My Civic is experiencing a sstrange problem. On hot days, or when it has been parked in the sun, the engine will crank, but not ignite, and the "check engine" light comes on. I've checked around and most say the ignition relay might be damaged (apparently, early honda relays were of poor quality). But on warm and muggy days it happens, as well.

As always, when I let the weather cool down it starts up right away. Any suggestions? Would a warm and humid day mess with the relay, too?

Humidity might be more quick to mess up the coil instead.

Typical symptoms of a faulty main relay. I know it because I had the same symptoms on my '91 DX. How to fix it is explained here: http://www.markl.f9.co.uk/howto/elec...main-relay.htm

The project itself took me a lot of time, because I'm quite tall and it was a pain in the to get to a position to get the relay out. But once you have it out, resoldering the joints is like a 5 minutes job.

PM me if you need more help and let us know how it goes!

Thanks, guys. I'm going to pull that sucker out and see if it's the prob.

If it's not, and either the igniter or the coil is the problem, is it wise simply to install a new complete distributor (I'll assume it comes with an ICM and all the goodies)?

Ugh! Distributors are kind of expensive :) And if you take it off, you have to adjust your timing, and there simply is no reason to replace the whole unit. It is a wise idea to replace the distributor cap and rotor if it's been a while since you replaced it.

Main relay will most likely solve the problem, if not, then it's most likely the igniter unit. Also, check for another post in this forum, its titled "Sparkless & In the snow" or something like that... there is an explanation how to check if your igniter unit is OK. All you need is a basic multimeter to do the check.

Anyway, I'd keep the distributor (metallic massive part) and replace cap and rotor (if it's been a while) and resolder the relay first, and if it doesn't help - check the igniter.

I finally got down there yesterday and removed the sucker. I bought a new one, seeing that I'm not the best solderer in the world. Everything was going great until... I needed to get the damn thing back in. I don't know who designed the undercarriage to the 90 Civic dashboard, but he must've had REALLY small hands. To get that 10mm bolt back into place, with it's tight threading, you've got to take the entire lower left plastic facing off. If not, you'd better have tiny fingers and steady hands. I didn't have the time to take it all off, so I used a pinch clip to hold down the metal arm of the relay. So far, so good. I drove the car in 90 degree heat for 5 minutes at highway speed, pulled back into my carport, turned it off, and turned it back on!! It'll also now start after sitting in the hot sun.

Upon inspection, I noticed quite a few possible dry joints in my old relay. Perhaps that's why the problem has become so recurring as of late.

Great! Glad it works...

Just imagine me (6"3 - 6"4) doing it at around 11:30PM in the parking lot, and being all nervous since it was a bigger pain in the back to get it out than back in.

I've had it with Japanese "mystery logistics". I'm close to purchasing a 1988 Suzuki Intruder 750. Then, I can go buck wild on my Honda without worrying how I'm going to get around. I'm going to tear that sucker apart and change evrything I need to change.