I knew i shouldn’t have let it sit but… now it stalled and wont fire

[dosmastr]

Hi all.

My formerly trusty 98 Civic fired up just like normal this morning when I sold it to a nice lady.
Not 3 hours later she called me to let me know it had “bogged down and then stopped running” and now won’t fire. The lady says she really needs a car ASAP so I really want to do right by her and get it back up and running.

Every time I started this car it started right up and ran just fine even if it had been sitting a month.

I know the guide says check for spark and fuel. I think I smell fuel coming out of the exhaust… I think…(but could be wrong).
I checked the fuse box under the hood and the one in the cabin. the one labeled FI was fine, the only labeled fuel pump was also fine. I *think* I hear the pump kicking on but I’m not sure, it was always quiet, and I think the airbag initializing makes noise at the same time so I never knew which was which.

I did the plugs, wires, distributer cap, and, rotor maybe 2 years ago.

The only things I can think are water got in the fuel and now its not firing or maybe something clogged the fuel filter. I threw some HEET in the tank in the hopes it will help clear out enough to get it to fire again. other than killing the battery would cranking the thing forever (until the water it out) do any other damage? I’m concerned the oil system might not function if its not running.

I’m on the way to the parts store to get a cheap plug to check for spark now…. what else can I do? is there a relay I should be checking?

Topic

[dosmastr]

It appears to be no spark. I pulled all four plugs and they were all soaked with gas.
otherwise looked ok.
crank position sensor?
I got a pretty bad valve cover oil leak which soaked the bottom of the distributed and down.
under the distributor cap, the rotor and the cap itself look ok, the gasket kept the crap out.

I also pulled the plug out and left it laying on top of the valve cover while I crank the motor I didn’t see any Spark. Then tried the same thing with a screwdriver in the spark plug wire also don’t think there was any spark

[dosmastr]

Get this crap guys:
About a year ago I came out to this car after it sat over the weekend and the battery was completely DEAD (thread is on here someplace). like 2volts at the terminals. bewildered, I went to wally world and bought a new battery. went to work and came home. (car sits 14hours) I could tell the new battery was weak but it started ok…. thinking maybe my 8 year old radio or amp may have failed I pulled those fuses to be safe. Nope, same thing next day. Somebody who knows about cars says its probably a diode in the alternator (after I ripped apart the thing looking for a short!!!) I discovered the current flow ceased when I removed the IG1 fuse in the engine bay (40 amps). so all winter I would have to pop the hood and pull the battery cable to preserve my new battery. Embarrassed as I had to do this at work sometimes in front of subordinates I picked up a new vehicle and left this guy sitting with the battery disconnected.

Fast forward to yesterday. Replacing the ignition coil appears to have also solved the battery drain. it was pulling 600mA just sitting there off. Now it pulls 4mA sitting there off.

SO I never thought that could be a thing but evidently the resistance to the secondary coil falling to 9Kohms made the car no longer run but I guess it had a short in there someplace which was also killing the battery, but allowing it to run normally (until 2 days ago) I wish I had taken a photo but the plastic side of the coil did have some discoloration (like it had gotten very hot)

I mean I guess it makes sense now that I think about it but golly I never though that would be it. Why would only the resistance of the coil be what was preventing current flow on a shut down vehicle?

[My Nameis]

[quote=”dosmastr” post=190357]Get this crap guys:
About a year ago I came out to this car after it sat over the weekend and the battery was completely DEAD (thread is on here someplace). like 2volts at the terminals. bewildered, I went to wally world and bought a new battery. went to work and came home. (car sits 14hours) I could tell the new battery was weak but it started ok…. thinking maybe my 8 year old radio or amp may have failed I pulled those fuses to be safe. Nope, same thing next day. Somebody who knows about cars says its probably a diode in the alternator (after I ripped apart the thing looking for a short!!!) I discovered the current flow ceased when I removed the IG1 fuse in the engine bay (40 amps). so all winter I would have to pop the hood and pull the battery cable to preserve my new battery. Embarrassed as I had to do this at work sometimes in front of subordinates I picked up a new vehicle and left this guy sitting with the battery disconnected.

Fast forward to yesterday. Replacing the ignition coil appears to have also solved the battery drain. it was pulling 600mA just sitting there off. Now it pulls 4mA sitting there off.

SO I never thought that could be a thing but evidently the resistance to the secondary coil falling to 9Kohms made the car no longer run but I guess it had a short in there someplace which was also killing the battery, but allowing it to run normally (until 2 days ago) I wish I had taken a photo but the plastic side of the coil did have some discoloration (like it had gotten very hot)

I mean I guess it makes sense now that I think about it but golly I never though that would be it. Why would only the resistance of the coil be what was preventing current flow on a shut down vehicle?[/quote]

What’s the resistance supposed to be at? An ignition coil is just wound wire, wire is coated with enamel to prevent it shorting to itself.

With heat the coating can melt and windings touch creating less resistance.

I can’t see how the secondary coil caused battery drain since it’s isolated from the primary coil. They don’t physically touch a coil works off magnetic flux.

Also ignition switch should keep any power from going to the distributer.

Did you only replace the coil or entire distributer? It would make more sense if the entire distributer was replaced as maybe a wire in the harness was bad touching a 12v line somewhere

[dosmastr]

Spec is from 12.8Kohms to 19.something Kohms at 68 degrees F.
it was 80 degrees.

My reading was 9kohm. Replaced only the coil and the car started right up!

I don’t get it!

[My Nameis]

[quote=”dosmastr” post=190375]Spec is from 12.8Kohms to 19.something Kohms at 68 degrees F.
it was 80 degrees.

My reading was 9kohm. Replaced only the coil and the car started right up!

I don’t get it![/quote]

Makes sense for the no start condition but the battery drain caused by the coil doesn’t make sense unless maybe the primary side of the coil was somehow shorting 12v

Secondary side connects to spark plug and ground

[dosmastr]

Both sides to secondary ( A and B) read the same resistance to secondary on both the new and the old. 9kohm…. thats still a decent bit of resistance.

No comprendo!

I mean I replaced the rotor too but thats not going to play a role here.

[Author]

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