Help, Civic not starting. I posted my problem in November and because it is intermittent, it has just shown itself again. The last time the car would not start and I didn’t really check the spark or gas but after sitting for the day it started. Today, the wife took the car to work and at the end of the day it wouldn’t start. I checked for gas and spark and both exist. The spark doesn’t seem very bright but it is enough to ignite the gas when I hold it at the end of the cylinder. When I pulled the plugs they were wet. Any ideas? I had my wife tow me home and if I don’t get this fixed there will be a divorce in the air as she almost killed us both during the tow.

 

If the spark is a weak orange color, then replace the coil in the distributor.

 

It could be a sensor problem such as the MAP. There should not be a lot of raw gas in the cylinders.

Also check the cam timing. The timing belt may have slipped.

 

Yes the spark looks like a dull orange rather than a bright blue. I'll try the coil. Apparently there are several different types so I have to get the code off the distributer .

 

plugs were wet with what? oil gas water? will it go on a jump? sounds like distributor.

 

Plugs were wet with gas. I pulled the plugs one at a time and when I cranked the motor they ignited the gas in each of the cylinders. Not sure with go on a jump means but it is an automatic and turns over fine with battery. There was no firing at all. It was wet out but there was no spark jumping across the cap.

 

Did you replace the coil?

 

I bought a cap, rotor and a coil but before I changed the coil I checked the resistance and it met the specifications in the manual. I decided to change the cap and rotor and the car started. I’m hoping that was it and not some other intermittent problem. I did observe that the spring-loaded contact in the middle of the cap was worn to half the size of the new cap. Now I replaced the cap with a Champion and it is making a whining noise at fast rpm so I’m thinking I should upgrade. What do you think?

 

You know, i could use some help on this one as well. I have the same problem with my 97 DX hathback. It has done the same thing, (wouldnt start) twice, in the 8 months i have owned it. I bought it with 151000 miles on it. I did a complete tune up on it when i bought it. The only two random times it has acted up, it took several minutes before it would start. Once it did start, there was a smell of gas like it had been flooded. Every other time i crank the engine, it always starts right up.

 

The last two times it didn't start I waited and then it started. This last time it just wouldn't go. I changed the cap and it started right up. My Civic has 262,000 km.