i was recently driving my 96 accord. when all of a sudden it just died on me on the freeway. as of right now it wont start. can any one give me some advice. is my engine blown? whats the best way to check and find out if it is? and if it is what is required to rebuild my h22a? thanks

 

easy there, it's probably something simple. combustion needs three things to work, take away any one and nothing happens. you need air, fuel, and ignition.

so, what happens when you try to turn the key over? any sound?

air: this one should be good...

fuel: when you turn the key over can you hear the fuel pump in the tank turn on? should make a little whine noise. next, try turning the key over for about 5-10 seconds, then run back to the muffler and smell. should smell like gasoline. if you hear the fuel pump whine and smell the gas, youre good here.

ignition: remove one of the spark plugs but leave it in the wire and prop it up so you can see it through the windshield and try turning it over to see if youre getting any spark. if you dont, if could be the distributor cap, rotor, or the ignition coil itself.

when my car wouldnt start a few months ago, after a whole days worth of troubleshooting, it was the ignition coil. i hope this information saves you some time. are you internal coil or external?

 

no spark from the spark plugs. i just recently found out that my friend who was borrowing my car..stupidly down shifted from 5th gear to 2nd gear going about 80mph. how high are the chances of the engine being blown?

 

id say chances are 99.9 ....thats why i never let people use my vehicles, especially a manual tranny one where you know its more easy to abuse...well at least he can buy you a new h22

 

yup i guess so..at least it gives me a reason to rebuild my h22a..

 

I'm not convinced it is blown. I'd at least try to get it running first and get a compression test done before jumping to conclusions. Do a search for no spark" on this site to see if something on here can tell you how to get it running (If the engine is still OK).
I would not think the engine is blown if the car was still running ok when your friend returned it and it ran ok till it stalled on the road.

 

do a compression test. if you get no compression in one of the cylenders (or very little) its blown

and velocifero, its fuel, ignition, and compression. air is considered part of the fuel.

if the engine is turning over, but your not getting spark, your engine isnt blown. its a problem with the ignition.

You might want to check the compression too tho.

 

My thoughts exactly

 

True .... compression can be tested without spark ..... this will tell you without spending much time if there's any major damage to the internals.

 

I agree engine is not blown But could be a broken timing belt as well..
with a broken timing belt ..lower part would still turn over but not the upper part.. distr does not turn, no spark...