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'99 Civic won't start

Avalon

Avalon

Diamond Member
Hey guys, just got an automatic '99 Civic 4 door around April, and it's already giving me problems. Left it home for the weekend, and went to go to the airport Monday early morning and the car wouldn't start.

The starter sounds like its doing its job, but the engine won't turn over. Sounds like it wants to, but it just won't catch. The battery, timing belt, spark plugs, wires, and distributor caps are all new (as of April anyway). Was kinda hoping for some opinions on what the problem likely is. You guys have been pretty spot on for me before, so I'd rather see what everyone thinks and do it myself instead of paying to have it towed to a mechanic and then paying the mechanic to diagnose and fix the problem.

Really appreciate any help you can give me. If you need more info, let me know.
 
My brothers 93 Acura Integra had that problem after rainy conditions
While he was cranking I noticed he had a spark jumping from the body of the distributor cap.
Thing was he had a new distributor cap and wiles put on from the Honda dealer, so, does it solve your problem? maybe not but just be aware even new parts can fail.

Same thing happened to a buddy with a thermostat. failed in a relatively short time.
Couldn't believe it was bad til we changed it and the problem went away.

Fuel, air, and spark
shoot some WD in the air intake to see if it it will at least ignite if it does, fuel problem
 
If the engine won't turn over, how do you know the starter is doing its job? Does it just sit there and click, or make no sound at all? Or start to turn, but grind to a halt?
 
I think he's saying it is cranking, but it will not run.

Is it cranking normally, or slowly?

If it's cranking slowly, I'd try jumping it first.

 
I know some of the 90's Honda's were prone to bad fuel pumps. Check your fuses first, make sure ALL fuses are ok. Usually the fuel pump has a relay too. Turn your key on with nothing else on. No radio, A/C, etc. Do you here a faint sound of the pump running for a second or 2? You should......... You may have to lay on the ground and listen under the car while someone else turns the key..... The pump is located in the tank and is probably around $175-250 just for the pump and strainer. They aren't cheap.


Bob
 
Originally posted by: LTC8K6
I think he's saying it is cranking, but it will not run.

Is it cranking normally, or slowly?

If it's cranking slowly, I'd try jumping it first.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry for not being clear about that. It cranks, but will not start, and cranks strongly. Tried jumping, no go. And, just in case anyone asks, there's plenty of gas in the tank 😉

Cardiac: I'll double check my fuses. As for the pump, in my car it is right behind the engine in plain view under the hood. Very accessible. I'll try to listen to it while my roommate starts the car, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to try.
 
Originally posted by: Avalon
Originally posted by: LTC8K6
I think he's saying it is cranking, but it will not run.

Is it cranking normally, or slowly?

If it's cranking slowly, I'd try jumping it first.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry for not being clear about that. It cranks, but will not start, and cranks strongly. Tried jumping, no go. And, just in case anyone asks, there's plenty of gas in the tank 😉

Cardiac: I'll double check my fuses. As for the pump, in my car it is right behind the engine in plain view under the hood. Very accessible. I'll try to listen to it while my roommate starts the car, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to try.
Click to expand...

The best way to check this type of problem is check for the three things (air, fuel, spark).

1. Disconnect one of your spark plug wires and use a spark plug tester. While someone is cranking the car check for spark. Some people just put the spark plug wire on one of the bolts of the cam cover that is grounded anyway, which I dont' think is such a good idea electrically but.....

2. Put in a fuel pressure gauge to make sure the fuel pump is working and the car is reaching appopriate fuel pressure.

3. Check that there is no restriction in your air intake.

If all those things check out then you need to check sensors and other things like disconnect wires etc.... But if it's cranking but not starting like your saying I would check the following first.
 
fuel air and spark as said many times; and compression & timing.

