Help! 95 Civic LX Engine won't start
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 7
Help! 95 Civic LX Engine won't start
Car: 95 Civic LX
Problem: Engine cranks, but will not start
What has been done so far:
1) Replaced spark plugs - and tested that there are sparks while cranking (by attaching a spark plug to a spark plug wire, and grounding the plug on the valve cover - tried this for all 4 plugs and wires)- i.e. ignition wires and distributor cap/rotor (both brand new) are good. Also, checked resistance of all ignition wires - all are way below 25,000 ohms
2) Check Engine light goes out after 2 seconds when the key is in the "ON" position and I can hear the fuel pump prime during those 2 seconds - so, fuel pump and main relay should be good. I put my hand on the main relay, and I can feel all 3 clicks - 1 click when ignition on, another click after fuel pump has finished priming (check engine light goes out), and another click while the engine is cranking.
3) Can smell gas while cranking - fuel is delivered to the engine without problems. Also, after removing a spark plug, I can see the spark plug is soaked with gasoline - so there IS fuel in the engine - so, fuel pump and main relay should be good
4) Since the engine cranks, then the starter should be good
5) Battery is fully charged using an external charger - so there's plenty of juice
6) Based on the above, ECU should be good - since the check engine light goes out after 2 seconds when the key is in the "ON" position. I've also tried an ECU that's known to be working properly - still the engine won't start.
7) Timing belt is definitely not broken - I saw the valves move up and down while peeking in the oil filler hole. Also, the distributor rotor rotates while cranking.
8) Dry compression test results:
cylinder #1 has 100psi of compression
cylinder #2 has 100psi of compression
cylinder #3 has 130psi of compression
cylinder #4 has 80psi of compression
9) Wet compression test results (after putting a few drops of oil in
each combustion chamber):
cylinder #1 has 150psi of compression
cylinder #2 has 150psi of compression
cylinder #3 has 140psi of compression
cylinder #4 has 130psi of compression
10) Tried spraying starting fluid into the air intake/throttle body. The engine didn't cough at all.
11) If I take out all the spark plugs and dry them out over night (they are soaked with gas), and then put them in, I can hear the engine cough once, then it's back to crank, crank, crank and the spark plugs will be soaked with fuel again. It seems like the spark plugs are not able to ignite the fuel, or maybe there's too much fuel?
12) Tried a used distributor (don't know if it works or not, but at least it produces sparks at the spark plugs - so it should be okay), but still got the same problem. So, it's probably not the distributor?
13) About 3 months ago, car was running fine on the highway, then the engine stopped completely. Engine would NOT restart. Had to tow it. Since then, the car has sat on a flat garage floor for 3 months. Gas tank is 1/2 full.
Please help! Any other things to check/test? What do you think the problem is?
Could it be the ignitor, even though there's spark on the spark plugs? But as mentioned in 12) above, using a used distributor (with ignitor, coil etc) still didn't solved the problem.
Could it be the sparks are not strong enough? How to test whether the spark is strong enough? The sparks can jump a 1/2" gap between the spark plug and the valve cover. The sparks are yellowish/orange and are quite "thin".
Please let me know. Thanks in advance for your help!
Problem: Engine cranks, but will not start
What has been done so far:
1) Replaced spark plugs - and tested that there are sparks while cranking (by attaching a spark plug to a spark plug wire, and grounding the plug on the valve cover - tried this for all 4 plugs and wires)- i.e. ignition wires and distributor cap/rotor (both brand new) are good. Also, checked resistance of all ignition wires - all are way below 25,000 ohms
2) Check Engine light goes out after 2 seconds when the key is in the "ON" position and I can hear the fuel pump prime during those 2 seconds - so, fuel pump and main relay should be good. I put my hand on the main relay, and I can feel all 3 clicks - 1 click when ignition on, another click after fuel pump has finished priming (check engine light goes out), and another click while the engine is cranking.
3) Can smell gas while cranking - fuel is delivered to the engine without problems. Also, after removing a spark plug, I can see the spark plug is soaked with gasoline - so there IS fuel in the engine - so, fuel pump and main relay should be good
4) Since the engine cranks, then the starter should be good
5) Battery is fully charged using an external charger - so there's plenty of juice
6) Based on the above, ECU should be good - since the check engine light goes out after 2 seconds when the key is in the "ON" position. I've also tried an ECU that's known to be working properly - still the engine won't start.
7) Timing belt is definitely not broken - I saw the valves move up and down while peeking in the oil filler hole. Also, the distributor rotor rotates while cranking.
8) Dry compression test results:
cylinder #1 has 100psi of compression
cylinder #2 has 100psi of compression
cylinder #3 has 130psi of compression
cylinder #4 has 80psi of compression
9) Wet compression test results (after putting a few drops of oil in
each combustion chamber):
cylinder #1 has 150psi of compression
cylinder #2 has 150psi of compression
cylinder #3 has 140psi of compression
cylinder #4 has 130psi of compression
10) Tried spraying starting fluid into the air intake/throttle body. The engine didn't cough at all.
11) If I take out all the spark plugs and dry them out over night (they are soaked with gas), and then put them in, I can hear the engine cough once, then it's back to crank, crank, crank and the spark plugs will be soaked with fuel again. It seems like the spark plugs are not able to ignite the fuel, or maybe there's too much fuel?
12) Tried a used distributor (don't know if it works or not, but at least it produces sparks at the spark plugs - so it should be okay), but still got the same problem. So, it's probably not the distributor?
