hey guys long time no post so heres the low down, im at my parents house three hours away from school and i go gas up so i can leave in the morning when my lovely 86 honda civic winter beater decides its not starting. i drove it a good 4 hours here with absolutly no trouble. i go to start it this morning/afternoon and now evening and it just aint happening. this morning it was about -8 with out wind and now is about 4. i thought maybe i was just to low on gas as i only had about a gallon in the tank so i bum a ride to the gas station and get a 2 gallon jug to drop in the tank. did that and nothings changed. i get in the car and trun the key and it trys to start. it turns the starter and the tach shows that its turning the motor but its not doing ****. occasionaly it chuges a "bump" of compression out wit a shake but thats it. i decided tp pull the breahter off and put some gas down the carb on the off chance something froze up ~its the over complicated carb just before everything went to throttle body~ anyways dumped some gas down it and absoluty nothings changed. it turns and just does nothing excep the occasional shudder. so eventualy the batterie wears down so i decide to put some jumper cables across to my brothers truck and turn the key. it just turns like its got no gas in it or somehting but i know its got gas. then out of no were every couple of turns i get a "pop" not realy like a shotgun blast out the tail pipe more of a hard rubber 'pop' sound but i think it might be back fireing out the carb? it did this a couple of times and then it got worse so i said screw it and came back inside. its got juice, its got gas, it turns wtf? ive got a rediculously big test monday morning three hours away ive gota leave in the morning and im totaly out of ideas. anybody have any thoughts other then push it off a bridge? thanx tim
it's cold..when is the last time you put in new spark plugs? plug wires? battery cables? Heet in the fuel? can you get it inside where it is warmer? even in an unheated attached garage garage it can be 10-15 degrees warmer..and that can make a difference how about a knipco heater? point it at the front of the car and cover it with a canvas tarp last resort: starting fluid...don't use too much
Sure sounds like you flooded it to me. An '86 is EFI, right? If so the extra gas down the thorttle body is not helping. Pull the plugs, heat them with the flame on the stove or a torch. Turn the motor over a few times WITHOUT the plugs, then install them and try it. Don't touch the accelerator pedal. Let it try to start on it own. Make sure the battery is flly charged or get a jump. Low voltage in the battery combined with what the starter draws leaves very little for ignition.
I second the timing belt. If it is that you might as well push it off of a bridge. They usually bend valves.
thanx guys i think im going to go and get some heet to throw in it. thought about getting a smoldering log out of the fire and tossing it under there but with my luck..... anyways, it could be flooded i guess but after leaving it sit for 5 hours when i had to go to work i figured it would have been good to go when i got back, exp after having it turn over so many times without hitting the gas? think ill get some heat and try and get a nipco pointed at it and see what happens. the plugs/wires/ect seem to be fine thanx again and if anybodys got any more ideas though em up kinda seems like a sign from god saying go buy a different car though lol tim
It sounds as if the timing belt wore and jumped it out of sync on the cam and crank pulley.. Wish I could be of more help. Jan
I find it unlikely that the timing belt is the issue- it was running fine, he parked it, and then no startie. My guess-Ignition Module. the occasional pop out of the pipe and carb tells me so- it is no loger telling the thing when to fire, and when it does, you're loaded up with fuel. check it for spark tomorrow when it's a little nicer.
my 86 d50 in high school did the same thing, it was the catalytic converter, got all clogged up and put too much pressure on the engine, had my exhaust manifold glowing red before it quit. I took the converter off and punched the insides out with a long screwdriver, probably not good to breath the stuff either.
If its flooded try this.... pop the spark plug wire boots off of the plugs but leave them sit on the plugs so the spark has to jump from the boot to the plug. Pull the fuse for the fuel pump or clamp off the fuel line. Open the throttle half way and crank the car over. It might help to take the battery in the house to warm up and charge it, or at least jump it like you did before. Honda's are notorious for the rotor coming loose, these are bolted to the distributor shaft and when the little bolt comes loose and falls out the shaft spins but the rotor isn't in time anymore and just spins anyway it wants to. This may explain why it hits every once in awhile. Carefully remove the distributor cap and check this, the reason you want to be careful is that the little bolt or screw may fall out and if you loose that you are screwed.... Tomo
quick quasi update, got it chargering via some jumpers as its alot of ice until im close enough to the house to plug in a charger to it, threw some starter influid down the carb and dumped some heat in it. let it sit for about 20 minutes and turned it with just the key and it realy sounds like it wants to start now. its ben another 10 or so minutes im gona wait a while and go and try it again. let that heet soak in some more and get some juice to it and i think i should be in buseness~fingres cross~frozen as its cold as **** out but crossed non the less ill keep you up dated timeing belt~dont think its that as per the it ran fine and i parked it and now its being lame flooded~could happen but it sat for every and then i turned it with out the key figure it would have cleared it out rotor~wonderfull idea, i might check that out later if this doesnt work but its starting to sound more regular i think maybe an 86 honda doesnt like being left out in sub -11 temps over nightand it pouting let ya know what happens thanx again tim
I just checked out autozone.com under their repair guides and I take it you have a mechanical pump, not an electric like I thought, so it might be your module like LUX said. I had a dodge van that ran fine to the shop and when I came out 10 minutes later...nothing....blew the computer out. Take a look at the site for help they have manuals scanned in their database for all years and makes. Duh... I just clued in.... your talking -8 farenheit not celcius -that is cold Kripes! your lines probably are frozen thats the only time ive had them ice up at -20 celsius or below
ok one thing that will help being from MINNESOTA- go buy some charcoal- put it in a metal trash can lid, light it, wait till its ready to cook steaks on- jack up the front of the honda, slide it under the engine... and let it heat that whole engine compartment up... that with the heet in the gas tank- should get it to go, most likely you had water in your fuel system... its always either fuel or spark- if you got spark its not getting gas- heat it up- I've done it quite a few times and it works really really well... especially since its a CHEAP fix for college dudes... do it. if it was running fine up to the driveway most likely its not something big... Tuck
I second the ignition module-they tend to quit when shut off then not start....... Also try listening in gas cap[Fuel inj] when switch is switched on and se if you hear fuel pump running....[OR - not- if has a mechanical pump]. next try a short peice of steel wire in a plug wire end /crank it to see if you have spark at the wires at all.....or have a dummy hold it and shock him..... if it has hi miles -jumped timing belt sounds likely....
I've had timing belts go in 3 different vechiles and in each case they broke or stripped on startup seems thats when they get the most strain on them at initial startup
my ex had a nissan pickup that when she went to start it one cold morning the camshaft broke in two just behind the first cylinder, the truck was only a year old and she got a new engine for free, i used to fix alot of vegas that the cam belt jumped at startup, in fact i have never heard of a belt going as they were running.
its a honda. pull your cap.. bet its all jacked up. and go get a new cap and rotor. very common problem once it starts getting cold. Ive owned a bunch of civics (shhh dont tell any one) But ill bet ya 100 bucks that what it is.
with an over night ~with wind chill~ low of -23 :S i found the one store with a magnetic pan heater left (every farm store in a 20ish mile radius was sold out as it seems alot of ppl were having the same lovely problem ) and poped it on there for a few hours and it poped right off. time for some thinner oil and a good supplie of heet i think. thanx guys i apreciate it
Glad you got it going again. I'm "salting out" a '90 Civic this winter and although it hasn't failed to start for me yet, it sure does start hard when it's this frickin' cold.
In that kind of weather synthetic oil is a must, it will make the difference between starting and not starting. Some 0W-30 Mobil 1 ought to do the trick.
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