By December 22, 20065 Comments Read More →

1994 Honda Civic Engine Died and Won’t Start Again

Reader Question Hello Austin,

I have just acquired a 1994 Honda Civic and it has stopped running. It killed on me at a stop and won’t start again. it has a new battery, distributor cap and rotor. The problem is it is still not getting fire to the engine to crank it. What do you advise could be the problem?
Thanks
Gail

Why Hello Gail

If the engine has battery power…meaning the engine will crank over and over, but won’t start. I would first suspect a problem inside the distributor probably the igniter assembly. At one point in time Honda had an extended recall warranty on their igniters…this has been a few years, but might be worth calling your local dealership service department with your VIN number and tell them you suspect a bad igniter/distributor and is it under recall still.

If it is not under recall, and the distributor IS the problem, I would suggest you replace the entire distributor with a rebuilt one you can buy at your local auto parts store.

Blessings,

Austin Davis

Posted in: Won't Start Issues

5 Comments on "1994 Honda Civic Engine Died and Won’t Start Again"

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  1. Kevin says:

    I have a 94 honda civic. Going to the store today the car just died and wont start. I check the fuel and electrical system. they seem to be just fine. when i try to start the car, it turns over but wont fire. tha speedo cranks to 20-30 mph but wont start. i cheched the engine codes. 17 VSS comes up. would this cause my car to not start? I checked the timing and its where it shoud be rotor points at #1 and the crank is on its mark and the cam is pointing up like it should. Any help????

    • By Austin Davis says:

      I’m assuming you checked to make sure the timing belt did not break. These vehicles have issues with the distributor….crank sensor inside. There was a recall years ago to replace them. I would highly suspect a problem inside and would check for spark and injector pulse. A rebuilt distributor from your local parts house is pretty cheap and easy to install…..BUT this is just my guess at this time. Keep me posted as to what happens.

  2. jlm says:

    I had the same problem with my 94 honda civic, was not getting spark to plugs, replaced the ignition coil and that fixed the problem.

  3. Paige says:

    My car has the same problem, but after 2 new distributors it still doesn’t start and they can’t figure it out. What next? It’s been at the shop for 3 days!!! And it’s still not fixed!

    • admin says:

      I would make sure they are replacing the ignitor inside the distributor as well. The crankshaft sensor and the ignitor are the parts that fail most.

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