95 Civic CX no sparks

Hi all! Everything was working fine,came to a stop sign,ok went ahead and engine died totally.It will crank no problems,i could smell gas,i hear the pump pumping the gas but no spark. What should i look at? The car is going on ther computer Friday sometimes. Just looking for input. Thanks a bunch!!!

Reply to
patbro
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First two candidates:

If the car refuses to start, igniter (on the distributor housing). Roughly $100 part, plus another $50 to $100 to replace it.

If this has happened before, ignition coil (mounted on the distributor housing as well).

For more info, see

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Reply to
Elle

Reply to
patbro

Hi Pat, I do not think a bad igniter sets codes. It's a common malady discussed here often, plus I've had one go bad on my 91 Civic, and I don't recall any codes.

Plenty of online Honda manuals and instructions (with drawings and/or photos!) are available to help with removal of the igniter /and/ diagnosis of it, BTW. It is definitely a do-it-yourself job if you're a little handy. Tegger's site is a good starting point. The following site has links to online manuals:

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If you do replace it, only buy OEM. It can be had from online parts sites for under $100, generally.

One other thing: When was the car last tuned up (new plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, timing checked, new air and fuel filters, maybe a new PCV valve)? Were OEM parts used?

In the past year, I recall two no start or rough running conditions for Hondas here, and all that was needed was something like new plugs or wires.

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Reply to
Elle

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Look in the oil filler cap and see if anything rotates when a friend gives the starter a spin for a couple seconds. You may have a broken timing belt.

'Curly'

Reply to
'Curly Q. Links'

Reply to
patbro

"'Curly Q. Links'" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@interbaun.com:

You should be able to tell just from the sound difference in cranking;when the belt on my 73Civic CVCC broke,the motor "whirred" really fast compared to normal cranking. Lucky it was a non-interference engine!

Reply to
Jim Yanik

Reply to
patbro

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What kind of "ROTOR" costs $300 ? ? ? Canadian tire sells me rotors for my distributor that cost about $11.

'Curly'

Reply to
'Curly Q. Links'

Reply to
patbro

Reply to
patbro

Probably what was meant was the distributor housing.

From my experience with my 91 Civic and reading posts here, one new distributor housing in the life of a c. 1990s Honda is about right. The new one should last you the rest of the life of the car.

OTOH, in 2003 the yahoos at a certain independent Honda shop with whom I dealt insisted on replacing the whole housing on my 91 Honda, claiming it would fix the "dies after warmup while driving and at stoplights" problem, and it did not. Turned out to be the coil. They replaced that a couple weeks later when my car was a "comeback."

On the third hand, like I say, with the myriad other problems an old housing can have (stripped rotor set screw; bad bearing; old wiring), a new housing once in a Honda's life seems reasonable to me.

Reply to
Elle

This exploded view of the 95 Civic CX's distributor might help with some of the vocabulary:

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The quoted price you're getting seems fair enough for a dealer.

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Reply to
Elle

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