_Endless_

the car is an SiR with the turbo just installed last sunday with the VAFC hack. the very first time i drove it on the street was this morning and it ran fine.

this afternoon my brother went out with the car to get something and upon returning, the car seems like it want to stall while waiting for the light so he pulled over to adjust the vafc thinking that he might be running rich.

he adjusted the vafc with the engine off to -41 on the 1-3k from -37 and when he tried starting the car but it won't crank instead he heard a grrrrrrr sound from the location of the ECU while cranking.

after a few minutes he tried cranking again and this time no grrrrr sound just the normal tick/click sound.

he checked the fuses, the main relay clicks normally. the battery is about less than a year old. what could be wrong?

i don't think it's the wiring of the vafc since the vafc was already wired way before the turbo install and i've been using it for about 1 1/2 months already.

can a dead ecu prevents cranking? all i know was only a dead battery can cause it not to crank. is there any inspection that he can make? he's stuck on the side of the road as i type and waiting for some buddies to tow the car home. tow trucks from where i live can't be trusted.

any help will be appreciated.

swrdply400mrelay

Can you pull your ECU out and try it out on another car to see if it's dead?

_Endless_

i don't know anyone here with the same car. can i tried it on a CRV?

_Endless_

Update:

they tried boosting the battery and the car starts up but upon starting the dash lights go dim, tach won't work and the engine died again. could it be ECU or the Alternator??

-will a damaged ecu or alternator cause it not to crank?
- will a damaged ecu or alternator cause the dash lights to go dim and tach not working?
-is the symptoms i got a fried ecu or a damaged alternator?
-can an alternator just get broken all of a sudden?
-if it's really the alternator, is it better to buy a new one or have it repair?

JRSCCivic98

Get the car started somehow... (same as last time if you have to) then put a volt meter on the battery terminals and read the voltage. If you're not seeing at least 14.5 your alternator is bad or the belt broke or there's a connection loose on the alternator. Seems like you're only getting power from the battery but not from the alternator. Remember that your battery is there only to start the car. Once started all the power comes from the alternator. Another way to test is to start the car and disconnect the negative battery cable. If you're car cuts off there's no power comming from your alternator.

MiraiZ

I say alternator!

To answer your question...an alternator usually doesn't break break suddenly...however it could have been failing without you ever knowing it. You'll only notice it when it fails to produce enough charge to maintain the battery charge, which as you realize is when its too late.

My alternator did the same thing when I had my engine rebuilt. It had been working perfectly fine up until the the time I got ready to take the car home. Then my mechanic calls and tells me that that my battery won't keep its charge and I shoud get a new one soon. I had just bought a new batter 3 months prior, so they checked the alternator and bingo...no charge!

What you can do is check to see if its producing enough charge with a tester. If you don't have one, take it to a gas station (with a garage)...they can test it for you....If its bad, you can either have the brushes replaced or just replace the whole thing. If its okay...check your battery...(it should be replaced every 36 months regardless of how good it is),,,if your battery and your alternater seem okay and you still lose charge after leaving your car off for so many hours, I'd suspect that that you have a electrical drainage somewhere. Since you mentioned that you installed a VFC, I'd start there first and inspect the wiring.

baddassduramax

i would say alternator also, i let my car sit for 1 week one time and started it, drove it 2 miles and it was done for, i had nothing after that.. i would also, try to get it started and put a tester on the battery. jsut my $.02

_Endless_

this is what happened according to my brother...

he was driving and he felt that the car was struggling and the idling went really low almost dying and the car was backfiring a bit. he turned off the a/c and the idling didn't improve but worsened so he quickly turned on the a/c again thinking that it will increase the rpm and prvent the car from stalling but the a/c didn't kick in even if the a/c switch was turned on. so thinking that the fuel settings on the vafc was too rich (1-4k at -37% that time), he pulled over on a parking lot and set the vafc to 1-4k -40%. after setting it he tried to start the car and it wouldn't start and just had clicking and the grrr sound. after a few more tries there was only the clicking sound. the turbo timer indicated that the battery voltage was only 11.5volts. when the car was jump started and it started withour hesistation, just one click and it started. so he revved the engine to 2.5k rpm and hold it there for a few minutes to charge the battery a bit. then he proceded to remove the jumper cables. after a few seconds he noticed that the clock was dimming, the tach was not working and the car died. so jump he started it again and as before, one click starts. but after removing the jumper cables it died again, just before it died he press on the gas to try to revive it but it still died.
right now the turbo timer indicates that the battery voltage is now only 8.5volts.

if it really is the alternator then why all so sudden? it never had a hint of problem before. the only thing we hooked up in the prior weekend was the turbo and an oxygen sensor. the 02 sensor is hooked up to an autometer a/f gauge. the o2 sensor has 4 wires, 2 wires going to ground, 1 wire going to the ignition, and 1 wire going to the a/f gauge itself.

i hope it's just the brushes and not the whole alternator unit. the damn thing costs a lot.