1990 WAGON ran, died and now wont start

djblisirdjblisir Band Wagon
in New User Introductions
Hello I'm Brian from Sandwich, Illinois.

I just got a wagon that I've been hunting for, for years. Now I'm trying to save some cash to do a swap.
I can use any info on a swap. I want to put the 1.8 in it and need to no everything I will need to do it, I love this car and plan to do something with it, my wife s not happy but... now I've had the car for 2 months and I go to leave work and it started, ran for 5 mins and died.
Fuel pump is working great, I replaced the plugs, cap, rotor and still nothing. Looked to have plenty of spark. I poured some gas into the carb and still nothing. What else could it be? I dont have the money to drop into a bunch of parts that might work.
Its the only car I have and really need it to get to work and to cart 4 kids around. If anyone has any ideas that wound be great and appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

btw sorry if this post is n the wrong spot. and the car is a stock 1.5

Comments

  • NZ-DB8RNZ-DB8R Moderator
    Welcome, I took the courtesy of edited your post so that it was more than once sentence. Also added some capital letters and punctuation so that people can actually read it.

    You may want to post what type of wagon you have, you state that it has a carb so must be an older one? Pretty hard to help if nobody knows what you have
  • djblisirdjblisir Band Wagon
    Sorry for the lack of info on the og post.
    The car is a 1990 civic 1.5 automatic wagon. It still has the og motor with PGMFI on it. I took the cover off to put some gas into that and I just called it a carb.
    Still did'nt start anyway tho.
    I've never own a civic with this old of a motor and I'm not familiar with it. I read on here that it could be the main relay if everything else is working on the car. Is there anyway to tell if that is bad or should I just buy a new one anyway. I really dont know what to do @ this point but I just need to have this running by Tuesday for work.

    Thanks in advance for any ideas and help.
  • simplyhondasimplyhonda Council Member
    Dont buy a new one!
    1. Take your old relay out. Does it smell like hot electronics? Probably so.
    2. Carefully pry the cover off with a screwdriver.
    3. Get your soldering iron hot, if you don't have one, go get one you own an old Honda, youll need it again!
    4. Heat up each solder point on the relay one at a time. Just place the soldering iron on the very tip top. (looks like the nipple on a tit) When they get hot and start to melt add a little new solder. Like I said, do this to each point. There is probalbly 15-20 of them.
    5. Snap the cover back on
    6. Re-install
    7. Start Car!
    Over time the relay gets hot, cool, hot, cool, etc. The old solder breaks down and forms little cracks in it. This will cause a break in the current. These cracks are so small you can't see them. By re-soldering each point you fix these. Process takes like 20 minutes and makes you feel real good that you fixed your car without spending $. If your car still won't start, then at least you know it's not your relay, and you can check that off your list!
  • NZ-DB8RNZ-DB8R Moderator
    Ive edited your second post to make it easy to read again, remember you have an "enter" button ;)

    But if you do as above you will soon discover if it is your relay or not. I did mine about 3 years ago and has been fine since with that method.
  • djblisirdjblisir Band Wagon
    Thanks you guys for the help.

    I got the relay out and it does click 3 times like I read somewhere else.

    I'm going to re solder to see if that helps insted of spending the cash I dont have.

    Thank you and will let you know if that works. ( I hope so )

    Brian.
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    NZ-DB8R wrote:
    Ive edited your second post to make it easy to read again, remember you have an "enter" button ;)

    But if you do as above you will soon discover if it is your relay or not. I did mine about 3 years ago and has been fine since with that method.

    You need to just not approve his posts. You're creating more work for yourself than necessary.

    I'm locking this thread because he already has a thread in the engine section regarding this matter.

    This is an introduction thread. Not a tech thread.

    Read more. Post less. The end.
This discussion has been closed.

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