89 ED Civic wont start

[TwinCarb]

Hi Guys,

I have a 89 ED Honda Civic with the twin carb 1.5 motor.

The car cranks, there is fuel and there is spark but won't run. It sometimes feels like its not even getting compression then other times it if you hold the key it sounds like its going to start but won't continue to run. (very rare this happens though)

There is compression across all cylinders. It has spark so I don't think its the timing belt.

I have replaced the distributor with a reconditioned unit for $346 and it is exactly the same. New module, coil, rotor and cap.

The battery is now pretty dead and I suspect it might be the alternator as even when I jump the car the voltage drops below 10volts.

Any ideas?

[michael_antoi]

were u having trouble starting it even before replacing the dizzy or after replacing?

when i replaced my dizzy my car wouldn't start becoz it wasn't in the right position.

get a mate to crank the car while u turn the dizzy left and right.

worked for me perfectly.

[TwinCarb]

Yeah the car was running fine, it was sitting round for a week before the problem happened. Occassionally though when I started the car it would run rought for about 3-4mins when started cold. It appeared to be only running on 2-3 cylinders and then it would come good.

The car did the exact same thing before the new dizzy.

[michael_antoi]

There is compression across all cylinders. It has spark so I don't think its the timing belt.

just because there's spark doesn't mean the timing is set correctly.

possible might want to check that.

did u change anything to make it not start?

or just out of the blue?

[TwinCarb]

the car had been sitting round for a week. I started it and it was running really rough as in running on 3 cylinders and pumping black smoke out the back, normally I warm the car up until it comes good.

I moved it 5m and turned it off. I installed a central locking kit, drilled holes through the plastic connecters in the doors, it was wired to the postive wire off the radio circuit and the negative to the radio too. I thought I might have unplugged something under the dash. I have triple checked under the dash and all the fuses.

I unplugged everything electrical from the central locking kit including the module so its no different . It doesn't make any difference. I think it has more to do

The only reason I replaced the dizzy is a I took it down to my mechanic for him to test it. He told me it was completely dead but now I think there was nothing wrong.

[tinkerbell]

change the spark plugs and see it that helps,

i say they are gummed up with too much fuel,

at least remove them for inspection and clean up...

[TwinCarb]

Yeah new spark plugs was one of the first things I did. They were black when I pulled them out, on last inspection they were pretty clean.

[EuroDude]

A shot in the dark, but do the spark plug leeds have good resistance?
And maybe an ECU reset may help? Doubt it though.
Also are you sure fuel is entering the cylinders? Maybe the fuel pump has packed its bags.

[tinkerbell]

it is a carburetted engine... (ie no ECU reset)

[TwinCarb]

Yeah its a Twin Carb 1.5 SOHC engine

[tinkerbell]

TwinCarb

here is a link to complete factory manual for the Concerto - which shares the same engine as your civic,

i hope it helps!!!

http://media.honda.co.uk/car/owner/m...oncertoManual/

[tinkerbell]

Also are you sure fuel is entering the cylinders? Maybe the fuel pump has packed its bags.

it is a mechanical fuel pump, so this would be easy to tell,

ALSO make sure the battery is fully charged, i spent an afternoon chasing a problem and it was just that the battery was not giving enough juice whilst cranking...