91 honda civic starting stalling problem

[1991 honda civic]

I have a 91 honda civic dx, 4 cylinder, 1.5 liter, fuel-injected, manual.
Yesterday, I it caused me some trouble. When I accelerated, the car did kind of a sputter/jerk. It did not want to accelerate. Then, I was stopped at a light. When the light turned green, I started to accelerate, but the car stalled. I was able to start it up again and get it home. When I was pulling up into my driveway, it felt like it was going to stall so I quickly let off the accelerator and pushed in on the clutch. The car struggled to keep running. It sputtered and then finally died. I am glad I got it home.
Now, this morning, i went outside to see if it would start and it would not. It cranks, but will not fire up. I do not know much about cars so I would appreciate any help. We replaced the fuel filter about a year and a half ago, as well as the the distibutor cap and rotor. We did this because my car was having an intermittent starting problem in the heat. Replacing these things did not help. What eventually fixed the problem was when we replaced the main relay. But now I am getting starting problems again. But I don't think it would be the main relay again because the car won't start at all this time. I thought the main relay was when the car would start intermittently.
So, I just wanted to let people know what we had recently replaced. Please help!
Thanks.

[Scott82]

Start with checking the distributer cap, plugs, wires, and rotor button. Have you run it hot at all cause i had a prob with that one time and i fouled out some plugs?

[1991 honda civic]

Hey Scott,

Thanks for your response. I actually did run the car hot, if I am understanding what you are asking. It was snowing a couple days ago. I was trying to get up a steep hill in the snow. I was in 2nd gear, but my speedomter said I was going about 40 mph. I barely got up the hill. Do you think that is what caused the problem? I probably shouldn't have done it, but I needed to get home. I didn't think it would cause a problem. Is it my spark plugs?
Thanks a lot.

[Scott82]

It's possible, see if the plugs are black and oily on the end, if this is the case then it is possibe. but check your distributer cap, and rotor button too, if you find the prob either way if you havn't had a tune up in a while i would suggest a new distributer cap, rotor button, plugs, and wires. however if the problem is not in the spark. then start checking the fuel filter and then the fuel pump if it is'nt fixed by that point. but its always good to start with the easy stuff to get too so you can either rule that out or find the prob easy.

[1991 honda civic]

Scott,

We checked the spark plugs today. They were in fairly poor shape. A couple of them were black and oily like you said. We tested the plugs and they all sparked. However, we replaced the spark plugs anyway. The car still would not start, though. To check the fuel, we disconnected the fuel line, the one that goes back toward the fuel pump. When I turned the key, gas did spurt out. So, apparently, the fuel filter and fuel pump are working, unless there is something I am missing. Is that what you would say? Do you know of anything else it might be? Should I still go ahead and replace the spark plug wires? Could it be the distributor cap and rotor again, even though we just replaced them a year and a half ago? I will await your response. Thanks.

[civickiller]

how strong was the spark?

[1991 honda civic]

Civickiller,

I am not sure how strong the spark was. I was starting the car, while my friend was doing the spark test. He just told me that there was spark. I believe it was a good spark.

After I posted my first message today, I went and changed the spark plug wires too. They needed to be done anyway. So, it has new spark plugs and spark plug wires. The distributor cap and rotor were replaced a year and a half ago, along with fuel filter, main relay, and battery.
The car will crank, but not fire up. Does anoyone have any other ideas? Could the timing belt have jumped and thus now be off? When we tried to start the car today, we had not tried in 3 days. The first time we tried today, the car seemed like it was trying to start. However, the 2nd and subsequent attempts, the car seemed to not want to start at all.
Well, I will await any responses. Thanks.

[91civichatch2571]

3 things to check when an engine wont fire. fuel, spark, and compression. you have spark, so carry on with the other two. And by fuel, i mean actually knowing that the injector is spraying fuel. one way to see if your getting fuel is to make sure the plugs are clean, crank the engine, pull the plugs out and smell each one of them to see if it smells like gas. if not..... you get the point. as for compression, try to hold a hand over the spark plug whole (with the plug out), while you have someone crank the engine. you should feel it shoot air out as they crank. do that to every cylinder. tell us what happens

[1991 honda civic]

91civichatch2571,

Could you possibly tell me a little more in-depth on how to do the fuel injector test. I understand what you are saying on how to do the compression test, but not so sure about how to do the fuel test. Where are the fuel injectors located and how many of them are there? Thanks.

[Hybrid1990crx]

dude take off your distibuter cap and look and make sure your rotor didnt fall off. if its off, find the screw and put it back on, before you screw in the screw, put some threadlock on it to keep it from falling out again. if that doesnt work come back.

[91civichatch2571]

Originally Posted by 1991 honda civic

91civichatch2571,

Could you possibly tell me a little more in-depth on how to do the fuel injector test. I understand what you are saying on how to do the compression test, but not so sure about how to do the fuel test. Where are the fuel injectors located and how many of them are there? Thanks.

All you have to do is crank the engine (plugs and injectors still in) take out all of the spark plugs, and smell them to see if they smell like gas. Heres a site that will help you out on finding the injectors, and servicing the fuel system if needed. And heres the home page for that site, its a service manual for your car that will save your ass again and again.

[Dastreetracer]

try to check your fuel injectors.

[1991 honda civic]

Today, we did the tests with the spark plugs. When I took out the spark plugs and someone cranked the engine, air did blow out of the spark plug holes. That was the compression test.

Also, I smelled each spark plug. I believe I could smell some fuel on them. However, the plugs were not really liquidy or gassy. Still, they smelled a bit like fuel. So, does that mean that the fuel injectors are working correctly. By the way, the gas did smell a little gummy, almost like it was stale or something.

Also, I opened up the distributor to make sure the rotor was secure. It was secure.

We also took off the cover for the timing belt and the belt seems to be in good shape. It turns when we crank the engine. I don't know how to tell if it slipped off gear or something.

So, does anyone have any more ideas or thoughts as a result of this new information? Thanks.

[Ones&zeros]

did you gap the spark plugs properly?

[1991 honda civic]

Yes, we did gap the spark plugs correctly (.044).