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Hey guys, need some direction. Ive got a 1995 civic dx, intermittant no start. Lady dropped it off yesterday and its starting normally now. She had it in here in October andi traced the problem down (or i thought) to the computer malfunctioning and not letting the main relay turn on when the ignition was switched on, it would take two or three seconds,you would here the fuel pump run and then it would start. i had someone repair the ecm he said it had a resistor that looked funny and he soldered a new one in its place. It worked since october normally but now shes back. I guess what i need to know is how do i confirm it is the ecm, when the main relay wont close for a while to allow it to start intermittantly. Or is the main relay supposed to close first, maybe an explaination of the operation of the main relay/ ecm would help me better. thanks.

the main relay triggers when the key is in the run or start position. personally I've run into harness issues in these cars more than once or twice. see if the plug coming from the ignition switch is discolored in a pattern that follows the wire. if so replace it and pull that wire out both sides of the plug and separately connect them. did you replace the relay? i've seen them go bad, as well as the receptacle be bad. look carefully at the relay plug for any sign of heat distortion. i've opened the relay board and found melted wires more than once. my gut tells me that it's probably the ignition switch. i think if you mess with it by turning the key slowly you may be able to duplicate the no start condition.

Ive done a fair share of the relays. On the ecm all you can do is check inputs and outputs.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/mainrela ... relay.html CHECK OUT THIS GREAT EXPLAINATION FOR THE MAIN RELAY OPERATION AND FAILURE CHARACTERISTICS. I WAS DOING SOME LOOKING AROUND AND FOUND THIS. PULLED THE RELAY AND THE BOARD LOOKS LIKE ITS BEEN HOT, DISCOLORED AND MAY HAVE SOME SOLDER MELT. HMMMMMM

Theres your sign....

don't forget to make sure the relay plug is in good shape. generally the only thing that caused an over heat is bad connections.