Symptoms of 1996 Honda Civic EX No Start

Find out why this 1996 Honda Civic suddenly quit and won’t start. It has a 1.6L engine with fuel injector on each cylinder. When tested, the ATS customer reported no ignition spark and there is no injector signal coming out of the injector wires. He used a  noid light tester to check the injector wires as suggested by ATS. He replaced the distributor assembly thinking it would solve the problem but nothing happened.

He is now thinking of replacing the ecm (engine computer) but is asking ATS for the right way to proceed. He is very disapointed that the distributor was a little bit expensive and it did not work when replaced.

Diagnostics of 1996 Honda Civic No Start:

Looking at ecm (engine computer) wiring diagram, both the fuel pump and injector are supplied 12v at pin 4 and pin 6 located in the PGM-F1 main relay. These 2 pin wires have colors yellow green and yellow black respectively. If no 12v power is coming out from these pins, this would explain why the engine is not getting any fuel from either the fuel pump and fuel injectors.

Make sure the fuse 44 (15 amps) for the main relay is not blown. This is the main 12v supply to the main relay’s pin7 wire and has a white black color. If you find this 12v supply from the fuse 44 is present to pin 7 and the other pins 4 and 6 have no 12v supply, then the main relay is defective. I thought I mentioned this on my earlier blog about the weakness of this Honda main relay.

To test for sparks, again using the ecm wiring diagram, check the black yellow wire from the ignition switch. This supplies 12v to the distributor coil primary input wire which has a black yellow color. Please note that this same distributor wire will only have power when you turn the ignition switch.

There are lots of reports that when the ignition switch is worn internally, it can cause a no start problem but this same supply wire is the best place to check. If there is no power from this wire, the ignition switch has to be replaced.

Final Fix of 1996 Honda Civic No Start:

The above analysis was emailed to the ATS customer and he found that the main relay is the culprit. A new main relay was bought from the local store nearby and the car started right away.

More tips for 1996 Honda Civic No Start:

1.) The main relay is located in the right side of the glove compartment.

2.) All fuses can be found on the fuse/relay box located under the hood.

3.) Another name for this main relay is PGM-F1 relay and the most common cause of No Starts on Civics.

4.) Wiring diagrams are only supplied to ATS members when you subscribe.

5.) You can buy an aftermarket Civic main relay and usually cost $12 to $24 USD. However, you can pick them up at a salvage yard at $2 each, maybe buy 2 and put them in your glove compartment.

6.) You do not have to remove the steering wheel to replace the ignition switch. When replacing this part, just buy the ignition switch  from your local parts store and they will give you instructions or contact ATS.

Thanks,

Richard