Technical Assistance Needed

[dankid]

I'm sorry if i'm posting this in the wrong place but I'm new here and really need some help with my civic. I have a 1.5L 1992 civic Dx with automatic transmission. Recently the car only starts on some days. The car seems to start fine when I turn the key halfway and hear the little noise the ecu makes when it starts up. But other times the ecu doesn't make the start up sound when the key is halfway and the car won't start at all. At first I thought that the ecu must be bad so I purchased another ecu off of ebay. I installed the new ecu and the car started a few times but when I got home after a short drive the car didn't want to start up again. My guess is that the source of the problem must come from wherever the ecu gets it's start up signal from. I do not know what to do. And I don't have the money right now to have it towed to a mechanic. Does anyone have any ideas of what it could be? I've already changed the spark plug wires, spark plugs, distributor cap, and fuel filter and still nothing. I know it must be something electrical but I don't know what.

[E Honda]

Originally Posted by dankid

I'm sorry if i'm posting this in the wrong place but I'm new here and really need some help with my civic. I have a 1.5L 1992 civic Dx with automatic transmission. Recently the car only starts on some days. The car seems to start fine when I turn the key halfway and hear the little noise the ecu makes when it starts up. But other times the ecu doesn't make the start up sound when the key is halfway and the car won't start at all. At first I thought that the ecu must be bad so I purchased another ecu off of ebay. I installed the new ecu and the car started a few times but when I got home after a short drive the car didn't want to start up again. My guess is that the source of the problem must come from wherever the ecu gets it's start up signal from. I do not know what to do. And I don't have the money right now to have it towed to a mechanic. Does anyone have any ideas of what it could be? I've already changed the spark plug wires, spark plugs, distributor cap, and fuel filter and still nothing. I know it must be something electrical but I don't know what.

When you say does not start are you implying it turns over but does not fire?.........Or just does nothing.

[dankid]

It turns but does not fire. I do not hear the humming sound that you usually hear when you turn the key halfway. I just searched on the web and found out that it may be the main relay. I'm gonna pull the relay tomorrow and see if it needs to be re-soldered.

[E Honda]

Originally Posted by dankid

It turns but does not fire. I do not hear the humming sound that you usually hear when you turn the key halfway. I just searched on the web and found out that it may be the main relay. I'm gonna pull the relay tomorrow and see if it needs to be re-soldered.

None of the relays should need to be soldered........Just plugged in.

[superbluecivicsi]

check relay and fuel pump.

[95dxcivic]

i dont think that noise your talking about comes from the ecu, i think its the fuel pump, maybe the days that you dont hear the noise is when the fuel pump doesnt start so your engine doesnt fire,

[superbluecivicsi]

Originally Posted by 95dxcivic

i dont think that noise your talking about comes from the ecu, i think its the fuel pump, maybe the days that you dont hear the noise is when the fuel pump doesnt start so your engine doesnt fire,

[dankid]

Thanks for the replies guys. I found out that the humming noise when you turn the key halfway is not the ecu. It's the fuel pump like some of you said. I checked a few websites and found out that it's a common problem with hondas that the main relay goes bad. I opened up my relay and found a few solder points that looked wierd so I resoldered each point. So far so good. I'm gonna wait until it's really hot to see if that fixed the problem.