Brian18

Hey everyone. I have a question about my 90 Honda Civic. Yesterday I was in my car, and I had only been driving maybe 5 minutes, and all of the sudden my car died while it was idling. I tried to restart it, but it would just restart for about a second, and then die. I did this a few times, and then it finally wouldn't start at all. I just started looking around to see what the problem is, and I'm not getting any spark to my plugs. I already replaced the spark plugs and the plug wires, but still no spark to the plugs. I grounded the plug outside of the engine, and had someone crank it for me, and I saw one spark at the plug, and then that was it, no more. I retried that a couple of times, and still no spark. I was thinking maybe it was the coil, I took the distributor cap off and had someone crank the engine again. I can see the spark from the coil. So my question is does having a spark at the coil mean the coil is good? Or could it still be bad and just have a weak spark? I don't know a great deal about engines, so I'm going kind of blindly here. Thanks for any help you guys can give me. I'm kind of stuck right now, since this is my only car. So I need to fix it as soon as possible. Thanks again.

v8guy

Possibly a bad ignitor. Try reading this.

http://www.markl.force9.co.uk/howto/...er/igniter.htm

Brian18

Yeah, I thought about that too. Although I'm really hoping it's not. I keep hearing that they are pretty expensive to replace. So since there is a spark at the coil, do you think it's ok? Also, do you know of a way to test the igniter to see if it's bad?

v8guy

My CRX died last week and I thought it was the ignitor but it turned out to be a bad coil. I knew right away once I pulled off the distributor cap and saw that the coil was all scortched and melted. I had no spark at all. The only other thing between the coil and your wires is the cap and rotor. Have you replaced them? Otherwise it sounds like either a weak coil or an ignitor. Supposedly there is a way to test the ignitors but I don't know how. Perhaps you can find it online or someone else will know. My replacement coil was $64.99 from the parts place down the street. It was Wells brand aftermarket and it didn't fit properly. I had to file away some of the plastic because it was too thick and hit the housing so teh screws didn't line up. If I wasn't in such a bind I thinK I would have gotten a new Honda coil. Another thought for you is the junkyard. Perhaps you can pick up a used distributor and knock out both problems. Good luck.

Brian18

Yeah, I was thinking about checking out a junkyard.. I called Kragen, and they have the same brand coil that you said didn't fit for you. So I'm not so sure I wanna buy that one. I just found out that my ignitor was replaced about 6 months ago.. I got this car from my aunt, and she had a mechanic change it.. I know it's still a possibility that it could be bad, but it's making me think twice before just going out and buying one. I just changed the plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, and the rotor, and the same thing is happening. The inside of the coil where the spark comes from did look kind of scorched and melted. So I don't know if that's normal because that's where the spark is or not. I'm not sure what I should do now. Thanks for all of the help though.

v8guy

Well, that is where my coil was melted too, and a new one fixed the problem. The Wells one fit after I rubbed lipstick all over it and tried to install it to see where it was hitting. It was not on the end like I thought, but on the base of teh curved part. A little judicious filing and it fit but what a pain in the ass. For $65 you would think the damn thing would fit properly.

Tankard

Maybe not your problem, but a while back, my 86 crx just quit, like you turned off the ignition. It was my ignition wiring where you stick the key into the ignition. It's the electrical wiring harness that fits onto the back of the thing that turns when you turn the key. I figured this was the problem, because the radio came on and off for a second when i turned the ignition to the acc position. A problem i diagnosed and fixed myself. Makes you feel proud when you figure stuff out yourself. I remember it still turned over, the motor, but would not stay cranked because it was like you were turning it off at the same time. By the way, i remember my dad's 88 prelude had the same problem and i fixed it to.

Muddy9069

I had a similar prob on my 86. I found my ECU fuse was good but the contacts were corroded a bit. I changed the fuse and no problems since. I think what had me checking the fuse is my ENG/PGM-FI light stopped comming on when I first turned the key to the on position. Hope this helps.

Brian18

Well, I still haven't got it fixed yet.. I'm hesitant to buy the coil and the igniter, because I called Kragen, and they told me that if I buy them, they can't be returned. I have no idea why, I guess it's because it's an electrical part. Also, my aunt told me that when the igniter went bad on the car before, it was around when she first got the car, so it was years ago. She said it turned out it was a recall, and Honda replaced it free of charge. So now I have no idea if I should think it's the coil or the igniter, or possibly both. I guess I should just go ahead and buy the igniter and coil both. It's insane how that small igniter is $100.00 but oh well.. Thanks everyone for the help and ideas.

Brian18

Hey.. Just thought I'd let everyone know that I got my car fixed.. I took the coil in to be tested, and it was in fact bad.. So I got a new coil and put it in.. Once I did that, I tried to start my car, and it would almost start, but would never completely start. Well, I checked the wires going to my igniter and realized two of the connectors were bad. I changed those, hooked it all back up, and it started first try. Runs better than it ever did.. So I'm assuming the coil had been slowly going out. Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm glad I finally have a car again.