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This car belongs to a friend of mine who drove 400 miles from NYC to Buffalo (to Toronto for a concert); luckily? she stopped in Buffalo for a break. 6 hour nap; woke up, turns key; key cranks, starts for a split second and sputters out. 3 Days at my friend’s shop; we’re all stumped and I had to tow it to the Honda dealership. Here’s the details of what we’ve tested and a fresh pair of eyes would be great.
2007 Honda Civic Sedan EX – Automatic Transmission
Just under 112k miles – oil change right before 400 mile trip NYC to Buffalo
Drives “fine” (I wasn’t there; but they made it. Took a nap 6 hours later; car cranks turns over for a split second and sputters out).Calls me to check it out – Battery good voltage and jump started; no go.
Towed to my friend’s shop.
Checked Fuel pressure – sounds like no fuel; checked out to be 53 psi (50-63 recommended spec) – Good
Checked Spark plug coils – creates spark – Good—Here’s a few nail biters
Checked Spark plugs – Carbon built black as night – changed spark plugs no go
Checked Oil level – 2 Quarts over :sick: … I swear they didnt even get their oil changed; the shop in NYC must have just filled it up with more oil and sent them on their way… :dry: … anyway… that’s the shocker… how did you drive 400 miles with 2 Quarts of extra oil on a 1.8L engine; and not hear that engine knocking like mad…So yay? sorta? maybe there’s hope? – Drained 2 Quarts; changed plugs; – sounds better trying to start; actually turns over for a split second or two and dies out.
Cleaned Maf Sensor
Cleaned throttle body
Gassed it while cranking
Checked groundsDecided timing must have slipped – Checked timing belt; top dead center – all checks out on the right marks….
Smelling gas left and right; maybe we were getting high but it smelled a bit sweet; just didn’t seem right. Figured they might have gotten the wrong gas E85 or something else; Pulled the rear seats, pulled the fuel tank apart and siphoned it all out; Filled it back up with some Mobil 93 Octane. No dice. (cranked a few times to get the old fuel out of the lines).
Literally down to the wire and out of hope – decided to flash the ECU; has to be a control unit problem right…
Lucky for her – I drive an 07 civic with flashpro for tuning; (as much as I didn’t want to do this) I flashed my supercharged civic back to stock and went to flash hers back to stock (just to refresh the ECU)… No dice.
No clue what it could be; and finally dropped it off at Honda; so I told her to get ready to pay Honda til she drops…
The only thing we can’t really check are sensors – Don’t really want to rip sensors out and swap for new ones to check…
BIG ONE – No Check Engine Lights; and running live diag; no codes or errors popping up
Also; most ideas that we could think of or have been told – More than likely if its something minor; like a bad coil lets say or a bad injector; the car should still start up but run piss poor… This thing sounds like it wants to turn over and start and stay running; but it doesn’t…
Any idea would be great; but for now we’re getting taken at Honda :S
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Similar problem happened to me once. pulled the whole car apart to try find the problem. replaced a lot of parts and all that was wrong with it is that it had no wiper blades.
After you crank the engine, remove one of the spark plugs and see if they are wet from gas being sprayed into the cylinder, if dry check your injectors.
I hate to sound inconsiderate, but car is at dealer, right? What diff does our guess make? Otherwise, sounds similar to what we had on son’s 96 Civic. It just quit one night, luckily, quarter mile away from his home.
Though there was no buildup, whatever we did electrically didn’t make her start. Including new distributor. We sold her as is, new owner tossed in another new distributor, called son next day, phone next to running engine. So go figure.
But if you have good spark, fuel, compression, and air, it goes down to either wrong timing, or too much fuel instantly, as in leaking injectors. 08 should have no dizzy and ECM controls timing, so here ya go.
Unless it’s like another Civic poster here, that “had spark” to repost few weeks down the road, bless his heart, and to mention that what he believed was a spark, was actually real weak spark, not enough to ignite the mix, leading to plugs fouled with unburnt petrol and flooded. The moment they restored STRONG spark, she fired right away.
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