Help! My 95 civic won't start

Hello to everyone,

I was (foolishly, I know now) testing each cylinder of my 95 Honda ESi
by pulling on the plug wires one at a time. At the third plug, the
engine died and it won't start. I've read that doing this could break
the ignition coil. So I tested for a spark (none), and after testing
the igniter (using a 12v bulb) and confirming that it works, I've now
replaced the coil, but it still won't start. The old coil tested fine
with a multimeter, BTW, but I've heard that it could still be bad.

I've had the battery recharged, and the starter cranks ok. The "IG"
fuse under the hood is fine (even tested with a meter). What could be
the problem? Can anyone please help?

Thanks so much in advance.

Hi, it seems my ignition coil was bad, and after replacing it, I now
see a spark. But it still won't start, and I don't smell fuel at the
exhaust when the engine is cranked. What could the problem be? Should
I get some friends and try to push-start?

Thanks again.

wrote in
oups.com:

> Hello to everyone,
>
> I was (foolishly, I know now) testing each cylinder of my 95 Honda ESi
> by pulling on the plug wires one at a time. At the third plug, the
> engine died and it won't start. I've read that doing this could break
> the ignition coil.



Did you plug each wire back in again after the test, or did you leave each
one unplugged as you unplugged the others?



> So I tested for a spark (none), and after testing
> the igniter (using a 12v bulb) and confirming that it works, I've now
> replaced the coil, but it still won't start. The old coil tested fine
> with a multimeter, BTW, but I've heard that it could still be bad.



It's possible, yes. You're getting no spark at ANY of the plugs, or at just
one?


>
> I've had the battery recharged, and the starter cranks ok. The "IG"
> fuse under the hood is fine (even tested with a meter). What could be
> the problem? Can anyone please help?



You haven't mentioned checking the plug wires, distributor cap and rotor.

See here for mo
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/startproblems.html



--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

wrote:
>
> Hi, it seems my ignition coil was bad, and after replacing it, I now
> see a spark. But it still won't start, and I don't smell fuel at the
> exhaust when the engine is cranked. What could the problem be? Should
> I get some friends and try to push-start?
>
> Thanks again.


-------------------------------------

All that cranking might have FLOODED it. Try holding the pedal to the
floor and try starting it for up to 15 seconds. It's in the owner's
manual, but you rarely need to know this trick.

'Curly'

Hello again to everyone,

Tegger, I've already read your excellent page on starting
problems.Thanks to it, and to responses to threads similar to this one,
I've previously isolated the problem to the ignition coil. Having
replaced it, I was already getting a spark (yes, on all plugs; thanks
for the tip, Curly), but it was still not starting. I've also tried
holding down the gas pedal and cranking, but the battery seemed too
drained, and after all the cranking, I wasn't smelling any gas.

Long story short, I got a few friends to push, and after pumping the
pedal it finally started. (Was it just flooded after all the cranking?)

All this could have been avoided if I had seen Tegger's warning about
pulling plug wires.

Thanks again, Tegger, Curly! Please keep up the excellent work.