hard to start/no start after driving for 30 minutes

[blackdemon88]

I am having a hard time keeping My 1989 Honda Civic DX running once it warms up. I'll be driving it and before all this happens I'll feel it hesitate a little here and there. Then it will get worse where if I pull up to a stop sign I will have to put it in Neutral and rev the car so it don't die. About five minutes later it won't have any power at all and it will just die where it sits. This happened around 2 pm on Monday. When I got out of work and went to start it it at 11:30pm it started right up! I have done alot of searches and have tried a couple of things. I checked for continuity on the main relay and everything came out ok. Now I am checking the coil and I'm getting .6 on the Primary and 12.11 on the secondary. Right away I'm thinking it is the coil so I go and buy one. I haven't installed it yet because when I checked the new one I was getting .6 on primary and 12.27 on secondary. It is about 75 degrees in my house but my secondary numbers are lower than they should be on my old one and my new one! What should I do now. I don't know if I should get another new coil or what. I know it could be the ignitor or even the temperature sensor. But is there a way to test the temp sensor? I have noticed that my temp is normal but it seems that the fan is always on when it reaches normal operation temp. Again I am sorry for the long post but I needed to let everyone know what I have done so far. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[RonJ]

Install the new coil and test whether the engine starts.

If not, go back to basics.

When the engine won't start:

• Listen for whether the fuel pump primes.
• Check whether there is bright white spark at all 4 plugs.
• And have you checked for CEL codes?

 

[SpeedTechnik]

I had something similar happen, have you checked your alternator?

 

[blackdemon88]

When I bought the car the guy I bought it from said he just replaced the alternator. My engine light really isn't coming on except when it dies. Would it store codes? My car does start with the old coil. It actually starts right up when it is cold. Is there a test that I can try for my ignitor? I have noticed(whether this matters or not)that one of the prongs on the ignotor is bent in where a wire connects to the top three prongs. Also when it gets to where it doesn't start I can smell gas getting to the engine.

 

[Osiris19]

If you keep turning the key while it isn't starting, you will flood the cylinders which is why you're smelling gas.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[RonJ]

Stop guessing and start troubleshooting:

Install the new coil and test whether the problem is solved.

If not, go back to basics.

When the engine won't start:

• Listen for whether the fuel pump primes.
• Check whether there is bright white spark at all 4 plugs.
• And have you checked for CEL codes?

 

[blackdemon88]

Sorry I haven't got back to you for a while I was out of town for a couple of weeks. Okay I took my car to my mechanic and had him check what you suggested. He checked the fuel pump and it was priming he also put the new coil in and a ignitor while he had it open and started it up. Now it seems that it is missing when it idles and when you put a load on it. He said that he thought it needed a distributor. I went and got him one but when he put it on he said it ran worse than the one I had on there. The one that I got him did not have that small condensor on the side of it like my original one did-If that matters. Is that just for radio interference??. Then He tried something else. He has a friend that has the exact same car as I do. He took my original Dist. and put it on his car and it ran perfectly with no hesitation or problems when he would put a load on it. He is thinking that the missing could could be coming from the ECU??? I have no codes and pretty much don't know what else it could be. I think the coil took care of the problem with it dieing when it is warm but now we just have to figure out why it is missing. Any thing else you can think of that I could look at? Thank you so much for your help so far on this. I really do appreciate it!