I have a 1991 Honda Civic with 170,000 miles, a second car for the family. It had been cranking but not starting so we replaced the timing belt, distributor and cap. Did fine for 2 days then just quit while driving. Now won't start at all. When I turn on the key, a check light comes on the dash and I can hear the fuel pump running. After a few seconds the check light goes off and the fuel pump quits. Any suggestions?

 

get the fuel pump checked out and see if its performing at the correct rate, go to autozone and have them check the code for the cel coming on, they will do it for free and will diagnose what the problem is

 

You probably lack spark at the plugs. To verify, remove a plug wire from a plug and insert a good plug into the end of the wire. Ground the threads of the plug against a convenient metal engine part and have a buddy crank the engine. You should see a bright spark at the tip of the plug. Repeat for the remaining plug wires. If no plugs have spark, check first whether any fuses are blown in the under-hood and -dash fuse boxes. If the fuses are fine, check whether there is power at the distributor connector and whether the coil or igniter may be bad.

 

If no spark take the cap off and see if the rotor goes around when you crank -- possible stripped timing belt or rotor bolt gone. If it does hold a grounded wire near the terminal on the coil and check for sparks there. Weak yellow sparks probably mean the coil is bad. Really just check if you are getting power to the ignition at the distributor (one of the larger wires) and if you have power but no spark trade in the whole dizzy under warranty.

On a '91, you can read any ECU codes very simply. There is a red LED on the ECU itself (under the carpet on the passenger's side) which will blink them out whenever the key is on.