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1986 civic

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Old Jan 23, 2013
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1986 civic

Hi my name is Chris, and im working on a 1986 honda civic.
it has the old motor, wear the power steering pump is mounted away from the motor, behind the driver headlight set up.

i need help

i replaced the fuel filters, and the fuel pump is SHOOTING gas threw the hose that goes into the carberator.
i checked the float, and the top opens up upon cranking to see if it starts.
all of the hoses are conected to something on the motor. no loos hoses i see.

i took apart the distributor and replaced the rotor, the spark plugs, the ICM, and the magnet mounted with the ICM.
the distributor cap, is a side plug mount instead of the mount put on a 1.3L motor. i believe mine is a 1.5L

upon trying to start the car, it cranks and the starter kicks in, (battery is full power)
but it doesnt want to kick over and start and idle.

I dont know why i was wondering if anyone had any helpful hints on how to get it running without, checking the timming, and takeing the whole carburator off the motor to see if one of those could b the problems.

i fear it may be an electrical problem somewhere.
because the fuel definetly shoots into the carburator.
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Old Mar 1, 2013
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Re: 1986 civic

I just had almost the exact symptom on an 87 Civic 1.5 (same engine).

Check to see if you are getting any spark at all. Probably not.


The follow is for the Hitachi distrubtor not the Toyo-Denso. It is almost certain that you have the Hitachi if it is a base or sedan model with the 3-bbl carburetor.

A very common failure on these is a part called the igniter.

There is an easy test for it. Pull the distributer cap off. You will probably have to pull the rotor as well. There are two wires that go to connector plugs on the igniter. You can pry them up using a thin screwdriver.

With the wire plugs pulled off the igniter connector pins and the ignition key off get an ohm meter and (if there is such a scale - select the 100 Ohm scale) and check for resistance between the two pins in both directions. You should have continuity in one direction only. If you have it in neither direction, or in both directions, the igniter is bad.

The igniters can cost anywhere from $45 to $100 depending on where you find one. I recommend against the "made in China" replacements.

Changing the igniter is not hard, but I would recommend you get or borrow a manual and look at the pictures.

You remove the distributor cap, pop off the reluctor (you can usually work it off with a couple of long thin screw drivers - be careful - it is held on by a little roll-pin in a tiny slot on one side that can pop out and disappear when it comes off.) Make sure you note which way the flat-side of the reluctor arms is facing so you don't reinstall it upside down (a digital picture is a good idea before you pop it off).
With the reluctor off, you can see the two phillips screws that hold the igniter. Again be careful when you remove these, there are little barrel-like spaces that go around the screws on the back side of the igniter and these can easily be lost. They are no longer available from Honda.
You will also see another device that has posts that come up to within a few thousands of the reluctor wheel on each side. It is best not to touch the two screws that hold this down or you will need to reset the reluctor gap when you put it back together. Just eyeball it and make sure that the gap appears even on each side of the reluctor, and if it does, don't mess with the gap adjustment.

Put it all back together, and you should be good to go.

Changing the igniter is lot easier with the distributor out, and the distributor is pretty easy to pull, but don't do it unless you know how to set the engine at #1 TDC before you start and how to re-time the engine after you put it back in.

Do check the distribor for signs of oul in it. clean the distributor with electical part cleaner while you have the igniter and reluctor out, and check it for signs of oil leakage into the distributor. If there is a excessive (like liquid) oil in the distributor, it might be a good idea to just get a used one from salvage. A good used distributor from salvage runs somewhere around 25-40 and they are easy to install.

That might be better than buying a new igniter, but you do want to test it and confirm that is your problem first.
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