Rep Power: 0

I have a 1990 civic si automatic....has 200,000 km's and has been very reliable. Started the car the other day to move it around in the driveway, started no problem, ran fine till the next day. Turn the key and just cranks.... Here's a list of things ive repaired or checked. Pulled the main relay and resoldered all the conections, checked for spark on all cylinders with a spark tester, plugs don't look fouled are in bad shape, has a new distributer assembly within the last year (previous owner), you can hear the fuel pump turning on with the key and smell fuel out the exhaust when cranking, you can see fuel on the top of the pistons when pulling the plugs, even a bit of smoke when pulling the plug out after trying to start, checked the dummy light on the ECU, just blinks the once when you turn the key to the II position, no error codes, made sure the cam is still turning looking through the oil fill hole......any help would be greatly appriciated

 
Rep Power: 518

So I understand... you moved it 20 feet, shut it off, and it hasn't started since then?

Sounds flooded. Gotta dry out the cylinders.

I might pull fuses 34 and 37 out of the engine compartment fuse box, this should shut off the ECM (kill fuel and spark delivery).

Then remove the spark plugs and crank the engine over in attempt to dry out the fuel from the cylinders.
And dry the plugs or replace then with fresh NGKs.

Then give each cylinder a teaspoon of engine oil to help restore the rings seal, since the fuel washed the oil film off the walls of the cylinder.

Reassemble, reinstall fuses, put the gas pedal to the floor and crank it. Once it tries to fire, let the pedal off the floor until it tries to fire again. Manipulate throttle to control fuel delivery.





Whenever you get an engine started, you should run and drive it all the way through its warmup period. This helps clean the spark plus of carbon, which contributes to flooding.

 
Rep Power: 0

moved it about 30 feet but yes...ha ha, ill give that a try, anything at this point is worth a go...thanks

 
Rep Power: 518

I forgot to say to crank it over again BEFORE you reinstall the spark plugs! This should blow out any excess oil.


If you got too much oil in there and screwed the plugs back in, you could hydrolock the engine when you crank it.

 
Rep Power: 0

Cleaned off the plugs with a stainless brush, pulled the fuses, turned it over, dropped half a cap of oil down the hole, turned it over, reinstalled plugs and fuses....FIRED RIGHT UP!.....thank you very much!

 
Rep Power: 518

YW. Remember all this hassle the next time you just want to move it in the driveway!