to the plugs anymore. So I'm pretty sure I did something very bad to my distributor, but does anyone know exactly what may have happened? Anyone ever hear of this happening before?

I can do some basic mechanical work, but electricity is way over my head.

I suspect I may have fried the ICM, but don't want to replace it w/o being sure. Maybe its just the coil or something. They are much less expensive.

Also any thoughts on why the 3 cylinder isn't combusting would be helpful once the damn thing is running again. (i'm sorry i didn't mean that...i love my car...she is usually very very good to me)

 

Almost certainly, your coil burned out. It's inside the distributor but can be purchased and replaced seperately without buying a whole distributor. A few people here have had the same thing happen running with a plug wire disconnected. I think the coil has to have been weak in the first place because it should be able to withstand that.

To test, take the distributor cap off and hold a grounded test wire near the output spring on the coil. Crank the engine and look for sparks. If you get absolutely nothing, it may be the coil or the ICM (but that's rare), or another problem like no power reaching the distributor. If you can only get very small sparks, the coil is bad. A good coil can throw sparks that will jump 3/4 inch or more.

While you have the cap off look for cracks or burns around #3. Could also be a bad wire or plug. Run a compression test first to rule out an internal problem.

 

Thank you for your reply. I did manage to test the coil, and it was indeed faulty. (It took a while though cuz I stripped the damn screw holding on the rotor) [:@] I am going to get the part later today and I'll see if that fixes the problem with starting the car.

Am I correct in assuming that the problem with the dead cylinder must be either:
1) Problem with fuel delivery (I think this unlikely due to the massive level of HC in the exhaust)
2) Problem with spark (Also seems unlikely, since the spark from this hole is what fried
the ignition coil in the first place)
3) Problem with air compression (this seems like the likely culprit to me)

How can I definitively determine if it is indeed an air or compression problem?

By the way, this is IMO the BEST Honda forum around. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on this site. Thanks for helping out a newbie.

 

First install the new coil, fix the rotor, and reassemble the distributor. It's possible that a faulty coil was the entire problem. If not, then consider:

1) a fouled spark plug or bad wire
2) a faulty fuel injector (Is fuel entering the cylinder?)
3) low cylinder compression due to a damaged valve or piston, a bad piston ring, or a blown head gasket (search for DIY compression testing by Forty04).

 

You tell compression pressure with a compression gauge. This is about a $30.00 special tool. Do this first because if you have an internal engine problem it's pointless to test anything else.

The plug or wire could be bad. Aftermarket wires especially can go bad. You usually can't tell a bad wire by looking at it or testing with a meter.

If the fuel injector is partly clogged, it could be dripping some fuel in but not enough to fire, so it all goes thru and creates high HC.

The problem is if the circuit isn't completed, the voltage at the coil goes up too high and can damage it, though I still think that the coil has to be weak in the first place for that to happen. Don't beat yourself up over this, disconnecting the wires one at a time is a legitimate test that usually causes no harm.

 

Thanks everyone for your help. I will have the coil replaced in a few hours and then begin investigating the rest. I will post later and let you know how it turned out and what the culprit was.

 

With no disrespect to mk, in my opinion, troubleshooting of the plug, wire, and fuel injector first might save you from purchasing a compression gauge unnecessarily.

You can test the plug and plug wire as follows:

While the engine is OFF, remove spark plug #3 and insert it into the free end of the plug wire. Screw a spare plug into the spark plug hole. Have a buddy crank the engine while you ground the threads of the spark plug at the end of the wire on a convenient metallic part of the engine. If you see bright sparks at the tip of the plug, then the plug and wire are likely fine. Grounding the spark plug should circumvent blowing the new coil.

For the fuel injector, you should be able to remove it and inspect it for clogging. If the fuel injector had an electrical problem, the ECU would likely throw trouble code 16.