honda help!

[lovemysan]

Trying to help get a friends car going. Car is a 98 civic dx 5spd. It started missing the other morning. Plugs and wires were old so we swapped in new ones. Car would not restart. Checked and rechecked plugs and wires. Checked rotor and button looks decent. Checked and now getting no fire. Tried a new ignition coil/module still no fire. No stored codes or CEL. I suspect maybe a bad distributer or cam/crank position sensor. I'm unfamiliar with hondas.

Any ideas?

[GasSavers_Ryland]

what happened when you put the old parts back in?

[kamesama980]

does it turn over easily/evenly when you crank it? I'm thinking you got the plug wires out of order perhaps.

[GasSavers_DaX]

When a problem hits, I always check to make sure you're getting everything you need to run:

1 - Air. Make sure nothing is blocking the intake. You can even take the intake off and just run the car off the throttle body as a test.

2 - Fuel. Make sure you're getting gas at the fuel rail. If you are, check to see if the injectors are spraying. This can be messy.

3 - Spark. Test each spark plug individually.

4 - Compression. Use a compression tester to make sure there is not a huge problem.

5 - Timing. Is it possible the timing belt has moved? Check the TDC marks on the cam and crank pulley and make sure both line up simultaneously.

[lovemysan]

Okay, car turns over and sounds normal, has compression. Timing belt appears good. I suspected the slipped belt before. We're getting no ignition spark at all.

There was a some codes stored but they were erased when changing the plugs and wires.

When it warms up a bit today we can check the old parts. I think the distributer or a sensor was dieing and when the plugs were changed it finished it off. It would have been nice to know the stored codes. Unfortunately my brother is doing the actual wrenching.

So next we're going to check the for power at the distributer and then signal to see if the dizzy is good.

Does anyone have a wiring diagram of the distributer? I think all the d series are the same.

[GasSavers_landon]

1. Test the Black/Yellow (BLK/YEL) wire at the igniter. It should have battery voltage with the Key On Engine Off (KOEO), and the coil negative wire should have battery voltage.

2. Next, test the Yellow/Green (YEL/GRN) wire on the igniter. It should have 9 to 12 volts produced by the igniter. If the Yellow/Green wire has the correct voltage, the Engine Control Module (ECM) should pulse the voltage to ground to create spark.

3. To test the signal, back probe the YEL/GRN wire using a lab scope or a dwell meter. Look for a square wave signal to ground or a dwell reading of 10 to 14 degrees of dwell. If the signal is good, then check for a trigger signal on coil negative. If the trigger signal is present, replace the ignition coil.

This help?

[lovemysan]

It was the distributer. He replaced it this morning now its purring like a kitten. I guessed it was the distributer first thing but I wasn't sure. I've never owned a civic. I used to be addicted to used car adds. You would often see civics listed with "new distributer" or "as is needs distributer". I reseached it some last night and discovered that the cam position sensor is not replaceable and mounted in the distributer. I spent some time over honda-tech, which can be a little taxing on the senses. The median age here is a bit higher I'd say.

Thankyou landon for the info, much appreciated.

[korax123]

Just get a new Dizzy yours is problably shot. It's pretty common on those D-Series engines. Mine went out last year on my 93 Civic.