Last Saturday my 95 Civic DX failed to start. I had a friend who is experienced with cars, and he came to a conclusion that it is the distributor (or one of the distributor components, such as coil or ICM or ignitor). According to him, the distributor did not produce a spark. We opened up the distributor, and I was cranking the engine, while he held a screw driver next to the rotor, and there was no spart between the screw driver and the rotor.

So I bought a whole new distributor, that is a complete assembly, and installed it, yet the car still does not start. I was replacing it by myself, so I was unable to test whether there is spart or there isnt; however the symptoms are the same as with the old distributor - the engine cranks, but wont start.

I've checked the ECU fuse, it's fine. Just in case i took off the distributor and rotate the spindle 180 degrees, and reinstalled it - still wouldnt start, but the crank sounds differently, sounds like its cranking faster. So at this point, I am not even sure whether or not the distributor is mounted correctly or 180 degree reverse, but from what i understand, even if it was 180 degree reversed, the engine would still start, but would hesitate a lot.

So my questions are, what else could it be besides the distributor? what is a sure way to find out whether or not the distributor rotor is in correct position or 180 degree reversed? Am i testing for spark the correct way by holding screw driver to the rotor while cranking the engine? What if there is still no spark, could it be anything else besides the distributor?

Another thing that comes to mind is that when i last fueled up, i added a bottle of injector cleaner into the tank of gas, but I've already traveled on that gas for 110 miles before the car died, and have started it multiple times. There's about 5/8 tank still remaining.

 

easiest way to tell if you're getting spark is to connect a timing light. if it flashes, you have spark.
have you tried bumping the Main relay? Have you checked the Helm Manual for troubleshooting?
As far as I know you can't get the distributor 180deg off. the slot in the end is not centered, so if you have it in there 180deg off you may have damaged something all ready.

 

Just found someone to help me out, and there is a spark. Even though the spark is red in color and the guy says it should be purple. Is that true?

About the 180 degree, I broke the end slot on the new rotor, so i took it off, and put on the one from the old rotor. But obviously, i wasnt sure whether or not i put the slot 180 degree reversed, so after the car didnt start for the first time, i removed it, and took off the slot off the spindle, and reversed it. Reinstalled and the same thing, wont start.

 

Just a note that I am also keeping an eye on the thread, my roommate's 93 del sol si is experiencing similar problems. Engine was running fine, started it up one morning, backed out of the driveway, and then it died won't start again. I thought it might also be a distributor problem, but, a few times while cranking the motor and holding down the gas pedal the engine did start, rev to 4-5K, then spin back down even though the gas pedal was held down (won't stay running.)

So, rather than an ignition problem, I'm now leaning more towards a fuel or sensor issue. I checked the "useful links" section and read quite a bit, but I haven't found a way to diagnose what this problem is on my own yet. I'm sure Ochdx could appreciate the guidance as well.

 

bump

 

bump

 

something to check....

the main relay
it powers the fuel pump and tells the ECU that the ignition switch is on.
so it can cut fuel and spark. depending on which part is bad it can kill one or the other or even both. It cut ignition on mine, frustrating as hell till I found it.

took a few minutes to fix with a soldering iron.
Be sure to check out the links at the top of that page also for the igniter.

sorry if you've checked it all ready, just throwing out possibilities.

 

the whole distributor is replaced, and produces spark

 

fuel is flowing too, just tested it, very good pressure

 

the only thing to comes to mind now is either the ECU or the timing belt. Any other ideas?