I posted a week or two ago about putting a bullet in her:
https://www.hondacivicforum.com/foru...let-her-94933/

Seems I may have to sooner rather than later. This morning she wouldn't start. The starter was cranking, but not much else. I tried it again this evening and noticed that if I give it a little gas, it would sound like it 'catches' here and there, but not enough to get the engine running. After about a minute or so, I could smell gas. I took apart the cap and rotor. They were both recently replaced along with the distributor and coil, plugs and wires. I noticed the rotor had a little bit of black on one part of it, but the other part seemed fine. I'm not sure how much leeway there is with rotors, but I'm pretty sure I've had one in worse shape that still worked. The distributor cap looked perfect.
Would it be worth trying a new rotor?
Also would it be possible that it's the fuel pump? When the car is low on gas, it always takes a while for the car to catch after it cranks for a while, but only when I'm below a quarter tank and right now I'm well over half. Being that I smelled gas, would that rule out the fuel pump? To me if I smell gas it means that gas is getting in, but something is keeping the plugs from sparking maybe??? I don't know a whole lot just the basics, so I could be totally wrong on this.
Any other ideas?

Thanks!

-d

 

Does the ignition fire sparks? Is the camshaft in time with the crank? Check fuel flow by disconnecting the return hose (from the regulator back to the metal line on the firewall).

 

Please forgive my ignorance. How would I check if the ignition fires sparks? Is this something I easily do with basic wrenches and screw drivers and stuff like that?

How would the cam shaft get out of sync with the crank? I'll have to dig a bit deeper to check the fuel flow. Not sure I trust myself messing with the gas.

Thanks!

-d

 

Pull one of the spark wires out at the spark plug end. Put an old spark plug (can be from any car, but be sure it's good) into the end of the wire. Hold the rubber part of the wire so the metal shell of the plug touches the engine to ground it. Have someone turn the key to try to start. You should see the test plug fire bright white sparks.

If the plug does not fire, take the oil cap off and look inside. You should see the parts inside move when the engine is cranked. If they don't move, the timing belt is bad.

 

Excellent, thanks! I will give this a try when it's light out.

-d

 

Sorry for the bump,
For the few that may actually care, everything I looked at seemed to be okay. I had it towed to a 24 hour shop with cheap labor that seems to be pretty honest. I got a call from them the next day. The guy said it will be $50 and he doesn't know what the night shift guy did to fix it other than it would be fifty bucks. I have a feeling it was just a loose sensor or something.

Anyway, I was happy to have it running again. But alas the car is no longer with me. She had 265,570 miles. I ended up selling it for $850. The guy who bought it said he'd take it to an auto auction and someone will probably buy it and throw in a used transmission and fix the brakes and just use it.
I now have a new Rav4. So sorry to be a traitor. I probably won't be around here much any more since I have no Civic. But I do thank you all for the helpful advice. I tended to lurk much more than post.

-d