Sparky94

Hey guys, I'm having some troble with my civic. First off, it's a 1997 Honda civic hatch with a b16a2 from a 2000 Honda civic, converted to obd1 running of a p30 ecu.

I drove the car to my dad's house today no problem, started and drove fine. I do have an issue with overheating,rough idle on startup, and idle surges when the car is at operating temp and stopped.

So today I addressed the overheating issue. I replaced the thermostat and did a coolant flush. My exact process was:

Drain the rad, take off lower rad hose, disconnect battery, remove ground from thermostat housing, take out and replace thermostat, install new thermostat tighten down housing. I removed the tps sensor and the sensor ontop of the fuel rail (not sure what it's called) to simply reroute the wires as they were tangled. Connected both sensors back in. Installed lower rad hose. Filled the rad with coolant, connected the battery, and started the car. It did start, for about 7 seconds, then died. I tried to start it again, it cranks over, but no start. When the ignition is on, there is a clicking noise coming from the passenger side if the car (ecu area I'm assuming). I left the car for about 30 minutes, came back and tried to start it again, it started for about 3 seconds and died, then clicking noise.

*Also spilled a fair amount of coolant when removing the thermostat*

Any ideas on what this could be? It ran fine 3 hours ago

sikefcrx89

iTrader: (1)

you did not mention reconnecting the thermostat ground. I would start there. The clicking your hearing is the main relay. Any CEL's?

Sounds like you could have mixed the Map/TPS plugs.

Also did you reconnect your IAT sensor plug?

Sparky94

Sorry yes I did reconnect the ground to the thermostat, no cel codes thrown, I made sure to only imply one sensor at a time to not mix them up. I just disconnected the thermostat ground, cleaned all the corrosion off it and reconnected it. Started the car and it seems to be running fine now

sikefcrx89

iTrader: (1)

yea. Thermostat ground provides ecu/main relay power. glad to hear its going again

Sparky94

Thanks for your help!!!

Sparky94

So new problem. My thermostat isn't opening (lower rad hose isn't getting hot).

I'm not running antifreeze yet, I just did water for now as I forgot to buy antifreeze. I let the car idle for 30 minutes with the fan constantly on, and then 45 minutes with the fan constantly off. The temperature didn't change one bit. I drove home (about a 20 minute drive) with the fan constantly off and still no change in the temp. Any thoughts?

sikefcrx89

iTrader: (1)

Do you have your fan wired to a toggle?

Thermostat could be stuck open or closed. Best way to test is remove it and put it in a pot of boiling water and see if it opens and closes correctly. Do you know what temp thermostat you put in it?

Sparky94

The fans jumpered out for now due to te switch not working. I do have a new one to put in. The thermostat is brand new so it should be working correctly. The thermostat temp is 170F/76.7C. I'll try boiling it tomorrow to see if it opens and closes correctly.

The operating temp is a bit lower than normal. But even with the fan completely off it didn't go up

sikefcrx89

iTrader: (1)

The temperature usually won't move especially if ambient temperatures are manageable. Check the thermostat just to be sure. Replace your temp switch. Did you bleed the system after the thermostat change?

Would hate to see air and overheating after all the trouble.

Anything after 30-35mph the fan really doesn't do anything anyway.

Sparky94

Yes I bled the system, I'll be doing another flush on the weekend and fill it with antifreeze. I'll replace the switch tomorrow and check the thermostat.

Thanks for you help!

sikefcrx89

iTrader: (1)

Np. Let us know how it turns out.

Sparky94

Removed the thermostat, boiled it and it never opened. So I went to Honda and go the OEM one. Boiled it and it opens and closes normally. Never got to installing the OEM or the ECT switch. But it looks like it'll work fine now. Thanks for your help!

sikefcrx89

iTrader: (1)

No problem. Parts house thermostats are hit or miss sometimes. Glad I could give you some ideas.

Sparky94

I'm just loving this car right now. Last night it had a super rough start, but then after 15 or so seconds it was fine. Now this morning it won't start. It cranks over, and it really tries to start, sounds like it's just not sparking. Tried to jump start it and that didn't help,and the fuel pump primes. I was thinking the alternator, but it would have at least started with the jump right? No idea when the fuel filter was last replaced, so I'm gonna replace that.

I checked all connections and they're all fine. I do have some idle problems. I have high rpm on start up (idles at 2000rpm) then drops down. And I also have idle surges when I'm stopped (jumps from 1000-1500 and repeats) I was wondering if that was connected to at all?

Once again, any help would be great

tony_2018

How bad was corrosion on the thermostat ground wires?

Sparky94

Wasn't horrible, but wasn't good. I cleaned it off and reattached the ground and the car started fine yesterday afternoon

Sparky94

I've tested the injectors, they have good ohms and volts. Cleaned all ground connections. Still nothing though.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Have you checked out the ignition components? Or checked for a broken wire(s) and/or corrision on your OBD1 sandwich harness?

Sparky94

Just took my oil cap off, and it's covered with creamy looking oil

Sparky94

No I haven't checked out ignition yet. No broken wires or corrosion on the harness

sikefcrx89

iTrader: (1)

High idle and wondering RPM's is usually a sign of air trapped in the coolant. No start could be related to your main relay,but this only usually happens when its hot out.

Just for fun

http://techauto.awardspace.com/mainrelay.html

Also have you checked for spark during this No Start period? Have an extra set of hands crank while you check.

Pull the dipstick and check for milky oil. Could be early signs of a failing head gasket.

Sparky94

Haven't checked for spark yet, I'll be doing that tonight. It's really not that hot here, so I doubt it's the main relay, but I'll give it a check.

The dipstick is just normal coloured oil. But the oil cap is milky coloured

Sparky94

I took the distributor cap off and there was some corrosion on the contacts, so I cleaned that off. Took a spark plug out to test it, and it was so dirty and the gap looked to big. So I didn't even bother testing them, just went and got some NGK Platinum spark plugs and it fired up first go. Thanks for your help guys!

tony_2018

Good ****, thanks for trying to troubleshoot.

sikefcrx89

iTrader: (1)

Good. Hopefully you have resolved your issues..