Honda Car Forum

My 1994 honda civic stalled today, and no longer runs.
This is what happened: I was going about 2mph, approaching
a red light. The engine ran very slowly, and then stopped
running. This took maybe 4 seconds, it did not happen suddenly.
As this had not happened before, I was pretty sure it was a major
problem. It would not start, after repeated attempts. It had
the feel of running out of gas. I read the manual, and checked
that I had not run out of gas. It also said to check the fuses,
as the fuel pump could be the problem. I could not locate the
fuel pump fuse, so I checked all, and they seemed ok. The battery
is about 5 years old now, but I don't think that is a problem,
as my old analog voltmeter measured 12V (difficult to read),
and the engine cranked over fairly fast. It has 68K miles,
original cam belt. I looked into the cam cover, and the rocker
arms were moving while cranking. Here is my diagnosis:
1. Could be fuel pump. Is the fuel pump accessible on the
94 civic, or is it in the fuel tank? I could not hear it while
listening from the trunk. Should I be able to hear it?
Could I spritz a little gas in the intake manifold, to see
if I get any response, while trying to start?
2. Could be the cam belt. Since the rocker arms are moving,
it is not broken, but could be slipped. Any way to easily
check if it is aligned properly?

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
bill

Every so often there are postings in this news group about failed
ignitors (= ignition control modules). Check if you have spark.

bill wrote:
>
> My 1994 honda civic stalled today, and no longer runs.
> This is what happened: I was going about 2mph, approaching
> a red light. The engine ran very slowly, and then stopped
> running. This took maybe 4 seconds, it did not happen suddenly.
> As this had not happened before, I was pretty sure it was a major
> problem. It would not start, after repeated attempts. It had
> the feel of running out of gas. I read the manual, and checked
> that I had not run out of gas. It also said to check the fuses,
> as the fuel pump could be the problem. I could not locate the
> fuel pump fuse, so I checked all, and they seemed ok. The battery
> is about 5 years old now, but I don't think that is a problem,
> as my old analog voltmeter measured 12V (difficult to read),
> and the engine cranked over fairly fast. It has 68K miles,
> original cam belt. I looked into the cam cover, and the rocker
> arms were moving while cranking. Here is my diagnosis:
> 1. Could be fuel pump. Is the fuel pump accessible on the
> 94 civic, or is it in the fuel tank? I could not hear it while
> listening from the trunk. Should I be able to hear it?
> Could I spritz a little gas in the intake manifold, to see
> if I get any response, while trying to start?
> 2. Could be the cam belt. Since the rocker arms are moving,
> it is not broken, but could be slipped. Any way to easily
> check if it is aligned properly?
>
> Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
> bill

"bill" <williams12345@excite.com> wrote in message
news:90e57da.0308021818.248165b1@posting.google.co m...
> My 1994 honda civic stalled today, ................

Sounds exactly like what happened to my accord recently, turned out to be
the coil.

Me,
Ok, good call, it was the coil. I had it replaced, and runs ok now.
regards,
bill

"Me" <me@myhouse.com> wrote in message news:<bgmb7k$6n6$1@sparta.btinternet.com>...
> "bill" <williams12345@excite.com> wrote in message
> news:90e57da.0308021818.248165b1@posting.google.co m...
> > My 1994 honda civic stalled today, ................
>
> Sounds exactly like what happened to my accord recently, turned out to be
> the coil.

In article <90e57da.0308051004.7dbc7125@posting.google.com> ,
williams12345@excite.com (bill) wrote:

>Caliban,
> I had been driving for maybe 3 miles (10 minutes) when it stalled.
>I took it to a mechanic, who diagnosed a bad coil, replaced it, and it
>runs fine now. Good call on the coil! Why did you suspect a bad coil,
>instead of an ignitor? I kinda thought that the ignitor was a more
>likely problem.
>
> And, it cost $66 towing, and $183 diagnose and replace coil.
>I am not complaining about the cost, but the inconvenience was
>not acceptable. It stalled in the middle of traffic, and pretty
>much reprioritized my weekend. I am not thinking of selling this
>car, and getting something more reliable. Do the new hondas/acuras
>have this same problem? That is, are they more reliable?
>
>regards,
>bill

It's a 9 year old car. If you didn't have a Honda, half of the car
would have been replaced by now.

Kinda like these:
http://www.beaterz.com/