1998 Honda Civic won't start

Asked by Guru5MVC1 Feb 07, 2018 at 03:23 PM about the 1998 Honda Civic EX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

1998 Honda Civic with 114K miles and the timing
belt was replaced 10K miles ago. Drove it to work
with no isse and left it sit for 12 hours in 0 degree  
F weather. The car will crank but the engine never
turns over. There are no codes given. The fuel
pump kicks on and there is flow through the fuel
lines. Spark plugs were checked, replaced, and
they smell like fuel after I tried starting the engine.
Also tried using starter fluid in the air intake with
no luck. Would the next step be replacing the
crankshaft position sensor? Trying not to invest
too much money into a 20 year old car that isn't in
the best cosmetic shape.

1 Answer

59,015

May need to run some test on the distributor (it has sensors in it that can not be replaced if one is bad the whole distributor has to be replaced. The ignitor (ignition control module ICM) can be bad also but usually gives warning by going out after engine gets warm then works after cooled off until it stops altogether after some time. See if power is reaching the coil and then the same color wire to the ignition module see if that gets power, check to see if the wire at the ignition module is getting a signal from the pcm. If it's not your car won't start. Could also be a crank sensor that is bad. Check for power to coil.

Your Answer:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    ColdinMA
    Reputation
    2,360
  • #2
    Guru9CNGV
    Reputation
    2,110
  • #3
    GuruDMD1V
    Reputation
    2,090
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Honda Accord
51 Great Deals out of 1,020 listings starting at $2,995
Used Toyota Corolla
156 Great Deals out of 2,290 listings starting at $2,850
Used Toyota Camry
47 Great Deals out of 1,146 listings starting at $4,550
Used Honda Civic Coupe
9 Great Deals out of 273 listings starting at $3,590
Used Honda CR-V
188 Great Deals out of 5,003 listings starting at $440
Used Hyundai Elantra
165 Great Deals out of 2,996 listings starting at $1,995
Used Ford Mustang
57 Great Deals out of 1,634 listings starting at $6,977
Used Toyota RAV4
122 Great Deals out of 3,087 listings starting at $3,900
Used Toyota Tacoma
34 Great Deals out of 711 listings starting at $9,975
Used Nissan Altima
22 Great Deals out of 679 listings starting at $3,950
Used BMW 3 Series
77 Great Deals out of 1,240 listings starting at $2,900

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.