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Engine Cranks but no dice

PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 7:31 pm
by MG6
I have a situation where I can't start the engine. Here is the story:

Leaving work, start the car and everything is fine. Gas is near E but heading to the gas station anyways so no problem.

At a stop light and all a sudden, engine cuts off. Tried to start her again, and all i hear is the crank. Seems like no spark is going to the engine for it to turn over. At this time, I'm thinking to myself:

1. Either gas is low which the fuel pump isn't getting anything to the injectors. No problem, call my bro to get some gas while I sit there in the traffic. And brother finally came and I top it off with 2 gallon of gas.

All sounds fine, and I can hear the fuel pump when I turn the key to "On".

Then my brother unplug Cylinder #3 spark plug out and oil is covering the spark plug and the wires. No problem. Tow it home and switch out some new plugs and sparks.

Switched it all out, have gas in the tank. Change the oil and Cap + rotor, wires and tried to start her up.

No Dice!!! Getting me pissed off. I smell gas coming out from the injectors. And i see small amount of gas coming out from the bottom rail where the injector are plugged into the rail.

So, is my injectors clogged? Or is it my distributor shot?

Please help as I am noticing my power steering pump is overflowing due to my cranking of the car. :x

PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:40 pm
by dawg316
pull a plug, reconect it to the wire and ground it to the engine bay, crank the car over and see if its firing. if it is not my money is on that your ignitor unit inside your dizzy is gone. replace it or just get a cheap ass junkyard dizzy and throw it on there, re time the motor and you should be good to go

PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:46 pm
by MG6
I have a feeling it might be the dist. Can't I just replace the ICM and the Coil?

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/aut ... +%28TEC%29

ICM is #7? and the Coil is #12 correct?

Also, aftermarket or OEM since it is electrical, I want to make sure I don't run into this problem until another 100k.

Thanks

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:13 am
by MG6
bump. anyone :?

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:28 pm
by d-mon
yes, 7 and 12.
i just bought an ebay distributor and it works fine, no problems.
sounds like your #3 cylinder has low compression, or bad valve seal(s).

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 7:37 pm
by MG6
Thanks for the info. I don't think it is cylinder #3 with low compression as it was leaking from the valve cover grommet. But I will do a compression test to make sure.

Thanks
Mike

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 8:30 pm
by That One Dude
Only (and I mean THE only) problem I had with buying a new OEM ICM and Igniter was the cost... The ICM was $260 at my dealer...I forgot my Vasoline.

Cost aside, I wouldn't but anything less than OEM for the ignition system. But that's just me. Lots of people have had good luck with ebay and MSD ignitions, but don't take that as a consistent factor.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:22 am
by MG6
Thank you.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:32 am
by Ajax1989
what i did was went down to autozone and got a duralast dizzy for like 180ish after the core with a life time warrenty.. ive had no problems yet

ya ya i know its a duracrap but its life time warrenty(FREE if it goea bad) and i herd that the reason the icm goes bad on our hondas (herd from my uti instructor so dont qutoe me on this) is the resistance builds up in the spark wires causing the icm to fry faster then normal.. is this true??

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:13 pm
by MG6
Thanks for the tip. I got a new core with all the internal. but still no dice. sounds like how it was when it first stalled.

So now is the question for all again:

What should i inspect to make sure all parts are working the way it should.

* Inspect spark to see if I am getting any?
* Would it be fuel injectors causing this?
anything else I need to inspect and what is the steps.

New Parts
* New Distributor already so that can't be it.
* New Spark wires
* New Cap and rotor
* Changed oil

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:47 pm
by Torch_Ind
when you turn you key on does your eng light do the self check and light up for a second or come on at all

I had a relay go in my accord and the eng light would not come on cause the relay was shot and would not power up the ecm and other components

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:54 pm
by MG6
Yup, all lights turns on and engine light turns off after the cycle. Fuel primes and everything works as far as i see and hear.

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:19 pm
by Torch_Ind
MG6 wrote:Yup, all lights turns on and engine light turns off after the cycle. Fuel primes and everything works as far as i see and hear.


well check for spark and injector pulse.

fuel pressure

other then that it should fire or at least try to do something

could also see if your distributor shaft spins when you turn it over the eng sound normal when turning make sure the timing belt is still there

but if you have spark and injector pulse it should still be spinning.

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:21 pm
by MG6
so i went out to the car again to see what the engine light stays on. And it does this time.

I have a #6 water temperature sensor. Time to do a search and find out if this is the T-stat location.


Edit -
Crap! I took out the distributor. No wonder it is throwing a code!!! Going to put it back on and find out what is the deal. :x

To answer your question torque, yup. T belt is still there. I took the cover off and 0 the crank so it will all set for go. But still no dice. It tried to turn over but dies after coupe more cranks. I am leaning toward no spark... but will this cause by the main relay as well?

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:52 pm
by MG6
update:
Connected all the harness together. No Engine Light staying on after 1 sec when it is turned on position.

Here is the thing:
When turn key to On, I hear 1 click, then 1 click after when the engine light turns off.

So the main relay looks like it is working. But I am suspecting it is the fuel pump now. I don't hear a hmm sound. Is it suppose to be pretty loud or is there a way for me to test the fuel pump?

:x