car will crank but will not start, help!
 

This morning i get into my car in a rush to get to work, but my car just cranks. It does not want to start. It seems it is at the virge of starting, but there seems to be some irregularities to the firing of the spark plugs. So I have replaced all the spark plugs. I can hear the fuel pump

do u have a spark? what car/motor?

pull one of the plugs out and plug it into the wire, have someone crank the engine and ground the plug to see if there is spark. also, pull the dizzy cap off and check to make sure your rotor hasn't come loose.

93 Civic CX hatch, approx 300K on motor, d15b7. By crank sound, it appears there is a spark, but not possitive if equall spark on all the cylinders, hence the odd sound. I will check how the dizzy looks later on, cause it seems like the problem is coming from there, judging by sound, all assumptions though.

As for checking the spark, how do i ground the spark plug? And while disconnected I guess just crank the car for brief seconds. I mean I dont want to wrech havoc on my engine.

Also, Could it be the timing belt?

thanks all the great advice,

you can ground the end of the spark plug to one of your bolts on the valve cover. if you have a ground strap near by touch it to the bolt that holds the ground strap in place. you just press the ground strap on your sparkplug to it. i'm talking about the little part that curves down under the electrode of the spark plug that you adjust when you "gap" the plugs... touch that to a bolt then turn the engine over a few times and you should see a little spark jump across the electrode to the strap on the bottom of the plug. this will tell you if you are getting spark, but it won't tell you if you are getting it in the proper sequence. make sure to check that rotor.

Check fuel, spark, compression. These are the basics for any motor.:cheers:

Do you smell fuel?

If your fuel pump keeps priming the tank and you're cranking it, you should smell fuel.

If you don't smell fuel, could be the engine isn't getting enough fuel.

If thats the case, I suspect that you have some moisture frozen in your fuel line.

Check your fuel filter

Get some fuel line anti-freeze, fill up your tank

don't let your fuel drop below 1/4 tank in the winter or else you will trap moisture in there and it will freeze in your tank and lines. When moisture freezes it expands and fuel won't reach your motor.

thx for the suggestions, I just cleaned the distributor. Also tested if there is a spark through one of the spark leads, n there is. Should i test all four wires?

As for the moisture in the fuel line, how would i test / know if the engine is getting enough fuel? Right now the temp. outside is just above freezing, but the car is still not starting.

Yes, you should test all four wires. Does the fuel pump prime? Are the ignition wires in the right order? Maybe the timing belt is off or broken? Compression? Gas? (<<sounds stupid but it happens all the time) ECU? If your really stuck gimmie a shout at 905-831-8770 I can probably help you better over the phone. :cheers:

hey DefconDave thanks for the generous help offer. It was actually the conpression. I was going to change the oil anyways, so I have toped it off full. With a little more struggle it finally fired off. Yes! heh, gotta learn some way..