The other day, I was decending down a steep driveway, about 5mph in low gear[automatic] and the car shut off. It will crank, but wont start. I removed the dist cap, and the rotor turns when cranking, so I know its not the timing belt. Next I guess I need to check the fuel pump. Can I rent a fuel pressure guage? and if so, where exacyly do I tap in?

Thanks
Dave

 

- You should be able to hear the fuel pump pressurized the line when you turn the key to the II position, it's sounds like a whine in the trunk/under the rear seat.

- You can rent a fuel pressure gauge at a parts store. There is a pressure fitting tap thing on the fuel rail, but whether or not the threads match up with the gauges you rent i'm not sure. I've never actually needed to do it before.

- Just because the distributor rotor turn when cranking doesn't mean you don't have a timing belt issue, although I doubt you do. Timing belts, when old and stretched, can jump a few teeth out of time and cause the engine to run rough throughout the RPM range. 2-3 teeth is all it takes to get a motor to not turn over.

Based on what you described, I'd started at the fuel pump as well, but you should make sure you have adequate spark while you're at it.

 

They often tap into someplace like the top fitting on the fuel filter. But you can check by just loosening a fitting to check whether theres fuel pressure at all.

But, the first thing you have to do is decide if its lack of fuel vs. lack of spark.

Turn the key to ON but dont turn to START. Listen for the fuel pump to run for 2 seconds then shut off.

If the fuel pump runs, then remove a sparkplug after cranking it. If it is wet with fuel, then you know the injectors are firing.

After the fuel dries out, pull the fuelpump fuse so it doesnt spray more fuel. Then ground that sparkplug, crank the starter & check for a nice strong blue spark.

After you tell us the results from all that stuff, we can go from there.

 

Thanks, i'll check on both of those and let you guys know what happens.

Thanks alot

 

Ok, First, i listened for the fuel pump, which I heard. Then cranked the engine over and then checked 2 different plugs [not wet] So I took the plug out of the fuel rail and turned on the key, about 8 inces high gizer of fuel. Then I checked a sparkplug for spark and there is none. So I guess some sensor or something went bad and the computer is telling it not to spark and not to inject. What do you guys think I should check now?

Thanks Dave

 

Probably not likely that the computer is telling the spark no to fire; there are maintenance items in the ignition system that need to be changed on a regular basis: plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil, ignitor.


How did you check the spark plug for spark? It needs to be close to something grounded on the car (like the engine block) for the spark to arc.

If there still isn't spark, the cap and rotor may need to be replaced. $50 tops, but wait until Jim or TexasHonda or RTexasF respond.

 

if you are getting NO SPARK I would chk the IGNITOR and COIL,,,,

there is a how to in our DIY section ..

 

Ah, Desert, I forgot you! ¡Lo siento mucho mi hombre!

 

If you removed the distributor cap and rotor then cranked the engine, you likely fried the coil.

Your test was a good idea to check that the cam is turning and verified that the timing belt is working. In the future, you should unplug the connections to the distributor and coil, so the coil doesn't charge up when cranking. Once that coil was charged, it had nowhere to send the spark, so it probably shorted internally, ie dead coil. You can alternative ground the main lead of the coil that goes to the distributor to prevent this from happening.

You might try a junkyard for a replacement coil for a cheap replacement. This still may not fix the original problem.

 

I have to disagree with you on this 1 my friend.. I have tried it 100 of times and never once did the coil go bad ...