My son was driving today down a dry hiway and went to turn on the a/c. The engine died immediately so he pulled over and turned a/c off. The motor turned freely but will not start. I replaced the alternator tonight but still will not start. Any ideas? Thanks

could be a million things... fuel pump....fuel filter....dizzy, cap, rotor, plugs, wires... (could also be your son..lol, no offence but are you sure he was driving "normally" and not beating the hell out of the car) also, any check engine light?

could be a million things... fuel pump....fuel filter....dizzy, cap, rotor, plugs, wires... (could also be your son..lol, no offence but are you sure he was driving "normally" and not beating the hell out of the car) also, any check engine light?


He was with his girl and she will not let him beat the car. Guess i will start checking everything. Just thought it was odd that when he turned on the a/c it died. That is why i thought it was the alternator. Blew a diode or something. Guess the local mechanic will get my money again 'cause time ain't on my side. Thanks

there are many self diagnostic things you can do that wont take long or cost anything....

like, sit in the car, all accessories off, put the key to the on position, but dont crank it, listen for a hum, then it should stop, if you hear it, thats your fuel pump priming. or you could pull on spark plug wire and stick a screwdriver in it, then put it close to bare metal and have someone crank it, if you see spark, then your getting spark, if the spark seems weak on one wire and not the rest, change the wires...

you should prolly do a tune up anyway, it can hurt, its quick and easy... hell have your son do it... that will knock out most things on the list of "shit that went wrong"

like, sit in the car, all accessories off, put the key to the on position, but dont crank it, listen for a hum, then it should stop, if you hear it, thats your fuel pump priming. or you could pull on spark plug wire and stick a screwdriver in it, then put it close to bare metal and have someone crank it, if you see spark, then your getting spark, if the spark seems weak on one wire and not the rest, change the wires...


Fuel pump primes but stuck a screwdriver in the plug wires (2) and no spark. Presume coil?

i dont think you have coils... u have a dizzy, sounds like a bad ignitor, easy fix to do by yourself.

i dont think you have coils... u have a dizzy, sounds like a bad ignitor, easy fix to do by yourself.


Thanks I will try that today. Not to be stupid but what is a dizzy? Distributor?

yes

did u ground the spark plub when u did the test?

Yes the plug was grounded, but no spark. I have since changed the cap, rotor, wires and plugs. Still no spark. I also replaced a ground wire that aooeared to be fraying. The guy at Autozone said it was rare for a 95 civic vtec ignitor to go bad. Thing is, if I buy ($100.00 plus) and it is not at fault I cannot return it.

so bring it somewhere and tell them its not getting spark, that way they dotn spend hours else where while charging you an arm and a leg.

find a distributor in the junkyard. shouldnt cost that much.

well the same thing happened to me and it was the distributor well my mom was drivin and i have a 95 also heard there distributors suxk i've went throught 2 in a year and a half.

i am about 95% sure it is the distributor dont waste ur money on a mechanic u should trust me :D junk yard is ur best bet but to save time autozone has the cheapest distributors of any big chian 184 i think.

It was the coil (ignitor?). Runs good now. New battery, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and alternator. Better be set for a while. Thanks to all of you guys on this especially you Greenburr.

glad you got it fixed. and glad we could help.

I have a similar problem. My car starts only sometimes. When I turn the key and hear the hum it starts. Sometimes I don't hear the hum and it won't start. Does that mean I need a new fuel pump?

probably, and for different questions... start you own thread...

probably, and for different questions... start you own thread...
Yep. I already did. Sorry. I'm new to this forum.