Car Died

What year and model of Honda are we talking about here?

It's an 88 Honda Civic Hatchback

evoorhies wrote in news:44bcc705-e40a-4569-acc9- snipped-for-privacy@x29g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

What model? DX, EX, Si, what? Automatic or manual? How many miles?

Did the problem crop up all of a sudden, or get worse over time?

At the moment the car refuses to start, is there spark at the plug wires while cranking?

Answer ALL questions please, not just one or two.

How many miles and how long since the timing belt was replaced?

Flatlander wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

If the timing belt broke,the starter would sound different when cranking. it would crank faster.

Igniter? are you getting a hot spark__at the plugs? Maybe the coil died.

main relay?

Hi, When is the last time you replaced the timing belt?

it's almost certainly main relay.

i have to say though, the o.p. sure isn't making life easy for himself. first, he didn't google this group - it's summer time, it's when we always get these questions. second, he's under some impression that we're all psychic.

either way, you go ahead and lead him down the timing belt road and have him spend a whole bunch of money that won't fix the problem - that'll teach him a lesson.

jim beam wrote in news:Re-dncE1wuWnOKTXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@speakeasy.net:

I'm not too sure. OP is reporting that the engine died when the gas pedal was depressed after extended idling. Main Relay problems usually manifest as no-starts, not sudden deaths.

But still, your point is well taken. OP needs to check for the magic "Three Clicks". Seeing how it's so easy to check for that, there's no real excuse for not doing so.

For sure.

Too many people don't seem to realize how much information is needed to decipher problems.

OP has failed to indicate model, so we don't know if it's TBI or port injected. Or has a tach or has not.

OP has also failed to check for spark while the no-start is occurring. Checking "the plugs" is NOT the same as checking for spark.

OP has also failed to indicate if the Check Engine light is remaining on as the engine is cranked.

Main Relay problems start showing up in my private email about this time, too. It's almost like school letting out, a sure sign of summer.

And ruling that out is easy.