13) About 3 months ago, car was running fine on the highway, then the engine stopped completely. Engine would NOT restart. Had to tow it. Since then, the car has sat on a flat garage floor for 3 months. Gas tank is 1/2 full.
Please help! Any other things to check/test? What do you think the problem is?
Could it be the ignitor, even though there's spark on the spark plugs? But as mentioned in 12) above, using a used distributor (with ignitor, coil etc) still didn't solved the problem.
Could it be the sparks are not strong enough? How to test whether the spark is strong enough? The sparks can jump a 1/2" gap between the spark plug and the valve cover. The sparks are yellowish/orange and are quite "thin".
Please let me know. Thanks in advance for your help!
HCF Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,180
From: Chicago, Illinois
RE: Help! 95 Civic LX Engine won't start
On a side note, cylinder 4 compression is a little off. SInce the compression went up after you added oil, this leads me to believe that the rings on cylinder 4 may be badly worn. However, that will not cause your car to start. If you have spark and fuel i would definatly check the timing belt.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 7
RE: Help! 95 Civic LX Engine won't start
Thanks for all your reply. What's the easiest way to check for timing? I don't think I'm knowledgeable enough to rip the engine apart to check timing (i.e. like changing the timing belt). If I tow it to a dealership, it's going to cost me quite a bit, and I don't think it's worth spending so much on such an old car.
Can anyone please help? Thanks.
Can anyone please help? Thanks.
HCF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,012
From:
RE: Help! 95 Civic LX Engine won't start
loosen the lug nuts on the left front tire.
jack up left front tire. MAKE sure that you put the car on a safe stand.
take off the tire. there should be a cover in the wheelwell that is covering the lower pulleys. take the cover off. if you look down from the top of the front of the engine (front is where the pullies are), you will see a little stub sticking off of the plastic cover down by the pullies. (i know, the belts and motor mount are in the way - that;s the way it is).
you have to line up the timing mark on the pulley with the stub that is sticking off of the plastic cover. if yours is like mine, on the pulley that is closest to the engine, there will be 3 nothes real close together and there will be 1 notch that will be (probably) 16 degrees clockwise from the middle of the 3 notches.
you need to rotate the engine in the same direction of its normal travel, should be counterclockwise. so, put a socket on the nut that holds the pulleys on, and rotate until the middle of the 3 marks is aligned with the stub sticking off of the plastic cover. the books say to take your spark plugs out before you do this. the reason is that it is easier to rotate the engine.
when you get the alignment right, that is when the number 1 spark plug should fire. so, now go over to the back of the engine and remove the distributor cap. before doing that though, follow your number 1 spark plug back to the distributor. the rotor is to be exactly on the connection that would allow the spark to jump to the number 1 plug wire (and of course follow to the number 1 plug). take the distributor cap off. Where is the position of the rotor. if it is close, the distributor can be turned to make it correct. if it is far off, then the timing belt has slipped some (or many) notches from its position on the crackshaft and camshaft sprockets.
Does this help,
fred
jack up left front tire. MAKE sure that you put the car on a safe stand.
take off the tire. there should be a cover in the wheelwell that is covering the lower pulleys. take the cover off. if you look down from the top of the front of the engine (front is where the pullies are), you will see a little stub sticking off of the plastic cover down by the pullies. (i know, the belts and motor mount are in the way - that;s the way it is).
you have to line up the timing mark on the pulley with the stub that is sticking off of the plastic cover. if yours is like mine, on the pulley that is closest to the engine, there will be 3 nothes real close together and there will be 1 notch that will be (probably) 16 degrees clockwise from the middle of the 3 notches.
you need to rotate the engine in the same direction of its normal travel, should be counterclockwise. so, put a socket on the nut that holds the pulleys on, and rotate until the middle of the 3 marks is aligned with the stub sticking off of the plastic cover. the books say to take your spark plugs out before you do this. the reason is that it is easier to rotate the engine.
when you get the alignment right, that is when the number 1 spark plug should fire. so, now go over to the back of the engine and remove the distributor cap. before doing that though, follow your number 1 spark plug back to the distributor. the rotor is to be exactly on the connection that would allow the spark to jump to the number 1 plug wire (and of course follow to the number 1 plug). take the distributor cap off. Where is the position of the rotor. if it is close, the distributor can be turned to make it correct. if it is far off, then the timing belt has slipped some (or many) notches from its position on the crackshaft and camshaft sprockets.
Does this help,
fred
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 80
From:
RE: Help! 95 Civic LX Engine won't start
Well, the cars I've seen that have run with a slipped timing belt had only jumped one tooth (or had been installed improperly one tooth out of time). Hypothetically, if your timing belt slipped, I would say it has jumped more than one tooth since the car won't even start. If it has jumped enough, you may be able to notice by peeking at the position of the distributor. Set the engine at TDC (compression stroke) and pop off the distributor cap to see if the rotor is pointing anywhere near the #1 electrode. It should be pretty close if the timing is correct (normally 10-14 degrees off), but if it's at least 45 degrees away from the #1 electrode or more, the timing is certainly incorrect. Perhaps, if you've got a timing light, hook it up to the #1 plug and have someone crank the engine. Check to see if it flashes anywhere in the general area of 0 degrees. If not, you have a timing issue. For a sure fire diagnosis, you could always easily pop off the valve cover and the upper timing belt cover to inspect the camshaft pulley...which will leave no doubt. It's not that difficult, only a few bolts and you're there.