94 civic no start

Hi there;

About two months ago, when a big snowstorm came down and dropped 7-10" snow here in New Jersey, USA, it was the first time my car didn't start in the morning. Let me tell you precisely what happened. As always, when i went to start my car in the morning, instead of the check engine light coming on for 2-3 seconds and going off, this time it stayed on and i didn't hear the clicking sound. It did crank up but it didn't start. (I have a 94' Honda Civic by the way). When i came back in the afternoon to try it once more, this time it did start right away. This happened to me again later that week. I did the same thing and i was able to start it in the afternoon.

So fast forward, until a couple of days ago, i had no problems but when we had another 5-6" of snow, same thing happened. Actually this time, all of the sudden, the car stopped running in the middle of the road. When i tried it right after it stopped, it worked but i was nervous. After that night, following morning, i couldn't start it again. Up to now, it still is not working. And that's the whole story.
So i was wondering if you guys could give me some recommendations on that. Thank you very much

DJ

what is the code ?

i did try to read the code this morning and all of the sudden, again like last time, car started to run again. Now i can't read the code since it's working. I took the car to Midas, they said they couldn't do anything either since the check engine light is not on. I have no idea what's going on. Would it be related to cold weather and may it recur in another cold weather? Or what could it be?

DJ

the code should be stored in the ecu

Most cars have a cold start sensor that could be your problem, but even if the cel doesn't come on, the diagnostic test will still pick up the thrown code.. my cel didn't come on when my vtec stopped working but I did a test and it flashed and I got the code..

Hey there;
After a while, i am replying again. Let me tell you what i've done to solve the problem. First of all, let me recap what's been happening with my car for the past 3 months. It basically sometimes doesn't start and CEL comes on and stays on. The car cranks, lights come on while the radio doesn't work at all. After 1-2-3 minutes, the radio resets itself and the car starts with no CEL on.
Second, the car dies out every once in a while (3-4 times a day) while driving and CEL comes back on. I usually pull over to the shoulder. Again 1-2 minutes later, the car starts while CEL goes away.
What I've done so far:
-Took it to a mechanic, he said it'd be the main relay going bad, I've had it changed. Nothing happened.
-Took it to Midas twice hoping to have the code read through CEL. They couldn't, they said no code stored. Also they said, alternator is working fine.
-Changed the battery thinking that it doesn't supply enough power for the car to start. Nothing happened..
- Took it to Honda dealer for inspection. They said i MAY need a tuneup and that'd be a starting point. Couldn't pinpoint exactly what's the problem since it happens intermittingly.
-Nowadays planning to change the timing belt after i looked up on the Net and found out the common symptom before changing the timing belt is that the engine stops sometimes. Hopefully it'll work..

Any suggestions, guys? I really would like to hear from you..
Thanks so much!

Lol at the chance to snd like a broken record...


on some hondas they have a chip right next/in the distrubitor cap, this chip is knowen to go bad due to heat problems. happend in my car. will cause the car to just die and then you have to wait for a while for it to start again, another thing, if it is this chip it will just get worse. mine started once a 2 week pierod it would do it, by the end it was happing all the dang time. this chip is like 100-150 dollars. your mech should of checked this, mine ( who works on chevys and fords ect... cars for the most part imeditally checked this item ) also the honda guys saying to get a tune up. a tune up is a good idea but they just wanna get money from you :P check the chip I was talking about, find a good mech or ask honda about it. it really snds like that might be your issue.

any ways good luck

Lol at the chance to snd like a broken record...


on some hondas they have a chip right next/in the distrubitor cap, this chip is knowen to go bad due to heat problems. happend in my car. will cause the car to just die and then you have to wait for a while for it to start again, another thing, if it is this chip it will just get worse. mine started once a 2 week pierod it would do it, by the end it was happing all the dang time. this chip is like 100-150 dollars. your mech should of checked this, mine ( who works on chevys and fords ect... cars for the most part imeditally checked this item ) also the honda guys saying to get a tune up. a tune up is a good idea but they just wanna get money from you :P check the chip I was talking about, find a good mech or ask honda about it. it really snds like that might be your issue.

any ways good luck

you know i have no idea what chip you are talking about and i know civic engines pretty good.

the ecu stores the code, whether or not the CEL is on, if it flashes once, the code will be stored in the ecu till it is cleared. find out what code your being thrown

#1 get the CEL.

you have electrical? you check for spark????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????

well i was saying some hondas, my car was an accord, I wish i knew what it was called, but I had to replace the chip and i picked it up my self from the dealership and had my mech install it. I will look around and see if i can get the name of it for you

Lol at the chance to snd like a broken record...


on some hondas they have a chip right next/in the distrubitor cap, this chip is knowen to go bad due to heat problems. happend in my car. will cause the car to just die and then you have to wait for a while for it to start again, another thing, if it is this chip it will just get worse. mine started once a 2 week pierod it would do it, by the end it was happing all the dang time. this chip is like 100-150 dollars. your mech should of checked this, mine ( who works on chevys and fords ect... cars for the most part imeditally checked this item ) also the honda guys saying to get a tune up. a tune up is a good idea but they just wanna get money from you :P check the chip I was talking about, find a good mech or ask honda about it. it really snds like that might be your issue.

any ways good luck

i believe he is referring to the coil.

anyways, check for spark? cap, rotor, coil, wires, plugs.

ps: the CEL is important.

i believe he is referring to the coil.

anyways, check for spark? cap, rotor, coil, wires, plugs.

ps: the CEL is important.


