91 Civic Won't Start

I have a 91 Civic Wagon that ran great but one day just wouldn't start
anymore. I have spark at all plugs. I've dumped gas into the throtle
body while cranking and still not even a sputter. The timing belt is
intact and I checked that is hasn't jumped time. It uses oil, so I
disconnected the catalytic converter thinking it could be restricted, but
that made no difference. I just figure with spark and dumping gas in the
throttle body I'd at least get it to sputter, but not a thing. The ECU
blinks once when I turn the key to "on". I notice that the brake
indicator comes on when cranking. Any help will be greatly appreciated.


Chuck

 

Do you hear the fuel pump running when the key is first turned to ON but
not to START? This will coincide with the Check Engine light being on for
two seconds.

Have you looked into the throttle body while cranking to see if fuel is
actually being sprayed?

Have you tried to alleviate a *flooded* condition? Hold pedal to the floor,
then try cranking for a while.

 

And what color is the spark you see? Blue? White? deep yellow or orange?

 

Yes, I hear this. I think it was your webpage that told about feeling
the relay for 3 clicks. I have these.

I don't see any fuel spray. I tried starting fluid and gas in the past
and get nothing, not even a sputter. They may not reach the cylinders
though with the car on jackstands the fuel may be draining the other
direction.

I guess I need to know what feeds the injectors. I've checked fuses.

 

It's a whiteish blue. The coil and cap have about 5000 miles on them.
The old coil still worked, but was damaged by a bad cap.

 

If you have throttle-body injection, the injectors and the fuel pump all
get their power from termial 7 of the Main Relay.

No sputter at all is odd. With a good strong spark, you should be getting
*some* sort of reponse from the engine. Have you checked ignition timing
while cranking? Do you have the distributor somehow out of time 180
degrees? When was the timing belt changed last?

 

I just checked the solder joints on the relay. They all *looked* fine.

I just pulled all the plugs and checked for spark an its fine on all of
them. In fact, what little gas was on the plugs would ignite.

I looked at the top part of the belt when I adjusted the valves and saw
nothing but I didn't really inspect the whole thing. What I saw didn't
look bad. It was running fine and all of a sudden wouldn't start or do
anything. I hate to think what the odds are of the thing jumping time
*exactly* 180 degrees. I did notice that when the ignition is on, the
EGR selinoid makes some noise. I also hear a click from the MAP sensor.
I'm not sure if either of these are normal. BTW, what I call the EGR is
what I think it is. My manual doesn't show much. What I'm calling the
EGR is located on the RH side of the intake and has hoses to intake and
air cleaner. I don't know if either of these would cause it to fail
starting.

All I have for a timing light is an old fashioned one that won't work. I
need to buy an induction type one.
I've read that a condenser will make it not start, but I can't locate
it. I assume it's internal to the ignitor.

 

The 91 fuel injected Civic does not have an EGR system.

This condenser (a.k.a. "noise suppressor") is supposed to be
external on the 91 Civic. Yet I haven't found the one that's
supposed to be on my own 91 Civic LX.

Still, it's worth seeking. See
http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id5.html for some
guidance on the subject.


You floored the gas pedal, to see if it was flooding, right,
per Tegger's site's directions, right?

 

It must be the high idle thingamagic them. The Haynes manual doesn't
show what it is.

I traced the wire and don't see mine either. I do see an empty stand-off
for one though, but the wires it says to trace go into the distributor.

I did this. Even let it set a month and tried it.

 

I did this and everything checked out. At first I freaked out then
remembered that I had to go around another turn.

Is TDC the middle of the group of 3 marks or the one all by itself?

Any fusible link or hidden goodie I should be aware of?

 

If you have the time, you might try the free online manual
for the 91 Civic at www.autozone.com . It's often more
detailed than the Haynes.

Also, the 91 Civic CRX (or Concerto) factory service manual
at http://www.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html might
help, too.

TDC is indicated by the stand-alone mark on the pulley. The
three closer together are around 17 degrees or so
B(efore)TDC.

 

The one all by itself is TDC. The group of three represents plug firing at
idle with the service connector shorted. The middle one is the correct
timing (16º BTDC). The two to either side are the extreme tolerances for
idle timing (14º & 18º BTDC)


..

Possibly the injector resistor. But if that were gone you'd expect the CEL
to illuminate.

 

The book says that the Dual Point doesn't have a resistor.

Here's something weird that may help solve the problem. I pull the plug
off the upper injector to ohm test it and the motor attempted to start.
It at least fires some but doesn't run. One injector reads 1.5 ohms and
the other 8.6 ohms. Should I just replace the upper injector or try
cleaning it? I'll probably just sell this thing cheap so I want to keep
my costs down.

What get me is that the thing wouldn't even attempt to start with
starting fluid or gas manually dumped in it.

 

Which book? I though they all had resistors.

The upper injector is the cold-start injector, is it not?

 

Haynes. The illustration shows a resistor and says "multiport only". It
shows the same harness plug that I have with the resistor next to it,
but there's no resistor there on mine.