Car wont start after immediate engine switch off

[andrew]

My honda civic 1.6 petrol starts fine on a cold morning or on a very hot day with no problems, however, if I turn it off then go to turn it on again a couple of seconds later it will not start. The engine turns over but it sounds like it wont fire, yet the car does not miss fire when I am driving it any othr time, a local mechanic suggested checking the crankshaft sensor. I have replaced the spark plugs 8000 miles ago and they have a 27000 mile life. It also does not turn over at times in th same situation, where it sounds like it is the starter motor, but these problems only occur when the engine is turned off then I try to turn it on again. I have had the engine checked for fault codes and there were none.

Topic

[KZ 259]

a faulty crankshaft sensor will eventually lead to a CEL. you can also do a continuity test on the sensor. you can also check the harness, make sure the proper voltage is being supplied.

does this problem also occur if you start the motor, turn it off, and wait longer than a couple seconds? like half a minute or so?

[andrew]

Yes, sometimes it happens if say I turn the engine on to reverse the car then tun I straight off, when I goto use the car say an hour or two later it wont fire up, twice it has fired up then cut out and then it takes around 20 seconds of trying to start the engine, which of course is bad as I dont want to flood it.

[EricTheCarGuy]

The cam sensor is inside the distributor. Aftermarket distributors for Hondas are a known problem. If you have an aftermarket distributor it’s suspect for sure. That said, start with the basics. Check your ignition parts. Use good parts. Honda’s don’t like cheap parts on their ignition systems. Also check for vacuum leaks. In short, check the basics and see if you come up with anything. More info here.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues

Also this.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-no-start-problems

Keep us posted.

[andrew]

I used one of Eric the Car Guys videos where it was on checking the electrical system, I did the test on the negative side of the circuit with the negative battery terminal and the alternator. It was giving me a reading of 0.14-0.17 of resistance in the circuit. Simply changed all negative(ground) leads on the car and performed the test again, reading was now 0.00 with all electrical components on (except the rear window demister) and an increase of revs to 2000. This problem has now since gone away, but it is the original distributor in the car.

[Author]

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