HELP!! Starting/firing problems

Technical Topics specific to the Hatchback body - NOT where you post pics/build specs of your car.
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HELP!! Starting/firing problems

By Crabloc93
- Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:01 am #350287 Whats up fellas? :D Havent posted on here in a long time. Long story short, I lost my job due to an injury and a few months after crashed my car. I started working again and now have all the parts needed for a 5 speed swap, only issue is my car wont start. It's been sitting for almost a year. I bought brand new spark plugs/wires, distributor rotor & cap, and ignition coil, fuel pump is working fine. The car cranks and gets spark but it doesnt want to completely turnover. Yesterday I had a coworker come by and he retarded the dizzy while I cranked it, it became very close to firing, closest attempt so far. Before it would just sputter. He thinks the timing is off. Does anyone have any other ideas of what could be preventing my car to start?
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By teal_dx
- Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:33 am #350288 How long are you cranking it for? Sometimes when they sit for a while, it can take a while of cranking before the engine fires up. I remember one time my 96 civic sat for almost 3 months and wouldn't start. I checked EVERYTHING, even the timing belt incase it jumped a tooth. I was getting pissed so I cranked the car for like 20-30 secs and it started to sputter a little bit. So I hooked up jumper cables to another car (battery was getting weak from all the cranking) and cranked it for probably 45 or so seconds and the sputter got better and better until it finally fired up. No clue why, but it never did that again.
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By Crabloc93
- Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:58 am #350296 I would crank it for 10-20 seconds, last night I was cranking it for almost a minute straight the motor was trying so hard to turnover, it shook the whole car it felt like, this was all while I retarded the distributor. One thing about my car is when it did run, when it starts the motor would idle weird, rev up and rev down(sounded like a fat person heavily breathing) this happened a lot during cold times, dont know if this has anything to do with my current issue. My other coworker mentioned it could be my igniter?
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By suspendedHatch
- Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:36 pm #350310 It could be anything but you don't just throw parts at it and hope it starts. Each part can be tested and verified.

Have you checked for fuel, spark, compression?
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By Crabloc93
- Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:27 pm #350320 I already tested everything, fuel pump works fine you can hear it prime when you turn the key half way, the plugs and wires are getting spark, same as the igniton coil,and the starter works fine. As I said it tries very hard to turnover but just can't finish the process. You can also smell gas when you crank it.
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By suspendedHatch
- Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:54 pm #350413 Listening for the fuel pump is just a start. It doesn't mean fuel is coming out of the injectors.

You can spray carb cleaner in the throttle body and if it starts up for a few seconds then see why fuel isn't making it out of the injectors. They can seize up from sitting too long.

How are your grounds? Does it crank better if you run a jumper cable from the battery to the starter directly and jump it at the starter? Or if you ground the transmission to the battery using jumper cables?
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By TrailerTrash
- Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:01 am #350418 try flooring it when you crank it over.'

my girlfriends old civic had the same problem Teal mentioned. after alot of cranking and sputtering i put the pedal to the metal and it fired up.

and just like Teal said, it never happened again :?
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By Crabloc93
- Thu Dec 18, 2014 3:33 am #350443 I got it started,I feel so stupid, turns out the spark plug wires were not in the correct order.. :oops: It runs normal but still has the same idle problem it had before. It fluxates between high and low rpms while warming up, I'm not sure what is causing this. I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this.
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By egsedanguy
- Fri Dec 19, 2014 4:14 pm #350484 Its prolly your fast idle valve. I just fixed my heavy breathing problem. Its the part that sits just under your throttle body. Has 3 10mm bolts and 2 lines running into it. There is a flat cover with 2 8mm/fillips head screws holding it on. Pull it off and you will see a plunger looking thing, and a white ring surrounding it with 2 notches in it. Turn it with a flat head clock wise until it stops. do not over tighten it just snug. Re install and you should be good. Just take care when removing so you do not damage/lose the gasket. Also good time to clean it up with some carb clean. I did mine in a total of about 20 min start to finish. You will have to remove air box/intake first. hope this helps :thumb:
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