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I'm working on a friends '97 Honda Civic. It has a crank no start condition.
He's replaced the fuel pump and filter on his own. I've verified fuel is making it to the engine by removing the fuel rail and injectors and cranking the motor with the key...fuel is spraying out of all injectors.
His spark plug wires were welded/corroded to the spark plugs, but the spark plugs didn't look too bad, other than what looked like burnt oil on them.
We replaced the spark plug wires and spark plugs and verified spark using my inline spark plug tester at all 4 wires.
No vacuum leaks indicated with a smoke test.
We have fuel, spark, and vacuum, but still crank and no start.
Checked the trouble codes with my scanner and it shows no codes. It connects, just shows no codes reported.
The next thing I checked was the fuses. I checked all fuses under the driver's side dash related to ignition and starting, none were blown.
I checked the fuses under the hood, and I'm unsure of the bigger 40A and 80A fuses. The 40A fuse is an ignition fuse.
If this fuse isn't bad, I'm moving on to checking for a bad sensor/sensors...
Which sensors would be bad and cause a crank no start condition with fuel, spark, and vacuum being verified ?
I can go back over to him and crank it over on video if that helps you help me.
You say a faulty crank sensor would throw a code ?
It should throw P1359 if it's no good.
Originally Posted by Tynan918
How about a stuck or dirty idle air control (IAC) or Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) ?
I've never known those to cause no-starts. Rough running, sure, but never a no start completely. I suppose if you leave it for long enough in a rough running state, it could potentially cause a no start, but again, it should code at that point.
I've never known those to cause no-starts. Rough running, sure, but never a no start completely. I suppose if you leave it for long enough in a rough running state, it could potentially cause a no start, but again, it should code at that point.
Possible bad PCM, even though it communicates with my scanner ?
"Marge, anyone could miss Canada! All tucked away down there."
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 9,637
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From: Barrie, ON Canada
Rep Power: 222
Re: Crank No Start '97 Civic
Seems like its almost there. You may have washed out all the cylinders from trying to start it so many times. Potentially fouled/wet the plugs if they were replaced early on.
Did you touch the ignition timing at all?
Seems like its almost there. You may have washed out all the cylinders from trying to start it so many times. Potentially fouled/wet the plugs if they were replaced early on.
Did you touch the ignition timing at all?
Haven't touched the timing yet. Customer said it just died on him while driving and has been recently showing signs of engine power loss.
"Marge, anyone could miss Canada! All tucked away down there."
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 9,637
Likes: 1,283
From: Barrie, ON Canada
Rep Power: 222
Re: Crank No Start '97 Civic
If the timing wasn't touched leave it alone. You check it with a timing light.
I'd be rechecking the plugs and checking compression, it almost wants to start.
If the timing wasn't touched leave it alone. You check it with a timing light.
I'd be rechecking the plugs and checking compression, it almost wants to start.
I do have a dial back timing gun and a compression gauge, but IDK how I'm going to get my compression gauge down the spark plug holes on the motor...
If the timing wasn't touched leave it alone. You check it with a timing light.
I'd be rechecking the plugs and checking compression, it almost wants to start.
Spark plugs were Autolite brand, and I just took them straight from the box and installed them. Not sure if they came pre-gapped... What should the gap be on the spark plugs ?
"Marge, anyone could miss Canada! All tucked away down there."
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 9,637
Likes: 1,283
From: Barrie, ON Canada
Rep Power: 222
Re: Crank No Start '97 Civic
No idea what the gap is supposed to be, check the sticker under the hood or the owners manual.
should only use ngk plugs on a honda, but they should be better than what was in there
If the timing wasn't touched leave it alone. You check it with a timing light.
I'd be rechecking the plugs and checking compression, it almost wants to start.
How do I check timing with my timing gun ? Where are the timing marks to watch for ?
No idea what the gap is supposed to be, check the sticker under the hood or the owners manual.
should only use ngk plugs on a honda, but they should be better than what was in there
The spark plug gap for a 1.6 L is 0.044".
Upon looking at my compression gauge, the hose looks to be long enough to thread into the spark plug holes.
If two cylinders are showing the "absolute minimum" of 130 PSI and under, this engine is running on 2 cylinders, 1 of those cylinders on it's way out at 145 PSI and oil on the spark plug.
Also the 175 PSI from cylinder 4 in variation difference of the other results is 30+ PSI.
I'm assuming this engine has had it and unless removed and rebuilt, it isn't going to start.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just shooting my opinion on these results.
That compression is honestly better than what I'd expect for something with that mileage. All the cylinders on my '01 were around 110-120 at about 200k miles, and while it was completely gutless and burned pretty significant oil, it still ran okay. That's enough to run, regardless of the deviation.
If you hadn't told me that the injectors are working, I would've said that's a textbook fuelling issue. Your next option is to check sensors. I believe a bad crank sensor (I believe Denso's the OEM? Either way, avoid aftermarket) could replicate what's going on in the video, but I'm surprised it's not coding.
That compression is honestly better than what I'd expect for something with that mileage. All the cylinders on my '01 were around 110-120 at about 200k miles, and while it was completely gutless and burned pretty significant oil, it still ran okay. That's enough to run, regardless of the deviation.
If you hadn't told me that the injectors are working, I would've said that's a textbook fuelling issue. Your next option is to check sensors. I believe a bad crank sensor (I believe Denso's the OEM? Either way, avoid aftermarket) could replicate what's going on in the video, but I'm surprised it's not coding.
How hard is it to remove that crank sensor ? The owner wants to scrap the car but if it's not a big job to get to the crank sensor and replace it then maybe I can reassure him not to scrap the car.
That compression is honestly better than what I'd expect for something with that mileage. All the cylinders on my '01 were around 110-120 at about 200k miles, and while it was completely gutless and burned pretty significant oil, it still ran okay. That's enough to run, regardless of the deviation.
If you hadn't told me that the injectors are working, I would've said that's a textbook fuelling issue. Your next option is to check sensors. I believe a bad crank sensor (I believe Denso's the OEM? Either way, avoid aftermarket) could replicate what's going on in the video, but I'm surprised it's not coding.
If the crankshaft sensor was bad, wouldn't that throw a DTC code ?
If the crankshaft sensor was bad, wouldn't that throw a DTC code ?
It should, yes, but anything from this point onwards should, so all bets are off. Hope the guy understands that. Probably worth doing the cheapest and easiest ideas first, which is cleaning the MAF.
The sensor's just behind the timing cover near the crankshaft pulley. I can't imagine it'd take more than an hour, maybe an hour and a half.