In order :

fuel: check for fuel rail pressure and injector signal

spark: the ghetto way is just pull the plug wires and insert a long, insulated screwdriver into the plug end of the wire and hold the screw driver 1/4" or less or so close to a grounded bare metal surface and see if you see and hear spark when you crank it over

air: remove intake box to expose throttle and check for obstruction and working throttle

Main thing is it was working fine and suddenly stopped, so it wouldn't be anything like plugs, etc. so look for something recent that could have easily come undone on it's own. Since you said some things are recently new: distributor cap and coil/plug wires seated properly or could a clip or wire have come loose? Timing belt tensioner tensioned correctly? It can skip a tooth and not be enough to damage anything but it would be enough to prevent the engine from starting. Edit: didn't see as of April, thats been a while, so never mind on the latter.
 
As an update, I got back with the seller of the car, and he did NOT replace the timing belt, so that has roughly 80K miles on it, and according to some opinion I've gathered personally, could also be a culprit.

So things for me to check for when I get home at 5 today...

1) Filters
2) Spark
3) Fuel Pressure
4) Fuses
5) Timing belt condition

Will report back on my findings.
 
Open your gas cap. Wait a couple minutes for the fuel system to depressurize. Turn the ignition to ON (don't crank it), listen for the fuel pump
running. If it is not, its your main relay. BTW, it will probably start when it cools off!
 
My friends 99 civic wouldn't start with half a tank of gas or less. Started just fine when full though.

not sure if that helps. fuel pump probably.
 
As an update, I checked the spark plugs and the fuel pump/pressure so far. Fuel seems to be fine, and we can hear the fuel pump working. Matter of fact, the car kinda started when I showed a friend my problem today, but then puttered out and died.

That was when we checked the spark plugs, and they are pretty fouled. I really don't believe the previous owner when he said he changed them in April. Not to mention, the plug wire for the first plug is damaged. The insulation isn't covering the tip of the wire that connects to the end of the spark plug. Also, the third spark plug I can't even get a grip on with my wrench. There appears to be something down there wrapped around the area where your wrench fits, so I can't even get the damn thing out. My guess is something snapped off down there when the previous owner tried replacing his plugs.

I'm going to go out and get some new plugs and wires to fix this mess and hopefully get that third plug out somehow. I may pick up a fuel pump relay while I'm there since it's not very expensive. Once I do that, I'll try starting the car, and then go back to checking the rest of the stuff on my list if need be.

Exdeath: I do sometimes wait until the fuel light comes on before refueling. Not sure of the previous owner's habits, but when I did buy the car, the tank was empty.

Oh, one important thing I completely forgot about was that my car has rarely ever started immediately since I've had it. It usually took a couple seconds if I hadn't used the car in a while, but if I had used it previously during the day, it would start back up again immediately.
 
Originally posted by: Avalon
As an update, I checked the spark plugs and the fuel pump/pressure so far. Fuel seems to be fine, and we can hear the fuel pump working. Matter of fact, the car kinda started when I showed a friend my problem today, but then puttered out and died.

That was when we checked the spark plugs, and they are pretty fouled. I really don't believe the previous owner when he said he changed them in April. Not to mention, the plug wire for the first plug is damaged. The insulation isn't covering the tip of the wire that connects to the end of the spark plug. Also, the third spark plug I can't even get a grip on with my wrench. There appears to be something down there wrapped around the area where your wrench fits, so I can't even get the damn thing out. My guess is something snapped off down there when the previous owner tried replacing his plugs.

I'm going to go out and get some new plugs and wires to fix this mess and hopefully get that third plug out somehow. I may pick up a fuel pump relay while I'm there since it's not very expensive. Once I do that, I'll try starting the car, and then go back to checking the rest of the stuff on my list if need be.

Exdeath: I do sometimes wait until the fuel light comes on before refueling. Not sure of the previous owner's habits, but when I did buy the car, the tank was empty.

Oh, one important thing I completely forgot about was that my car has rarely ever started immediately since I've had it. It usually took a couple seconds if I hadn't used the car in a while, but if I had used it previously during the day, it would start back up again immediately.
Click to expand...

Most likely the thing your talking about that's stuck around the spark plug is the spark plug wire insulator. When you pull old spark plug wires off especially from those recessed inline engines if it's seized (lack of silicon grease). The collar will just come off and stay on the plug. Had that happened to me a couple of times.

 
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