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Car Forum / Honda Cars / December 200696 Honda won't start Part II
Well folks I have a 96 Honda Civic that ran fine and then one evening just won't start. I was advised by folks here to get a scanner before going further and I have done so. Tried it today and there are not any stored codes! I have done the following so far; Replaced the distributor cap and rotor Had the ignitor checked, they (auto parts store) report it as good Removed the air cleaner and sprayed carb cleaner in intake to see if it could be a fuel problem - no change Check the coil with an ohm meter and it checked good, I compared it to a new coil to make sure I hooked a wire from the coil spring to an air gap type spark plug tester and get spark there but not at the plugs Replaced the new distributor cap and rotor with other new ones thinking they might have been bad - same thing motor turns over fine it just won't hit! Any ideas, could the timing belt have slipped? Thanks from a shade tree mechanic, Dan > I hooked a wire from the coil spring to an air gap type spark plug > tester and get spark there but not at the plugs Why would you take the long way around? Do this instead: http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/startproblems.html#checkspark > Replaced the new distributor cap and rotor with other new ones > thinking they might have been bad - same thing Shotgun approach does not work. Be methodical. > motor turns over fine it just won't hit! Any ideas, could the timing > belt have slipped? Check timing with a timing light. Easy as pie.  SignatureTegger The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ I did check the plugs as the link suggest and there is no spark. To check timing with a timing light requires spark...doesn't it? >> I hooked a wire from the coil spring to an air gap type spark plug >> tester and get spark there but not at the plugs [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Check timing with a timing light. Easy as pie. After reading the page referenced I wonder if the coil could be bad. The old plugs were badly worn and I wonder if the high voltage side could have shorted to ground. The coil could still be good under a normal resistance check but under load the spark could jump to the case. Any thoughts? > I did check the plugs as the link suggest and there is no spark. > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >> >> Check timing with a timing light. Easy as pie. >After reading the page referenced I wonder if the coil could be bad. The old >plugs were badly worn and I wonder if the high voltage side could have >shorted to ground. The coil could still be good under a normal resistance >check but under load the spark could jump to the case. Any thoughts? About 3 or so years ago my car started running very rough and uneven. I checked the resistance on the aftermarket spark plug wires and they were within spec. I can't remember the sequence of events in replacing items but it turned out that some of the wires were shorting out inside the spark plug tube. The cause was probably a combination of cheap wires and worn plugs. Again I can't remember but I think it continued after I put the new plugs in, which helped me diagnose the problem. I don't think this is your problem though, I'm just brainstorming here. Who knows what ideas it might "spark". >> I did check the plugs as the link suggest and there is no spark. Checked with new plugs? -- John M. > I did check the plugs as the link suggest and there is no spark. > > To check timing with a timing light requires spark...doesn't it? It does indeed. Check the rotor for continuity, to make sure it's OK. Then go here: http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/startproblems.html#badcoil See near the bottom of that section for how to check the coil. If you have a tach, it's even easier. SignatureTegger The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ Tegger, I have done that and in fact have the second new rotor installed as we speak. Still a no-go. This is truly frustrating as I think I have covered all the bases. I am contemplating a new coil as a last resort as I don't have any other ideas. Dan >> I did check the plugs as the link suggest and there is no spark. >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > If you have a tach, it's even easier. Well folks it's fixed. After reading the FAQ (thanks Tegger) and considering that the plugs were badly worn I decided last night that the coil had to be the culprit. So today I took it out and sure enough there was a pin hole burned in one corner. The coil checked fine as far as the primary and secondary coil resistance is concerned, and if a wire was hooked to the coil out post and then to a plug tester it would fire. My theory is that since there is not any resistance, so to speak, in an ordinary wire it would fire fine but try to push the spark through a high resistance plug wire the fire would take an easier path out of the coil pin hole to the distributor body. Thanks for everyone's help and especially Tegger and his FAQ. Dan > Tegger, > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >> >> If you have a tach, it's even easier. > Well folks it's fixed. After reading the FAQ (thanks Tegger) and > considering that the plugs were badly worn I decided last night that [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Thanks for everyone's help and especially Tegger and his FAQ. Excellent! Glad it's fixed. Is there any way you can take a photo of the coil, specifically the area of damage? As far as current leakage goes, I have found it's not often possible to diagnose a bad coil by checking resistances with a multimeter. Pushing 3V through the coil with a tester will give very different results than when pushing 20,000V through it in actual operation. Electricity will take the path of least resistance, so I think your theory is sound: a compromised coil body would have less resistance than a 25,000 ohm plug wire, but more than a 0 ohm copper wire. Kudos to you for intelligent diagnostics. SignatureTegger The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ Tegger, yep I can get a picture, I'll get it tomorrow and send it to you? Dan >> Well folks it's fixed. After reading the FAQ (thanks Tegger) and >> considering that the plugs were badly worn I decided last night that [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Kudos to you for intelligent diagnostics. >> Is there any way you can take a photo of the coil, specifically the >> area of damage? > > Tegger, yep I can get a picture, I'll get it tomorrow and send it to > you? Please do. SignatureTegger The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ |
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