1998 Honda Civic Spark Plug Wires

CAPNSPARX

MEMBER
1998 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
190,160 MILES

Well, I replaced the Thermostat on my aunt's '98 Civic LX. When connecting the hoses back together, I had to disconnect the Spark Plug wires. I re-attached them as the diagram shows, and the vehicle won't start. I did go to Auto Zone, but they just confirmed that what I did was he correct order. So my question is, why won't this thing start? It seems like it wants to, it starts to turn, and is almost there, but doesn't start up.

3 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi Capnsparx,

Did you reattach the ground wire at the thermostat housing and was it secured well?

Do you have sparks at plug end?

Distributor wire firing order should be in clockwise rotation.

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Saturday, February 21st, 2009 AT 9:34 PM

CAPNSPARX

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Ok, so, got the spark plug wires in teh correct order, so it starts up just fine. No problems there, now.

The problem is, the car overheats like crazy. I replaced the Thermostat, and even put a new radiator cap on it because the one that was there is really bad, and just didn't seal it.

The thermostat has a new gasket and anti-seize in the housing for a double secure hold.

I'm not certain weather the coolant is even going through the hosing or what. It gets hot, and starts to spit out whatever I put in there, be it coolant or just water to run it through the system. It'll be ok for a bit, but after a short time on the road, no more than 30 min, the car over heats.

My aunt has informed me that she did put 3 containers of the silver powder used to seal up any holes or leaks in the radiator, as well as a bottle of the liquid stuff. My current guess is that either it's blocked up by that crap, or the water pump. The vehicle has been doing this overheating bit for some time prior to that stuff getting added.

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Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 AT 11:41 AM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Did you bleed the system? When the thermostat is removed, there would be no coolant in the engine block and when installed, air would be trapped. When engine is cold, remove the radiator cap and check coolant level. If it is low, top it up and run engine with AC turned ON. Top up as the coolant drops as air is being purged. Stop engine when it starts to warm up. Allow the coolant to settle before starting engine and topping up.

The additional things added to the cooling system could have clogged the radiator but that normally don't cause overheating very quickly unless it has completely clogged it.

When overheating occurs and reserve tank is overflowing, it could be a bad head gasket. Get a pressure test done.

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Monday, February 23rd, 2009 AT 6:40 AM