Car Died On Highway. Help?

So I just had my new header installed yesterday, and I was driving on home, when suddenly, my CEL tripped and my car just cut out. I rolled it to the side and got AAA to tow it to a safe location. Now I need some help diagnosing the problem. Can anyone help?

Here's some key info:

Car is a 95 Civic EX Just had a header installed which required relocating the o2 sensor using a longer wire. There is no spark.

At this point, I'd just assume the coil died, since apparently that's common on these cars. However, there's one weird bit.

The wires leading to the coil are only reading 9.5 volts instead of 12.

Would this be enough to keep the coil from working? Is it a separate problem? Is it a problem at all? I'd really like to get my car working again. Any advice would be appreciated.

I've only had 1 car ever die on me while driving outside of my "home territory"....a '92 Integra. If I was a better mechanic, I'd be able to hazard a guess. I suspect the coil may at least be part of the problem, but it is very odd that all you have done recently is change the header. On the "stock" engine, if I remember correctly, there is a ground wire to the exhaust manifold....could that have loosened?

I will check on the ground. I'm going to have to get a ride back to the car first.

I farmed the header installation out to a relatively well-known exhaust shop that specializes in custom exhaust, so I'd be surprised if that bit had been neglected, but you never know.

Find the blue plug under the passenger side of the dash and jump together the two pins with a paperclip.

Count the number of times the check engine light flashes and compare to this chart: http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=682412

Check your battery voltage. You could have a bad alternator or battery. If your voltage drops too low the car will die.

Battery voltage is fine. Reading at 12.5

Timing belt break? It won't spark if the cam isn't turning.

So I'm trying to read the code now. I stuck a paperclip into the plug, (which I'm sure is the right one because it's the only plug with two holes on the passenger side)

The CEL is holding steady. It refuses to start blinking. Could I be doing something wrong?

Interestingly, the SRS light starts blinking rapidly when I do this.

I know that older Honda's had problems with ignitors failing. I had it happen to me twice. Not sure if i was still an issue by 95, but it might be worth investigating. The car will crank, but not fire.

Also, pull the distributor cap and see if the tiny screw backed out of the rotor. If it did, the rotor will slip off. They need Loctite on them.

Well it's not the rotor.

If it's not storming tomorrow, I'm going to get a junkyard distributor and throw that on, I guess. Signs point to a coil or distributor failure. Doesn't explain why the voltage is so low, though. I really wish I could read the code it's throwing.

Get a noid light and see if the injectors are firing while cranking. Check the cam/crank position sensor (whichever is applicable). Look through the oil cap and be sure the cam(s) turn while someone cranks the motor (timing belt). While it'd be really rare you could have had a ECU die, but I doubt it. Stick a spark tester on the wire from the coil to the distributor and see if you're getting anything there, that'll tell you if the coil is firing.

Usually when a motor just shuts off on the highway it's a timing belt...

skruffy wrote: Usually when a motor just shuts off on the highway it's a timing belt...

so does a '95 Civic EX have an interference or non-interference motor...?

The timing belt was supposedly replaced not long before I bought the car. Updates to come in a few hours.

skruffy wrote: Get a noid light and see if the injectors are firing while cranking.

Just keep in mind that (IMO) 95% of the time it is ignition. Fuel is a pretty hard thing to screw up, if there is fuel it will USUALLY fire. No chance of that if there is no spark. A solid CEL that you can't make blink is odd though... does that sound like a dead ECU CEL and it just magically happened after the work?

In reply to HiTempguy:

I know, I was just going through everything it could possibly be. My money is on timing belt.

I'm pretty sure all recent honda engines are interference, but I could be mistaken.

most new hondas are interference

EDIT: I did a little reading and apparently the CEL will stay on solid when jumped if there are no codes in the system. When you turn the ignition switch on, does the CEL go out after two seconds or stay on?

If it goes out then I'd look into the distributor. Replacing that will eliminate ignitor, coil and all three engine position sensors all in one shot.

http://downloads.hondatech.info/Auto/Manuals/Civic/Ab0VE.Honda%20Civic%2092-95%20Service%20Manual.zip Page 220 of this PDF is the no-start diagnosis of the factory service manual.

I said: Check your main relay. This powers up your fuel pump and ECU, and is a known failure point. Maybe this is why the CEL is staying solid when you jump it. You can also turn the key and listen for the fuel pump to prime. If you can't hear it, it's probably the relay. The solder joints crack, causing opens. You might get lucky and be able to get it running my cranking the car over while beating on the lower console (drivers side. I did this for a summer in my old prelude). If it is bad you can often open them up and re-heat the solder to get it working again. '95 EX would be D16Z6, which are interference, but you have a fairly good chance of not bending valves. That being said you'd probably notice right away that the car sounds funny when cranking it over if the t-belt were broken.

grimmelshanks wrote: most new hondas are interference

if the '95 is considered a "new" Honda then the problem probably isn't the timing belt... there should be some evidence of a broken engine...

It's running! Sort of.

Of course it was the one thing that I neglected to check. The ECU fuse had blown.

Yeah. I feel stupid.

Obviously something caused that fuse to blow, so I'm not out of the woods yet. Until I figure out what that was, I've got a pack of 15 amp fuses in the glove box.

Now I've got another issue that seems to have stemmed from that.

My dashboard lights don't work, except for the SRS and battery lights, which turn on when I start the car and then off, just like they're supposed to. Nothing else is working.

CEL is dead, oil light is dead, etc. All the gauges are dead too, the speedometer, odometer, tachometer, fuel... Oh and the turn signals and clock are out as well.

Car seems to drive just fine.

I already checked to make sure I put the fuses back in the right place. Where do I go from here?

Hah! Nevermind. Turns out I somehow missed the fact that the back-up light fuse was missing.

And that said fuse seems to affect every system I mentioned previously...

You guys are great. I appreciate all the help and the (incorrect) assumptions you all made that I'm not an idiot.

Since I currently drive a '97 Civic, this gives my quite a bit to look for if the same thing ever happens to me. Isn't it weird how 1 "inconsequential" fuse can cause so much damage?

I definitely learned my lesson about being thorough when checking fuses...

Now I just need to figure what shorted out the ECU before I run out of 15 amp fuses.

Sounds like my fun with fuel pump fuses last year. The first time it blew I spent WAY too much money to have it towed to the shop. Then for the next 2 weeks or so I would be lucky to go a day with out blowing the fuse. It culminated when I blew 6 fuses inside of a 1/4 mile on a VERY busy stretch leaving walmart. Afterwards I sat eating lunch looking at the dealership across the road, telling myself that if it went thru any more fuses I'm just going to trade it in and to hell with the consequenses.

It has been 10 months and it hasnt happened since