99 civic si wont start.
 

so my buddy called me with a problem with his 99 si saying it wont start.
the car was running perfectly fine before he put it outside in the cold for about 3 days. he goes to start it n wont start.

a CEL came up for an o2 heater circuit , so we replaced the "bad" o2. code went away. and ran fine.

few days later code comes back . car stays out in the cold for a day.. try to crank it and it wont start. set it back in the garage with some HEET gas treatment , he re wired his wideband n re-calibrated ..

car starts but sputters at idle n dies. try start it again n hit the gas wont pass 2000 rpms

he was running a p72 chipped ecu with a basemap to his build.
he ordered new p28 hondata s300 with a complementary tune to his build tried turning it on and now it wont fire at all...

we have great spark (MSD)
fuel press. @ 43psi
n timing is correct.
compression is at (1 @ 210)(2@ 210)(3 @ 200)(4 @ 200)
we have been at this for about 2 weeks checking everything and ive ran out of idea.

PLZ help , gotta move to the lower 48 in 2 weeks n they wont ship the car is it doesnt fire(MILITARY =/)

thanks guys!

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

Did you check the mechanical timing?

Is spark bright white at the plugs?

What codes are currently thrown after resetting the ECU and cranking the engine?

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

well by eye, everything is timed correctly. we got a timing light to set it to 16 degrees but it wont start..

yeah the spark was white.

as far as the codes the o2 circuit heater came on but i went into the s300 n disabled it. but i noticed when we tried cranking it 4 codes will flash on the screen of my laptop but it wouldn't let me read them n after few secs they would disappear.

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

bump ... any help anyone. i gotta ship out in a week! thanks for the help

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

So it cranks, but won't start? I'm fuzzy on this. You said "tries to crank". If it tries to crank but won't crank...the obvious things to look at would be a battery or starter....or possibly an ignition switch.

If it is cranking and it's getting spark....is it getting fuel? How do you know it's getting spark? Are you just basing it off the fact that it has a MSD ignition? A lot of times, the aftermarket ignition components fail quickly.

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

Crank the engine for 30 seconds to see whether the codes stay.

What codes are thrown if you install the P72 ECU? Will the engine start and run with this ECU?

Do the injectors spray fuel when the engine is cranking?

How old is the gas in the tank? Will the engine start with starting fluid?

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

so as it sits right now.
it turns over like the motor spins freely but wont start , u hear it turn over just like if u was to take the plugs out or the 15amp fuse etc.

i checked spark by pulling the plug n grounding it to check spark. n its bright white. deff not basing it off just knowing he has an MSD.

and as far as fuel u just can smell it just reeks of fuel n the plugs are wet.

sorry if i didnt make it as clear as i could i first , like i said doing it for a boy of mine before he gets deployed so i need the car out my garage lol

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

let me go run those test. i didnt fully check the injectors i mean the plugs r just soaked in fuel so i figure they r working properly.

and even when sprayed started fluid it doesnt do anything just sits there n spins n spins but with fuel n spark it wont fire like if the knock sensor wasnt letting it but its disabled on the s300

ill go do those test n will post in a few.

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

ok the battery didnt keep up with the demands so i had to charge it over night.

redid the test. hit the key for 30 seconds with the stock ecu and no codes came up at all. again checked for fuel n fuel pressure everything checks out but it wont fire up .

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

had this same problem with my JDM swap. I had the correct firing order on the dizzy according to the stock dizzy. turns out it wasnt stock dizzy or something cause i had to switch the pulgs and it started right up. to check if you have the right dizzy just roll it up to TDC on #1 piston and see where the dizzy is at. hopfully on #1 plug(hopfully not in your case cuz this would be an easy fix)

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

loose ground somewhere??

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

yeah i mean like the first post it ran perfectly fine for weeks. then right before winter sat it out in the cold n ever sense it wont start. new plugs ecu (s300) (p72) n the stock b16 n nothing. im getting tired of this terd haha

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

wish it was so simple.
it almost sound like the msd unit is bad ... but its sending spark through the dizzy... so im stomped .. no honda has gave me this much problem...
n to b honest its probably really simply.

Re: 99 civic si wont start.
 

time to call in a mecanic or somethen at this point dont you think? just a suggestion if you want/need the car out your garage