hondasaurusrex

ok, so i've got an 89 crx si, swapped in a jdm dohc zc, converted my dizzy wiring properly, and it cranks over just fine, but the damned thing wont start....i know i've got fuel, i know i've got 180 psi compression across the board....weird thing is, once i turn the key to the on position, the main relay and distributor start humming, and i cant figure out what it is....it did this with the original relay, which was later condemned because it tested bad on all 3 tests....got a new main relay, it tested just fine, yet the humming is still there....im at my wits end right now, as i've been up for literally 24 hours trying to get this thing finished...any help would be great....

LilJonWask

Check your grounds. I know that if my battery terminals are loose I'll sometimes get a humming.

hondasaurusrex

grounds all seem to be ok...im wondering if a wire got pinched during the swap or something??? because i've heard a relay hum before, but never a dizzy....

ZCMeGone

check your timing thats what was wrong with mine, just kept cranking but would not turn over, timing was all out of whack

csingham

there is a little box (its been a while since i've owned a zc or crx forthat matter). its on the 1st cam, i think its a cam angle sensor or something. When i had this problem i had to go find one of those and the beast fired right up. I had no codes no nothing either

hondasaurusrex

your symptoms were the same as mine? a humming main relay and distributor??? because if the cam angle sensor is what your reffering to i've got another one that should be good....i guess i dont understand how that cam angle sensor would cause that humming sound if it was bad.....

NHswaps13203

check the ground on the T-Stat housing

hondasaurusrex

yep...the t-stat housing ground was definatly not hooked up, lol...stupid me....that solved the relay/dizzy humming...and i for sure have good spark now....but my compression randomly dropped from 180 psi across the board 2 days ago to less than 50 psi across the board tonight...i havent the slightest what could have happened besides the head gasket popping for no reason....and if i pop the head from the block i void my warranty....i guess im sending the engine back and asking for a refund.....

NHswaps13203

dude zc's ****** suck and i had the same problem thats how i know. worse case if you are on a budget buy a jdm d15b will be just as fun as the zc and vtec!

hondasaurusrex

im about ready to go k power....tigerjapanese.com sucks...they guaranteed start up...and the damned thing is a lemon....i cant even begin to express how pissed off i am right now

janz3n

hey, my buddy just bought a obd0 dohc zc from tigerjapanese on friday , we put it in sat, had it running sunday. it blew a tone of white smoke at first start up. eventually going away but was still there a bit. put everything back together to take it for a ride.. and it burns oil and coolant. have you taken yours back for a refund yet? my buddy is goign there today to bitch about it and see what they can do for him. either a refund or they fix it. but im not looking forward to swapping another engine. even though this one went smooth it tooka long time (2 days waking up at 8am each time) ya i know we suck and are slow. lol.

hondasaurusrex

i got ahold of tigerjapanese.com and they wont even honor my warrantee....because i had to reset the cam timing when i got the engine...it was 180 degrees out of time with a brand new timing belt on it....i guess i dont understand what those people are trying to pull....almost seems like a scam to me....but if your buddy is smart he'll get a refund and go elsewhere with his business

janz3n

weird.. my buddy had a good experience today. the mechanic there was nice to him and told him to run synthetic for 2 days and if it still smokes then bring the engine back for a new one.. or he could probably get a refund. but i can see why they would say that to you if you had to open up the engine and replace trhat stuff. we never touched anything but the VC gasket. because were cheap lol. the mechanic said it could be oil and coolant left over in the muffler from when we drove it 20 mins witht he blown engine .

el_81

tiger japanese is a huge rip off, they sell old junk at top dollar, they say there engines have good compression but they dont even test them, they wait until you test them and then send them back on your dollar, my zc had about 3 litres of condensation in it when i changed the oil, and 2 dead cylinders , buyers beware.....

janz3n

ya well its gonna be like that anywhere you buy from.. some less than others. tiger will replace your engine if its ****. just not install it. so if you did the swap yourself you not really loosing money just time.

hondasaurusrex

yeah well...i half *** expected that to happen...but either way im still ******* irate....i guess for now im gonna have to see exactly what this zc's problem is...because i need my car back like months ago....

el_81

before you send it back there are a few things you can try, spray wd-40 into the dead cylinders , let it soak over night, try a compression test in the morning and see if it goes up, if it does it means that the rings are stuck or toasted,the oil takes up the slack in the rings and gives you an idea of what the problem might be, if nothing changes then its prolly a valve , keep loadin in the wd, and lettin it sit, until you get a decent reading (130 or higher ). as soon as you can get it running , put shitty plugs in and spray in a full bottle of Mopar combustion chamber cleaner ( mccc ) @ about 1500 rpm until bottle is empty , follow directions on can , MCCC can be found at your local dodge dealer for about 5 bucks a can , worked like a hot damn for me , turned out that my rings were stuck because the motor had been sitting for about 15 years and full of sludge, also my injectors ( 2 and 4 ) were so full of gum and varnish there were jammed, i took the rail apart a poked the piston with a pen to break it loose , oh and prolly a good idea to do a motor oil flush and change after the wd treatment because it leaks past the rings and into the oil , good luck

therealciviczc

So wait, does it start now? I can't imagine how your compression would have changed that much just by trying to start the car a few times. That makes no sense. If it was 180 across all of them a few days ago, something isn't adding up. Are you checking it on a cold motor that doesn't start?

therealciviczc

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NHswaps13203 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dude zc's ****** suck and i had the same problem thats how i know. worse case if you are on a budget buy a jdm d15b will be just as fun as the zc and vtec! </TD></TR></TABLE>

I've had mine for about 9 years, 5 of which have been with a turbo. The motor has never been touched other than putting a T belt on it, and it runs great. It all depends on what motor you get and how it was treated when you got it. I guess you either got a bad one or I got a good one. I love mine. I run it hard as hell and so far its never given me any problems. Actually... I take that back, I have put a distributer on it.

baboracus

Do you need to get a cam angle sensor directly from Honda or what?

hondasaurusrex

the low compression could have been because the battery didnt have enough nuts to turn the engine to build compression...i think the timing belt jumped or something, seems like extreme valve overlap would be the only thing that would make the compression change that drastically....i know its getting fuel in all 4 cylinders though, and i know i had at least some spark...im going to go back through my dizzy wiring to make sure its right...i've tried the two plain white wires both ways and it still didnt start....but i got a new battery now and i've finally got some more time to work on it tonight, so im also going to recheck the timing and make sure it didnt jump a tooth, and that i had it set right in the first place, cuz i know these zc's are picky about the cam timing