2 days ago: Come back from out of town for 12 days. 1994 Civic EX 1.6L D16Z6 sits in parking lot of apartment complex the whole time. Try to start car & engine won't turnover... a couple times it sounds like it is about to turn over but no.
Change spark plugs. Had put 15k miles on since buying car used - it has 175K total, previous owner was from Mongolia and new nothing about cars, so I figure this wouldn't hurt. Besides the car had been idling weird for a couple weeks, RPMs strangely kicking up to a little over 2 and back down about every second before car warmed up. And the old spark plugs looked pretty beat up anyway.
Car still doesn't turn over. Go read big ass shop manual for 2 hours and come up with some hypotheses. Go back out to car. Figured I'd stick the key in the ignition and give it a try... and... car starts fine.
Car is fine for next 24 hours.
Yesterday: Wife goes to grocery store. Car starts overheating. She turns off the engine and ... the car won't turn over again. Buys coolant and fills up reservoir which was mostly, but not completely, empty. Tries to start car again... it starts fine. Doesn't overheat on 35 mph 3 mile drive home
1 hr. later. Wife drives to pick me up from train station (another 35 mph/3 mile drive). Car starts to overheat again. She turns on fans and it goes down. I get in car and temp gauge is halfway up but radiator not kicked in. Give it more coolant so reservoir is at max line (it was below). Radiator finally kicks in while doing this. Drive home. Discover coolant is leaking. Fill it back up. Starts to rain. Call it a day.
Today: Let car sit in driveway. Come home from work. Go to troubleshoot cooling system (reservoir still full), and... the engine won't turnover.
Thoughts?
Is it possible the engine turnover issue and the radiator issue are related? I mean, what are the odds of two things going bad at once when the car had been more or less fine before sitting for 12 days?
Basically, I am a man of limited time, income and knowledge. I knew little about cars before getting this car (I was a public transit type), but since purchase have had no trouble replacing master/slave clutch cylinder, muffler, radiator hoses, and changing oil... so I guess I am a quick learner and reasonably competent. I don't have hours on end to troubleshoot this thing and am reluctant to pay a mechanic unless I have to, so I was hoping for a little advice.
Thanks and sorry for the long story (don't know how else to explain without giving all the details if there is a relationship between the problems).
Change spark plugs. Had put 15k miles on since buying car used - it has 175K total, previous owner was from Mongolia and new nothing about cars, so I figure this wouldn't hurt. Besides the car had been idling weird for a couple weeks, RPMs strangely kicking up to a little over 2 and back down about every second before car warmed up. And the old spark plugs looked pretty beat up anyway.
Car still doesn't turn over. Go read big ass shop manual for 2 hours and come up with some hypotheses. Go back out to car. Figured I'd stick the key in the ignition and give it a try... and... car starts fine.
Car is fine for next 24 hours.
Yesterday: Wife goes to grocery store. Car starts overheating. She turns off the engine and ... the car won't turn over again. Buys coolant and fills up reservoir which was mostly, but not completely, empty. Tries to start car again... it starts fine. Doesn't overheat on 35 mph 3 mile drive home
1 hr. later. Wife drives to pick me up from train station (another 35 mph/3 mile drive). Car starts to overheat again. She turns on fans and it goes down. I get in car and temp gauge is halfway up but radiator not kicked in. Give it more coolant so reservoir is at max line (it was below). Radiator finally kicks in while doing this. Drive home. Discover coolant is leaking. Fill it back up. Starts to rain. Call it a day.
Today: Let car sit in driveway. Come home from work. Go to troubleshoot cooling system (reservoir still full), and... the engine won't turnover.
Thoughts?
Is it possible the engine turnover issue and the radiator issue are related? I mean, what are the odds of two things going bad at once when the car had been more or less fine before sitting for 12 days?
Basically, I am a man of limited time, income and knowledge. I knew little about cars before getting this car (I was a public transit type), but since purchase have had no trouble replacing master/slave clutch cylinder, muffler, radiator hoses, and changing oil... so I guess I am a quick learner and reasonably competent. I don't have hours on end to troubleshoot this thing and am reluctant to pay a mechanic unless I have to, so I was hoping for a little advice.
Thanks and sorry for the long story (don't know how else to explain without giving all the details if there is a relationship between the problems).