0ptimus prime

I'm full of stupid ideas today.

So I purchased a used AEM EMS Series 2 for my 96 GSR. It's the correct box for the car (OBD2a - 30-6060). The previous owner said the tune was for an all-motor B-series engine, so in an effort to test the ECU, I decided to plug in the EMS and try to fire up the car. Car would not start.

Problem is, now that I plugged my OEM ecu back in, the car still won't start. It just keeps on cranking, so I'm assuming I fried something fuel-related or something spark-related. I checked the ECU fuse and it's good. Any ideas??

The car ran perfectly before trying to start the car with the AEM EMS.

TIA.

JRCivic1

If you didn't modify any wiring... check your spark plugs and see if they are fouled out. If so, clean them and try again.

motoxxxman

I second this

motoxxxman

also a heads up, the AEM V2 has been becoming very problematic lately. I don't know what's happening with them, but more and more have been having awkward intermittent problems. It has become so common that almost every tuner I've talked to that works with them frequently has been describing them as total garbage. When they work, they are great. But they've been working properly less and less in the last year or so.

0ptimus prime

That's concerning to hear about the AEM S2....hopefully mine doesn't end up being a dud.

So far, I've confirmed that I'm getting fuel but no spark. I'm getting 12v to the black/yellow wire at the dizzy, so I'm going to back-track and test the ICM and igniter now.

0ptimus prime

So the AEM S2 cannibalized my ignition coil and distributor rotor. See pics. Any ideas why? Would this happen if the S2 has a map for a different ignition system, e.g. coil on plug? Or is the unit I bought going to keep shorting ignition coils?

motoxxxman

either the coil settings are wrong, or you have low quality components. If the spark lasts for too long, it can melt the rotor like your pic. If the coil charge times (dwell times) are too high, you can overheat the coil and damage it like in your pic.
COP settings usually won't damage stock components. Because the settings for both are very very similar.

I'm not near any of my laptops that have AEM software on it right now. When I get to one though I'll try to remember to take a screenshot of the coil settings for a honda for you

0ptimus prime

Thank you for the insight! The damaged coil and rotor are both OEM.