Fellas, first of all, thanks for all those responses. "Bob Stone"'s article might help cos that's what exactly is happening to my car nowadays. It started out as every two-three weeks period. Now, it's happening twice-three times a day. And when it dies, you just have to wait 2-3 minutes to start and it will. If that's called coil, I will go ask for that ASAP. Or what is it exactly called?

For those who said the thrown code can be picked up, I did try to read CEL code when the car died out by sticking a needle. Nothing's flashing. Plus I had the mech check it and neither was he able to read anything.

wow wish I could rember exactly what it was, but if you look at the distrubiter cap it is like a resonbly big chip that fits in to the bottom part of it, it very well might have been an electrionic coil ? wish I could give a better explanition, btw this was on an accord, I figure it would be on other hondas but it might be diffrent on your, however what ever it is called my mech told me it is a common problem on my car so I figured it might be an issue with the year of hondas, I had a 92-93 ( cant rember which) and your is a 94 so I figured they used the same part. any ways if it is that part and you car has the same style one, ask about coil and if that is not it ask about a chip near / in the distrubitor ?? best of luck

like what has been said before..............checking for spark will narrow your search. no spark..........then....................that narrows it down to the ignition system. why drop $100 on a new coil if you dont check if its working first. it might not even be the coil. it may be the rotor, cap, or dizzy.

you can just pull the coil and give it a look. 5 - 10mins of your time.

hehe didnt mean to change it before verfiing it, the guy who worked on my car might have checked it some how, but I look at what he pulled out, it didnt look dmaged. that is why i said go to honda and tell them about that part to see if they can test it, the problem that happens to it is that in chips, and what not, as they get hot they expand and as they expand they will normaly work ok, but if they got dmage on the curcit bord or the actul "chip it self" it might have gotten a fualty connection which when heated it will expand and break that connection, is a common problem with computers ( you know that computer that always crashes for no reason or, one way ram goes bad ) which would of course explain the problem, at first it only dies every now and then, cause the dmages is minimal. but as time goes on it gets worse and worse and it takes less expansion to break whatever connection is breaking, cause every time it expands to far it dmages it more. none of this can normaly be seen by the naked eye, like if you ever got bad ram, inless it cracked a chip ( extreem) or caught fire ( also extreem) you wont see anything wrong with it. also I do agree with most of superbluecivicsi's comments, check the other stuff also. just not the comment that you can look at it and tell. ( no offence intended superbluecivicsi)

but to be honest I was not sure how the mech knew it was bad ?? he might have checked it some how ( but that would be hard seeing as how the problem works, it gets hot cause it is close to the engine, then over time it failes, then it needs to cool down for a few mins then it works again till it is to hot) so I cant really think of a way to test it out side of the car. he might have just knowen about that problem ( moment I explained what was happing he said it was that part ) but he did check my spark and what not first.

i dont know what to say. if you are recieving electrical then check spark. if you have no spark, then, the problem lies between the plug wires to the dizzy components. when a coil goes bad, it goes bad and just dies. when its the ignitor you will have some symptoms prior. basically your ignition system. just check it.

i dont know what to say. if you are recieving electrical then check spark. if you have no spark, then, the problem lies between the plug wires to the dizzy components. when a coil goes bad, it goes bad and just dies. when its the ignitor you will have some symptoms prior. basically your ignition system. just check it.


I need to add this after the discussion heated up to clear up things. More info:
The problem tended to recur several times in the same day when it was especially snowing for some reason whereas for example it hadn't recurred for a week until today. (In Jersey its been sunny for a week or so). Also I drove the car very carefully. I made turns slowly and accelerated real slow as well so that might be why it hasn't been happening either. But I just wanted to add that.
Second, when the car dies out, in that 2-3 minute period, everything works (headlights, signal lights) but the radio! It even cranks up just to let you fellas know. The radio resets itself to factory setting when the car starts to work.
Third, I had the ignition module changed as well. I might have forgot to mention. Nothing improved. Hope this will help in the orientation of the debate.

ahh never mind on my idea then, when my car did the die thing it would not turn over right for a few mins, just a clicking snd not a normal cranking of the engine