imported_Team Rukus

what do u mean by the engine just stopped. did it make any noises? rpm fluctuated? any fires, any sputter? etc????

describe it.
btw how many km does it have again?
and where regular tuneups and checkups done on this car on a regular basis? what type of oil was in the engine when it died (ie. viscosity etc)

imported_Cablerat

usually when an engine dies like that it is the timing belt or the ignitor coil.

Capo

Well then I guess you wont really be able to tell if the dizzy is the issue unless you swap it for a known good one. Cant you just borrow one from a friend and throw it on to see if your problem gets fixed? If it does fix the problem then go get a new dizzy and reset the ignition timing. If it doesnt fix it make sure you have marked where your old dizzy was when you removed it and re-install it in the same position (make a mark on the cylinder head and dizzy case to line back up) and you will have no issues. Just because you are getting spark doesnt mean its necessarily a strong/good spark.

Have you tried bump starting the car at all?

civic1

The engine just stopped while the car was on the highway. It didn't make any strange noises, smoke, or anything like that. It just stopped. I pulled to the shoulder with the momentum of the car. Then tried to restart it. It wouldn't start. So got it towed.

The car has 162k km. Yes, the car has been regularly maintained. Oil changed every 6k km using 5W-30. It's not the timing belt - because I can see the valves move up and down thru the oil fill hole while cranking. Also, the distributor rotor rotates while cranking, and I have strong sparks on all 4 plugs - the sparks jumped over 1/2" to the valve cover! Since it died, I've changed the distributor rotor and cap (and I've checked the firing order over 20 times), spark plugs, PCV valve and ECU (I've put in an ECU that's been working in a running car).

I don't have a friend who can lend a dizzy to me for testing. Capo, do you have a spare dizzy for a D15B7 that I can borrow? Are you saying that '93TurboD's method doesn't give a conclusive result whether a dizzy is good or not?

The battery is fully charged, and the fuel pump, main relay are all working properly. There's definitely fuel in the combustion chamber.

Also, can't bump start the car, because it's an automatic.

Any other ideas please? I basically just want to know whether my engine's non-starting problem is caused by the low compression or something else. Thanks!

'93TurboD

"Also, can't bump start the car, because it's an automatic."

Neutral safety switch maybe? You could try starting it in reverse or drive (with the brake depressed of course).

This is honestly all speculation. In the Honda manual it will say "try with a known working part" for several troubleshooting processes.

The method I described would throw a code 9 (CYP sensor, but that's for cars equipped with one) since your car isn't running it won't throw any codes. Was there any dis-colouration of the plug? The white wire (on both sides) can work it's way out of the connector. Being too far from the connection it would arc to the other pin, leaving a black mark. Try pushing the wires back into the plug. Worked for me.

imported_Team Rukus

cant be the neutral safety switch since it wont even allow the car to crank

imported_Team Rukus

is your car sitting on a slope? and if so how much gas is in the car right now?

civic1

The car has 1/2 tank of gas. It's sitting on a flat garage floor. The engine is definitely getting gasoline in the combustion chamber.

Engine won't crank if the shifter is in Drive or Reverse. But it'll crank when in Park or Neutral. Therefore, the neutral safety switch is working properly.

The plug on the distributor is in perfect condition. No black marks or anything. Also, can anyone tell me: can my distributor be bad even when I'm strong sparks from each of the 4 spark plugs? Thanks.

civic1

Can anyone please help?

89SIHATCH?

yes you can get spark, distributers do just stop on you.
it could be either the coil in the dizzy or the ignitor. but to save problems with replacing little parts by parts just find someone with a spare WORKING ONE!! and replace it who cares if you have to re-do the ignition timing cause your gonna have to do it anyways if its the problem.

like i stated in my very first post back when god knows replace the distributer and see if that works.

Good luck!

civic1

Thanks for your reply. A friend suggested that my timing belt could have jumped 1 or 2 teeth, which can cause a no start condition - the spark plugs are not sparking at the correct time.

Can any one tell me how to check whether my timing belt has jumped? I know how to take off the valve cover and the upper timing belt cover, but after that, how do I check?

Please let me know. Thanks.

JiZeR123

hey bud listen ahve u replace your crank shaft position sensor?

civic1

I've checked the resistance of the three sensors in the distributor. The crank shaft position sensor is one of them. I've also checked the resistance of those sensors at the ECU plug (thought the wires may be broken between the ECU and those sensors), but they all checked out fine. So I'm quite sure it's not the crank shaft position sensor.

1sloweg

I love how people with absolutly no knowledge post stupid answers.

Do a compression test. Report back with your findings.


A motor needs a few things to fire

spark, fuel , air, compression


if your missing any of this it will not fire..

Check the abcs, are you sure you have the plug wires on right.....


if you think yoru belt skiped bring #1 up to tdc on the crank and check yoru cam pully. Ive never really seen these things skip enough to make them not start tho, most of hte time they break before anything.

civic1

Thanks for your reply. I have all 4 items working I believe - spark, fuel, air, compression. However, for spark, I believe it needs correctly timed sparks right? Otherwise, the engine won't fire right?

I've done a compression test already - as mentioned on page 3 of this thread. Anyway, here they are again:

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


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

Any suggestions?

1sloweg

That is low compression on that motor. Look at cylinder #4 horrible..

Check your timing marks, if they are right, your looking at replacing that motor.

imported_rhd_ef

thats crazy low


You let it crank 5 times right?

I did ne on my rex yesterday and I got 180 across and 210 after the wet test.

civic1

Yes, cranked it 5 times for every compression test for each cylinder.

civic1

I've lined up the cam pulley at TDC and looked at the white marker on the crankshaft pulley - it doesn't seem to line up with the marker on the lower timing belt cover, which means the engine is out of time. Can anyone please confirm that I'm looking at it correctly? I'm 100% sure I've lined up the cam pulley at TDC correctly. If my engine is really out of time, can any one please tell me how to reset it to correct timing?

Thanks.

1sloweg

If you can tow it to me, I can for you.