95 Civic CX no sparks

Hi all!
Everything was working fine,came to a stop sign,ok went ahead and
engine died totally.It will crank no problems,i could smell gas,i hear
the pump pumping the gas but no spark.
What should i look at?
The car is going on ther computer Friday sometimes.
Just looking for input.
Thanks a bunch!!!

 

First two candidates:

If the car refuses to start, igniter (on the distributor
housing). Roughly $100 part, plus another $50 to $100 to
replace it.

If this has happened before, ignition coil (mounted on the
distributor housing as well).

For more info, see
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#startrun

 

Thanks Elle !
I remember reading something about the igniter at one point around
here...i did take the distributor cap off and see 2 small black
box.Likely the igniter and ignition coil.I notice the one closer to the
firewall(inside the housing) has what looks like a small crack.I'm
still gonna get the codes pull out to make sure and will get the part
to fix it myself.I just with i had my own computer to pull the codes
out.Someday...
Thanks again!

 

Hi Pat, I do not think a bad igniter sets codes. It's a
common malady discussed here often, plus I've had one go bad
on my 91 Civic, and I don't recall any codes.

Plenty of online Honda manuals and instructions (with
drawings and/or photos!) are available to help with removal
of the igniter /and/ diagnosis of it, BTW. It is definitely
a do-it-yourself job if you're a little handy. Tegger's site
is a good starting point. The following site has links to
online manuals:
http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id9.html

If you do replace it, only buy OEM. It can be had from
online parts sites for under $100, generally.

One other thing: When was the car last tuned up (new plugs,
wires, distributor cap and rotor, timing checked, new air
and fuel filters, maybe a new PCV valve)? Were OEM parts
used?

In the past year, I recall two no start or rough running
conditions for Hondas here, and all that was needed was
something like new plugs or wires.

 

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Look in the oil filler cap and see if anything rotates when a friend
gives the starter a spin for a couple seconds. You may have a broken
timing belt.

'Curly'

 

Last tune up was spring of 2006(not long ago).Only the wire and plug
were repalced with NGK(along the normal stuff/filters/oil...).Timing
belt/water pump was done 2 month ago.Timing is fine.
I've own the car for 3 years now(167000km/203000km now).
The main repair was the head gasket last year beside that it was all
normal use and wear and tear.Yes i only use gunuine Honda parts on my
civic.I put a cheaper upper tab on it 2 years ago and it lasted less
than 3 month.
I'm feeling confident it is that igniter.I will keep you posted.Thanks
again for the help.

 

You should be able to tell just from the sound difference in cranking;when
the belt on my 73Civic CVCC broke,the motor "whirred" really fast compared
to normal cranking. Lucky it was a non-interference engine!

 

Looks like i have to buy a rotor assembly.About $300 CDN.
I got told it is a common/known problems on Honda.

 

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What kind of "ROTOR" costs $300 ? ? ? Canadian tire sells me rotors for
my distributor that cost about $11.

'Curly'

 

That rotor houses the IGNITER and mine failed.I was told to repalce the
"hole" assembly.
Ima gonna call Honda right now and see.

 

$254.00 confirmed from Honda for the rotor assembly(witch is with the
igniter comes)
My mechanics told me it would repalce it for $300(labour included).
Does not seem that bad to me.I'm in Canada by the way.

 

Probably what was meant was the distributor housing.

From my experience with my 91 Civic and reading posts here,
one new distributor housing in the life of a c. 1990s Honda
is about right. The new one should last you the rest of the
life of the car.

OTOH, in 2003 the yahoos at a certain independent Honda shop
with whom I dealt insisted on replacing the whole housing on
my 91 Honda, claiming it would fix the "dies after warmup
while driving and at stoplights" problem, and it did not.
Turned out to be the coil. They replaced that a couple weeks
later when my car was a "comeback."

On the third hand, like I say, with the myriad other
problems an old housing can have (stripped rotor set screw;
bad bearing; old wiring), a new housing once in a Honda's
life seems reasonable to me.

 

This exploded view of the 95 Civic CX's distributor might
help with some of the vocabulary:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=Civic&catcgry2=1995&catcgry3=3DR+CX&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=DISTRIBUTOR+%28TEC%29

The quoted price you're getting seems fair enough for a
dealer.