bdmlilburn

1990 honda accord ex. f22a swapped. original 5 speed transmission running on a pt6.

tried to drive to work today. started up like normal. was riding out of the neighborhood when she cut off. mil came on and oil light came on. now the starter spins the engine but it wont turn over.

with the key turned to the on position i have a solid check engine light. it wont turn off. i tried jumping the blue connector to pull the code but again a completely solid mil. i was told this is a code 0 meaning a dead ecu. with key in on position i cannot hear the fuel pump priming like it should.

-went to pull a part. got 3 different ecus: 1 for a f22a4 and 2 for f22a1s. all ecus have the same thing happening. constant mil
-bought a new main relay at autozone and tried resoldering my honda relay. both the new relay and the resoldered honda relay had no effect on the steady mil
-removed all engine grounds(thermo,tranny,valve cover) cleaned and reconnected. still same problem

at this point im pulling my hair out scouring the internet looking for other solutions. not looking forward to the 40 mile walk to work at 3 in the morning. does anyone have any ideas as to what else could be happening here

bdmlilburn

i also want to point out this car has a lot of new parts over the last 2 years. everything in the dizzy is still stock. fuel pump is stock. the fuel pump not priming is really bothering me. its the only clue i have to what could be causing the problem. im about to go out and hammer on the fuel tank and se eif i can jar it into priming. this car is driving me to drink

lostforawhile

if issue is related to the ecu or wiring to the ecu, the fuel pump wont prime

lostforawhile

what happened to the other post about the starter or flywheel? those wouldnt have anything to do with the ecu acting like it's dead anyway

bdmlilburn

-grounds were all removed cleaned sanded and retightened
-i bought 3 ecus today at the local pull a part. none of them changed anything
-the main relay is not clicking at all.(this is a brand new relay.)

MAD_MIKE

Have you checked all your fuses? Verified the ignition switch is still making contact?

bdmlilburn

ok guys i found the cause to my no start issue. now i need help finding the source. electrical stuff is not my cup of tea but i understand a little.

Number 2 fuse under the dash keeps blowing. ive tried replacing it. turn key on and pop blows up again. it says its for the a/t control unit(mines a stick), eld unit(i dont know where this is or what exactly it does), and last but not least the pgm-FI ecu. for a second before the fuse blows my cel is gone and i think i could hear the fuel pump priming.

ok now for the hard part. im not the best with circuit diagrams but ill do what i can. where do i start looking for shorts so this dam fuse dont keep blowing. would love to drive the 20 miles to work instead of walking

well upon searching the internet im realizing im pretty screwed. basically just searching for a short for the rest of my life.....ahh well thanks anyways guys

MAD_MIKE

ELD is the Electrical Load Detector. It turns the Alternator ON/OFF for charging. Located in the underhood fuse box. Have you had any recent work done prior to this problem? No matter how insignificant or unrelated.

holmesnmanny

Ok lets start with most likely and go down to least likely. Take one of those ecus back and trade it for an engine bay fuse box assembly for a 90-91 ex mt just like yours. You will need to remove everything from it or the junkyard is going to charge you for them all. The eld unit is integrated inside it. Dont have access to my Helms at the moment but that would be where i would start going by your given info.

lostforawhile

do these have the same issue with the harness rubbing on the manifold support, like civics?

bdmlilburn

i have not done anything but oil changes, transmission fluid changes, suspension work, and new exhaust in the past year or so.

i recently found out a month or so back that my cruise control is able to turn the ignition on like it was in the on ll position. never figured out what was causing that but it still happens. unplugged radio undid some misc wiring ive done in the past year. blew another 3 fuses. think ive about had it for the day. i wish i was more intelligent when it comes to all this electric mumbo jumbo.

work in the morning. gonna talk to some techs at honda and see if they got any ideas. ill also go scoop a fuse box up at the junkyard when i get the chance.

bdmlilburn

just removed every fuse possible in hopes that one of them was allowing the short to live. no go. still blowing fuses. fuse box could definitely be the problem. but there has to be another way to trouble shoot this. can anyone explain how to use a multimeter to detect the charge where the fuse is and maybe unplug connectors until it goes away if thats possible?

holmesnmanny

Instead of blowing fuses you can test for continuity to ground on one of the pins that the fuse plugs into.

There will be ground on any of the grounds that attach near the cabin fuse box chassis area. Test for continuity to it from one of those two fuse pins.

I wont have access to my Helms til tomorrow but i will try to help a bit now. You can try unplugging the engine bay fuse box and see if the short to ground goes away. If it does then you have a better idea where the issue is.

bdmlilburn

Ok I'll try this when I get home. Never used a multimeter before but I'll Google it. So I should just be able to test for continuity with the key on or off? And then start unplugging stuff until it goes away

holmesnmanny

Definitely with the key off. Forgot to mention that.

holmesnmanny

If you test for ohms with the key on it could damage your multimeter. It might work better to just pull the negative battery terminal then test with the key on. It depends on where the short is.

bdmlilburn

Ok about to go get the multimeter and my stock of fuses from my moms house. I currently live an apartment and I have too many tools and what not to store here. Gonna test one thing at I time starting with fuse box then main relay then separate engine components. I'll keep you guys posted on my results since I'm not sure I'll be able to find the source.

bdmlilburn

Ok I think I may have narrowed it down a little but not much...it still blows with the main relay unplugged. I was able to unplug the under hood fuse box and it only blows if I plug in the second to last white connector on the relay side of the fuse box. All the other connectors don't do anything to it.
I was actually able to unplug them all and plug them back in and got it to start for a second then blew fuse and stopped immediately.
The connector has several wires on it. Though I loose Internet down by my car for some reason and can't remember which ones they are

so im guessing i have a short in the black and yellow wire somewhere or the fuse box itself is shorting. im gonna replace the fuse box today. heading to pull a part now

bdmlilburn

Replaced under hood fuse box. Didn't work. Now not exactly sure what to do. Gonna try and study some circuit diagrams and see if I can figure out where to go next. Any opinions and/or directions are greatly appreciated

Ok summary so far: fuse 2 keeps blowing
-replaced fuse box
-removed fuses for everything not needed to start
-fuse blows with main relay unplugged
-fuse only blows with white connector plugged into under hood fuse box. The second plug from the end of the relay side of the box.

Just picked up my multimeter so gonna test it out when I get home. What should I expect to see with the short. I'm guessing I can check with the fuse box unplugged and plugged to ser the difference

holmesnmanny

This is a pic of everything that goes through that fuse box. Looking at that connector you will look at the wire colors and just go one by one looking at each circuit.

holmesnmanny

Here is dash fuse box closeup

bdmlilburn

Hell ya is that a helms? I need that. Automatic seat belt circuit started acting up a few months back. I'll start there

lostforawhile

you need a factory electrical manul, they usually are on ebay cheap, the other manuals suck on electrical

bdmlilburn

hey holmes where can i buy a service manual like that? does it have a specific name? i used to have 1 for my old prelude but cant remember where i got it.

ok so according to what im seeing in those schematics. ignition switch goes to fuse 2(that i keep blowing) which then goes to the eld and everything else. so im guessing i really only need to be concerned with the items hooked up through the blk/yel circuit on the under dash diagram

holmesnmanny

Hondahookup has Helms service manuals for download. . not sure if it has ours. . I have the paper copy. . You just need to look at anything past that number 2 fuse