thusee

my buddy has a 97 EL
engine is cranking but theres no spark
im guess its the distributor

any other possibilities?

BestodaBest

Did you check for fuel already?

I thought el's are distributorless.

JerryB

Check the fuel pump

ls/vtec

if its the distributor it will make a weird sound when you crank it. First off make sure its getting fuel

BestodaBest

An EL doesn't have the same conventional distributor ignition system as an integra.

non-VTEC

actually the 97 el does have a distributor. same as a civic.

could be a bad ignitor causing no spark. they are common on civic's.

BestodaBest

O geez, my bad... Didn't notice the year. Your right, non-vtec.

What year did they make the switch? Are there any actual differences between EL's and civics (other then minor luxury improvements?)

non-VTEC

up until the newer 1.7L engine's they all have distributors.

so 2001 was probably the last year for distributors.

and yes. the only diffrences between the el and civic are luxury options and a higher price tag.

thusee

EL does have a distributor i checked it myself didnt check for fuel tho but that shouldnt matter should it?

spark should be there either way if theres fuel or no fuel.?

non-VTEC

yes you should have spark. you can easily check for fuel by pulling a spark plug. with all the cranking you have probably done by now the plugs will be wet with fuel.

if the plugs are dry and you have no spark. then you should be looking at a main relay and/or ignition switch or even possibly ecu (i doubt a ecu problem though)

you checked all fuses first right?

thusee

i checked the fuses in the engine bay they all good (Y)
im gona have to check for fuel tomorrow evening since its sitting at my buddies driveway
well getting fuel or no fuel isnt going to make a difference because starting the car you need spark, and to ignite the fuel you need spark so thats why i said should get spark regardless if you get fuel or no fuel.

BestodaBest

How did you determine that you have no spark? Non-vtec is trying to get your engine running again, so he's looking at all the elements required, starting with air, fuel, and spark.

We assume your getting air (or you've got some problems), and fuel is the next simplest problem to diagnose...

But you already know that your plugs aren't firing?

thusee

i pulled the spark plug wire and put it near the engine to ground the spark but nothing happened

im going check again by sticking a screwdriver into the wire and putting it near a good ground spot.
for sure i will be checking for fuel tomorrow.

black_ac_gsr

iTrader: (3)

could be the ecu happend to my civic after checking all the sensors and injetors pump,relays, just about every other no start test you can perform. new ecu and it fired right up. check all the sensors in the distributor and coil and it might come down to the icm.

zman

usually when I check for spark, I pull the plug out, put it in the wire and ground it against the valve cover and have someone crank the car over for me.

There are specs you can check on the coil and ICM (inside the dizzy) with a multimeter to see if they're within spec or not. If you're not getting spark first thing i'd think of is the dizzy, whether its the coil or ICM or one of the cam/crank/tdc sensors inside the dizzy doesn't really matter if you're going to be replacing the whole dizzy. If its the coil or ICM you can just replace the single part to get it running again. This is very common with hondas, most people who've owned a honda have had a dizzy crap out on them.

thusee

lol ya i didnt have the tools to pull the plug out so i just held the spark plug end of the wire to the head.

and ya i know about dizzy's dying on me
my dizzy died on me while i was making a left turn i thought i was out of fuel cause my light was on i was like wtf so my buddy brought fuel and still no start so drove back to my shop picked up a dizzy i had swapped and its still running.

sikkkkktegra

main relay.

hadoken

open the dizzy - check if the rotor is still good, if good...check the wires then plugs, good luck