Here's the rundown. I just bought a 93 Honda Civic Hatchback Si with the 1.6L VTEC in it from a friend because it wasn't running with the intent of fixing it up and driving it. When I got it from him he told me that he took it to the garage and they told him it needed a new distributor cap and a new exhaust manifold which it did. I have replaced both and also the rotor inside the distributor which needed to be replaced. At first the car was getting spark and fuel but wouldn't start no matter how much it turned over. After working on it for a day checking the timing (good), fuel injectors (good), ECU by testing the voltage at the MAP sensor (5V good), and other things it finally just decided it wanted to start for no apparent reason. Well great or so it seemed, the car ran good and idled good, even was able to shut it off and start it again without any trouble. I took it for a spin around the block to check everything out and about half way it just decided to die on me and coasted to a stop and wouldn't start again. :mad: It smelled very bad like rotten eggs which from what I have heard means that the car was running very rich. I towed it home and started checking everything out, now it won't get spark and I can't figure out why. I have the repair manual and have gone through most all tests including the primary and secondary resistance specs for the coil which were in range and also voltage and the other tests for the ICM which tested good also but it's still not getting spark. I have checked the continuity of all the plug wires also and they are not the problem either. I tried jumping the wires to see if the computer will spit out the diagnostic codes and it doesn't say anything, the CEL just comes on for a second and then goes off. Also, the fuel pump does come on and run for 2 seconds which makes me think it is not the main relay but I don't know. If anyone could help I would very much appreciate it. Thanks.

. Check all under-dash and under-hood fuses with a test light or multimeter.

. Reset the ECM, by pulling the 7.5 A BACKUP fuse, in the under-hood fuse box, for 10 seconds.

. Clean the main ECM ground on the thermostat housing--look for a brass connector with 3-wires. Apply light coating of dielectric compound.

. Replace the ICM and coil. Bench testing these problematic components is not reliable, especially on such an old car. Clean connectors with 240-grit abrasive cloth. Coat male connectors with a light coating of dielectric compound. Ensure female connectors, going to the ICM and coil, are tight--crimp with a pair of pliers, if necessary.

If the problem persists, perform the K-Test on the ECM at several different times. It may be experiencing intermittent failure.

I have checked all the fuses with a test light and they are fine (first thing I did). I have reset the ECM already by pulling the back up fuse and it didn't help. I have already tried it with a new ICM and it didn't help anything and I will try it with a new coil shortly as soon as it gets here. I cleaned the ground on the thermostat housing and tightened it up but that didn't help, it still is getting no spark. I have tried the K-test this morning and I tried it again just now and it's still getting 5V to the MAP sensor. I will try the coil when it gets here and get back to you. Thanks.

While waiting for the coil, perform the Power to Distributor Test. Turn ignition OFF. Disconnect the 2-P connector from the distributor. Turn the ignition switch ON. Measure voltage between BLK/YEL (+) terminal and body ground. There should be 12+ volts read. If not, repair open in BLK/YEL wire between the 2-P connector and ignition switch. If this checks out, the odds are high that the coil is bad.

I have done that testing already and pretty much all the testing for the distributor listed in the Repair Manual from Honda. It all checks out which points to the coil even though the coil has the correct primary and secondary resistance. I'm about to go put the new coil in now and I'll see if that fixes it. Thanks.

I'm sure you scored a "coup," when you bought your Civic. Here are some tips that may encourage you to maintain it like new:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-trucks/faq-how-troubleshoot-repair-maintain-hondas-46563.html#post219991

I put the new coil in and it fired right up thankfully. It runs really good except for backfiring a little bit and smelling like it's running rich but I'm pretty sure that's because of a faulty O2 sensor in the exhaust manifold and I'll be replacing that today. Other than that it's up and running fine. Thanks for you help.

If that doesn't solve the problem, check the ECT Sensor in the thermostat housing. You also might want to attach a timing light and see if the timing is too retarded.

Your experience, once again, proves how unreliable it is to bench test coils. I hope others reading this thread take note.