its a 99 civic si. sohc. 5 spd. v tech. canadian model. the check engine light had been on for about 2 or 3 days. gf was driving the car down the street and she says it just died. all the lights on the dash are fine *except* for now the check engine light does not come on at all. i have no spark. no fuel. no check engine light. i am not able to check for codes by jumping the wire and counting the blinks as the light does not come on and yes i have tried. all fuses appear to be ok. the 7.5 one for the cel is ok. main power relay mounted just above ecm is fine as well. i have even swapped the ecm with a spare one a buddy had and nothing at all changed. anyone? please? help?

 

The CEL bulb may be blown. Pull out the cluster to check. It is important to obtain the CEL trouble codes, so replace the bulb if necessary. Alternatively, get/borrow a cheap code reader.

Does the starter crank the engine fine? If so:

1) Check whether the critical ground wire on the thermostat housing is disconnected, loose or corroded.

2) Check whether the distributor connector gets battery power when the ignition key is turned to ON.

3) Check whether the main relay connector gets battery power with and without the ignition key turned to ON (outcome depends on the particular wire/terminal tested).

 

ok.....so after a few beer and reading over the electrical schematic for the car i found a blown fuse under the hood. the fuse was the FI E/M fuse. plugged it in and the cars check engine light was functional again and the car started. now after pulling codes i only got one and now a new symptom. the code im getting is a code 20 which is the ELD. the new symptom is a high idle. the car starts and idles at 800 or so for the first 10 seconds and then slowly starts climbing so far to about 1500-2000. anyone?

 

ok......another symptom. car only ran for about 5 min then died and no check engine light again. same fuse blown as before...the FI E/M fuse. now it blows as soon as you turn on the ignition. could it be the ground on the fuse box that has the eld in it or is it the eld itself that is more than likely faulty?

 

I do not see an obvious connection between the ELD CEL code and fuse 44 blowing. For the ELD code, check whether fuse 15 is blown. If so, mention in your next post.

Regarding the fact that fuse 44 continually blows, you may have an electrical short in the main relay itself. Remove the main relay and do the tests in the diagram below. If the main relay tests fine, then do the series of electrical tests on the main relay circuit described in the 96-00 Civic service manual, beginning on page 11-238. Had you been having any electrical problems prior to the no-start that led to this thread?

 

main relay is fine and even tried replacing it with another main relay that i had as a spare. ELD has also been replaced with a spare that is fine. fuse that you asked me to check (fuse 15) is fine as well. the only fuse that blows is the FI E/M fuse under the hood. it blows the second the ignition goes to the on position. do you know of any place i can get that manual...i tried to dl from the lnik you provide but cant seem to open it...

 

I just tried the manual link in my signature and successfully started downloading the 96-00 manual. Try again when you get a chance.

Here's another good site:

https://www.spoonhonda.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=119

 

if the memory fuse keeps blowing then have you instaled a aftermarket radio? if so pull the radio and unplug it and see if it still blows. the wire might be frayed or something shorting it out making the fuse blow quickly.

 

oh its not that your link doesnt work....it downloads just fine...i just cant seem to open it! im dl it from the other link you provided so hopefully i can open it there. thanks for all the help so far....i have lots of friends that are into hondas and this just seems to be stumping everyone!

 

Different fuse. It is fuse 44 not the BACKUP fuse used to clear CEL codes and to store radio stations.