engine turns but will not start

[erotomania]

Hi everyone. It is an 88 LX. I left the car at home and went away to school and came back to visit a week later and the car would not start. The engine sounds funny, like the crank is spinning more easily than it should. The ignition is fine. Maybe a blown head gasket? The last time the car worked it gave no symptoms or threats of failure.

Any ideas?

[shepherd79]

well, since it is carbed, it will be alittle easier to test. first thing first, check all the fuses.
1. make sure there is fuel. Disconect fuel line from the carb and put into the bottle or let some one hold it in the can. turn the ignition on and see if the fuel is flowing. If you are not getting fuel, check the fuel relay. they can go bad. it is connected on the back of the fuse box. (download shop manual if you can't find it).
2. if you have fuel, but the car won't start. check the spark. make sure you are getting spark. disconnect the spark plug wires. this will keep the car from excidently starting. remove the spark plug and connect to the wire and ground the plug while someone is turning the engine over. you should get spark. if not. check the distributor or coil.

[88Accord-DX]

If you tried everything listed in the previous post & still not getting it started , more than likely the timing belt broke.

[spanky]

are you sure your getting gas. my neighbor just put a new engine in and it wouldnt start. so we arked the spark plug onto the block and we were getting a spark but it was a low spark so we changed the cap and rotor and we got a much stronger spark, but the car wouldn't start. so we sprayed some starting fluid into the intake and it started but it died. so we checked the fuel filter after a couple more time of spraying starting fluid. and it turned out to be a clogged fuel filter that was the problem. so if you dont smell fuel after cranking the engine i'd buy some starting fluid and spray it into the carb and if it starts it's a fuel problem. also i'd try and listen for the fuel pump to turn on.

[erotomania]

It was the accelrator pump diaphragm on the carburetor. It was leaking gas like a mofo. I rebuilt the carburetor and the engine runs strong.

But now I've decided to convert the car to EFI :) I just finished tearing the car down.

How much do you guys suppose the parts for the conversion will cost from a junk yard? I really don't want to deal with finding and buying a separate parts car.

[T's87lx]

whoa you got some work ahead of you, i was gonna convert to efi but all just stick with carb and ahvao ak canenc i dnakn blah

[88Accord-DX]

Just thought I would throw this link in here to lead you in the right direction on fuel injected swap. ;)

http://www.geocities.com/carotman/howto/eficonv/EFIconversion.htm?200527

[erotomania]

Yes that page is awesome. I've been following it word by word and it's been great. Thanks carotman. I'm already done with the car teardown. The wiring harness was a bitch.

It'll cost me about $250 from my local junkyard to buy all those parts in carotman's part list. I'm getting them on Monday. Hopefully I'll be up and running by Tuesday.