95 Prelude No Start Condition

[GTP Dad]

Friend of my son's just bought a used 95 Prelude with the 2.2 sohc engine. He is trying to get it running. He has fuel pressure, new wires, distributer cap and rotor, new plugs but it will not start. Checked to make sure the rotor was turning but didn't have time to do much else. Has minimal spark coming from the coil but doesn't seem to have enough to run the engine. It will fire with ether but won't run. Questions are: 1. Could coil be too weak to fire the plugs. Will check to see if timing is correct but owner stated that the car ran before the engine was pulled to work on engine compartment. 2. Could ECM have gone bad or shorted out? Any suggestions will be helpful, I can work on US makes but Honda's are not familiar to me and I don't really know where to start. Thanks in advance!

[kkiepvvessau]

sell the car to me for 800 lol

[dbebesi]

ok, i would hope you checked this... is the battery up? genrally the firstthing you check. i would imagine you did. i'd take it to a shop that can do an electical analysis. if it's a relay or something electrical, it will trace it down. it's not terrible pricey at a decent place, and it will save a lot of time and energy if it is electrical.

[hondadude555]

MAybe the starter is out. It happened to my 96 Lude 2.2 Sohc about 2 days ago. I replaced the starter which i got for 40$ @ a junk yard, and now it starts in a sec. Is your car a manual, because if it is, it should should start when you push the car or roll down a hill and then switch into second gear and let off the clutch and a little gas, and it should start just like that. If it doesnt, then the starter in the car is not broken. But if it starts when you do this, then you have a bad starter.

[GTP Dad]

The car turns over OK so the starter is good. The battery is low due to trying to start it, having it charged and used jumper cables from another vehicle to turn it over. Just wondering how to increase the spark coming from the coil. Appears to be very weak. Tried another coil but without any change. Thanks for the suggestions so far!

[Phunyguy]

hmmmm..... check to see if there is a broken yellow or black wire coming from the coils engine harness plug. that is what supplies power to the coil. also recheck ALL grounds. a ground can either be the easiest fix or the most pain in the ass thing to find BECAUSE it's a ground.

[GTP Dad]

Thanks alot for the help guys! Got it started yesterday. Funny thing about Hondas, they have two identical plugs under the hood that connect the computer to the engine. We noticed that they were improperly connected. Switched them around and the car started immediately on cranking. Runs great now!

[Phunyguy]

good to hear.. glad to be of service

[joellthomas]

good find! wait till the main relay gets you..