car shut off while driving and wont start back up what could cause this

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orangemanja

99exturbob16aswap
I have a 99 ex with a b16a2 swap and a :confused:5 speed. I was dring down the road yesturday and the car just shut off and wouldnt start back up

what could cause this?

I checked the battery connections, spark plugs, and grounds

the car has power but wont turn over

let me know some suggestions
 
Main relay? I've never had mine give out though, so I'm not sure what happens when it does...
 
Ignitor in the distributor, would be my first thought if its not firing. I had a car a month ago, the owner had siminlar problems, they replaced the main relay and thought they had fixed it. It started because the car had sat. as soon as it ran for a bit it cut off again. We replaced the distributor and no problems since. A main relay pronlem will in most cases prevent the car from starting. This happens when they get old and the solder joints inside them crack and break the connections going through them.
 
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it could be anything. if it has low oil pressure, it wont start. if it has no gas, it wont start. if the main relay is bad, it wont start. check fuses too. i had a b16 in my coupe and the fuel relay fuse would blow.
 
explain more ....like when u said it wont start back up, does it even crank???? it could be the alternator......
 
it does have a half tank of gas so thats not it
oil level is fine i did take out the spark plugs to look at them and there was oil over top of 2 of the spark plugs
this engine had just been rebuilt with new pistons but the shop that did it must of not been very good cause i have had to fix a few things iv only drivin it about 15miles since it was fixed but it was fixed in a different state
the alternator was one thing i had to fix prior to the car not starting it tested ok at advanced auto and worked fine
the car will crank but wont turn over
it also has a brand a new battery up front and a new yellow top dry cell in the back
the car did sit prior to it being fixed
i will check the fuses tomarrow, does anyone now how much the main relay runs?
 
o ya the gas had old gas with gas treatment and new gas mixed in so it made a knocking sound but i think that was just cause of the old gas
i did here a ticking noise but couldnt locate a exact area where it was coming from before it died
 
main relay is around $60 from the dealer. but it's repairable. sometimes the solder joints break.

if you just had it rebuilt, check the timing. that could be another thing wrong.
 
but would the car not start if the timing was off?
i wont be able to check anything today im in a tornado watch area the news said intell damn 7pm its raining like hell but ill check tomarrow
 
starting it and running could mess up the timing. especially if something wasn't tightened down.
 
starting it and running could mess up the timing. especially if something wasn't tightened down.


Like the tensioner for the timing belt maybe. If it wasnt tight enough and the belt jumped and you tried to restart the car with the cam timing out then youre probally looking at a new head. If you have oil on top of you spark plugs then it sounds like the valve cover gaskets were not replaced, which shouda been if you had a rebuikd done. These are something that included in a head gasket set. On the other hand you may just need to find a new mechanic.
 
ya that machanic sucked i know how to do most of it myself but since i had to take the engine out to put new pistons in it before when it was rebuilt i didnt have a place a lift or engine host or anything to do it my self

it does have new gaskets and i even replaced the barand new valve cover rubber gasket with a new one then put the engine gasket sealent on after cause it still barely leaked i did this the day before the car shut of. i will take the valve cover off tomarrow and check the timing belt tomarrow
 
all fuses are fine and the fuel pump does turn on everytime im looking for the main relay right now but im not sure which one it is does anyone now where it is located. iv looked around on the net and iv read driverside kick panel,passenger side behing glove box.
 
i found the main relay on the passenger side to the right of the glove box took the cover off and all the solder apears to be fine.
when you turn the key to the second egnition the relay clicks once then once more (2 clicks) then when you go to crank the engine it clicks once then once again (2 clicks) the fuel pump turns on in second egnition but the engine doesnt turn over when you try to crank it

i also have power for everythinglights radio turn signals windows air
 
i checked on another site and it said that the relay when working properly should click three times but it also said if you here the fuel pump turn on the relay should be fine

what do you guys think
 
check the timing belt to see if it snaped, if not then check all marks making sure it didint jump, car would crank so it cant be starter or ignition switch, relay?, check to see if theres sparks, i had a bad coil once , civic died out on me and then wouldn't start, could be coil, if nothing i said helps, then check the fuel pump
 
i took the valve cover off and the timing belt looks fine
i took the distibuter cap off and the teeth are barely worn along with the rotor so i dont think thats it
im going to check for spark in a little while when i get someone to turn the key so i can check for the spark
right now im thinking either its the alternator went out (it checked out fine last month) but the engine doesnt turn at all and there is still power so its probly not that
the distributer
or the coil
 
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