1992 Civic LX manual

No start one day after being on vacation for a week.

Put in new spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, and rotor. Still nothing. Checked for spark at this point and had spark (orange color, weak?)

Checked fuel pressure at filter, everything in spec. Checked resistance at fuel injector terminals per service manual, within spec.

Relay seemed fine, I get the fuel pump, 2 clicks and CEL going off after 2 seconds. I thought maybe it wasn't sending power to the fuel injectors though. Instead of testing the voltage at the injectors I took the relay out and resoldered it. Pretty sure I jacked the board up pretty good this was my first time soldering anything. So I ordered a new relay (cant put a price on experience... ha... ha) and put the old one back in while I waited for the new one to ship.

Old relay passed initial tests mentioned above but no start. Re-checked for spark and had NO SPARK from any cylinders. Ran through this ignition diagnostic protocol...
http://http://easyautodiagnostics.com/honda_dist_ignition/honda_ignition_systems_1.php

The results of the above indicated a bad coil. I next checked all fuses with multimeter. All hood fuses tested fine. Under the dash I had no voltage for fuses 18, 19,21,22,4,5,7,8,24, all others measured standard. Does it matter if my multimeter was set to AC or DC for this and would that explain the no reading for only these fuses? I visually inspected all these fuses and even swapped one out with a new one and same thing.

I put the new relay in and nothing changed. Still no spark and these fuses gave 0 voltage. I ordered a new coil.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I am a total newbie and have never worked on a car before this thing refused to start a week ago, but am enjoying trying to figure it out on my own and learning.

Thanks

. Test all under dash and under hood fuses, with the multimeter set to DCV and the ignition switch turned to ON.

. Verify that the Check Engine Light comes on for 2 seconds and then goes out, when the ignition switch is turned to ON (Position II).

. Replace the Ignition Control Module (ICM) and coil, located inside the distributor, if the problem persists.

. Test all under dash and under hood fuses, with the multimeter set to DCV and the ignition switch turned to ON.

. Verify that the Check Engine Light comes on for 2 seconds and then goes out, when the ignition switch is turned to ON (Position II).

. Replace the Ignition Control Module (ICM) and coil, located inside the distributor, if the problem persists.

Thanks a lot for your help. I have 1 more question. Is there any difference between the following brands of coils?

Duralast - 74.99 Autozone
BWD 74.99 Advance Auto
Delphi 93.99 Advance Auto
Beck/Arnley 88.29 Advance Auto

Is one better than the other?

I'd buy the BWD coil, which comes with a lifetime warranty. Don't forget the ICM which are very problematic on Hondas of this generation. Buy the BWD coil and ICM online, with local pickup, through Advance Auto Parts--use one of their discount codes.

Rechecked fuses with multimeter on DC. Same result, all those fuses listed still register 0, except 2 fuses now registered ~8 volts each ( I think it was 7 and 8)

What would cause this and have you ever heard of this happening? I assume they're ALL supposed to read 12V. I need to find out what is going on here and fix it before I look into the coil and/or ICM.

? Any thoughts¿ and thanks again for all your help

I suspect the ignition switch may be bad--remove and check for wear, pitting, or melting.

I had a new one put in by a AAA shop a year ago seems unlikely, if so is there a more quanitative and or definitive test for this?

A bad ignition switch/harness is a typical explanation for why so many under dash fuses don't have power. You could also check the fuses for corrosion; however, it's more a problem with under hood fuses.

Those are all of the ideas I have. Stick with it, however, and don't give up.

Is it possible something happened when I took out my main relay?

So I had a spark before, then I took out my main relay, resoldered it, put it back in, now I have no spark and no power to under the dash fuses. Also I never put the relay back in its proper place right now its just hanging down from its wires.

Could I have bumped something or done some damage in that area that would cause this?

Disconnect the negative battery cable, install a new main relay, button things up properly, and test your under dash fuses.

Disconnect the negative battery cable, install a new main relay, button things up properly, and test your under dash fuses.

I already installed the new main relay though I can not recall if I disconnected the negative battery terminal when removing/installing. I'll reconnect, tighten up my terminals and recheck.

My gut is you have at least one blown fuse in the under hood fuse box, which is denying power to the under dash fuse box. Check every fuse thoroughly, including the big box fuses.

Great thanks a lot for your help I really appreciate it I'll let you know what happens.

Ok. Buttoned everything up, put the relay back and ratcheted down the battery terminals super tight.

Rechecked and I still have no power to 18,19,21,22.
24 now has power and 4,5,7,8 all read 3 volts and change.

However 9,10 now do not have power.

As an addendum I currently have one of the coil terminals (+) off as I was going for this repair and the screw stripped to all hell and I don't have a new screw yet. Not sure if this plays a role.

What do you think it means that 4,5,7,8 now show 3 bolts? And based on this info any new suggestions?

Also took out and visually inspected all fuses and inside terminals and I can't detect anything that sticks out

Check the wiring harness.

Looking at page 23-48 and 23-50 of "the manual" seem to indicate that power to some of these fuses occurs with the ignition switch in the start position. I don't really know how to read these circuit diagrams but that's what I inferred from the picture. Could this be true, that these fuses only receive voltage when trying to start the car or the car has already started, or is it 100% fact that all the fuses should read 12V with the ignition switch in the ON position?

Sure, that is likely the case. Still, you can disconnect the negative. Battery cable and test each fuse by checking the continuity across each fuse's test points.

Put in a new coil and THE CAR STARTED!!

Driving around and power windows don't work. Im going to retest all fuses with car running and update, thanks for all the help!

I don't want to mention any names, but someone suggested doing that the very first thing. Keep in mind that Honda coils and ICMs are often destroyed by rotors and distributor caps that should have been replaced.