Spent 3 hours chasing a no-start on a 98 Civic, turned out to be the main relay

I was helping a buddy with his Civic last Thursday. Car would crank but no spark, no fuel pump prime. Checked power at the pump, checked fuses, even swapped the distributor. After 3 hours of scratching my head I remembered the main relay issue these things have. Sure enough, tapped it with a screwdriver and the car fired right up. Felt pretty dumb but also relieved. Has anyone else spent way too long on a simple fix like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

cole35622d ago

Wait, tapping it with a screwdriver fixed it? That's insane (and genius).

the_eric21d agoTop Commenter

Tried smacking my old dryer once and it ran perfect for another year.

morgan89822d ago

My grandpa fixed a washing machine once by kicking it and yelling "WORK!" at it. Turned out it was just a loose belt or something. Percussive maintenance is real, man.