badmannersgod

Ok, so here's the deal, my friend has a 99 Civic Si that he blew the motor on. He took it to a JDM shop around here and got a engine from Japan installed.

A week later the problems started.

Car won't start unless with compression and has a hard time keeping idle sometimes

Once car started, can remove key and will keep running and power to all accesories.

Removed Ignition Switch and car continues running, Removed all the connectors from the fusebox under drivers side dash.

Only way to stop the car is stalling it in gear or removing distributor connecter.


The only other thing that I noticed is the speedometer is jumping even when stopped. I heard someone say that this might be a problem with the harness that goes under the intake, is that true?

Where should I start looking for short circuits? Maybe a interal ECM problem?

HondaPartsHero

No offense but if it didn't happen before the swap he needs to take it back and get them to fix for free. If he messes with it it might void any case he has to sue them if they can't/won't fix it. Just my .02.

badmannersgod

I'll check tomorrow where the ecu is under the kick well to see if there is any water or something before he takes it back to them.

bgingras05

Yeah def wait to see if there's a warrenty on that before you tamper with it or else they'll throw a fit I'm sure. As far as the speedo goes, it may be in the harness. The connector that plugs into the Vehicle Spedd sensor, make sure the pins are clean, I've had that happen before and it'll just bounce. The Ignition Switch on the other hand sounds crazy, did they use the original harness?

Dc4LsTeG

iTrader: (7)

X3 on taking it back those seem like some pretty serious problems

DumpedSi

iTrader: (5)

sounds like a mess and hard to diagnose without physically seeing the car. Deff take it back to the shop

b20ek9

i wouldent touch it take it back for sure

Cmoya07

take it back and tell them they did a crappy job

BobbyRodriguez

Sounds like The honda curse (wires).

badmannersgod

Ok, so motor shop said its not their problem and there not touching it. So wheres a good place to start looking with these cars?

I'm a neon guy but I dont know much about hondas and its a good friends car, trying to help him out.

jbpnoman

Not their problem and they're not touching it? Tell your friend to find every piece of paper that shop gave him in relation to the swap, and find out exactly what they guaranteed in the paperwork.

Seriously though, don't even pop the hood until you know exactly where your legal protections lie. Shops who refuse to support their work deserve to be legally buried.

badmannersgod

He paid cash to save money and now he's in this hole.

jbpnoman

He should still have a receipt and paperwork for the motor, as well as the labor. The hell kind of fly by night shop did he go to that he has zero paperwork?

badmannersgod

I dont know what shop he went too but they said its been a month and their "warranty" is over and it only applied to parts. Not labor

B serious

iTrader: (1)

the title of this thread made me LOL so hard.

OP: You have some wiring issues. What engine did they swap in? It sounds like there's an issue with the fuse block getting power when it shouldn't be. Check the 2 big wires under the engine bay fuse box. Make sure they're in the correct slots. Make sure there's no jumped connection in the power distribution (fuse) boxes.

This doesn't sound like an engine harness issue.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Your friend? Any reason your friend isn't posting himself? When you guys go to the clubs do you talk to girls for him too?

Secondhand information gives me reason to pause. I re-read this and you say it took a week after the swap for the issues to show up? Later you say it was a month after the warranty? Hard to believe. Leads me to believe there is missing info to this story. I'm more inclined now to believe that, in light of the shop not accepting responsibility for the issues (and that your friend claims to have no receipts for the work), that your friend has had a hand in it. No warranty/paperwork/past warranty? None of what you've said is making any sense. I've read too many stories where the OP claims shoddy work by a shop when in fact they were the ones that caused it.

Better start going through the ignition/starter systems.

I still don't know what "won't start without compression" means.

badmannersgod

I just re-read my first post, I made a typo, it was suppose to be "a couple weeks ago".

My friend is not into cars that much, I am, I do all my own work, have my 3rd year apprentice mechanic cards, just trying to help a friend out here.

Sometimes the car was starting on its own, sometimes it wouldn't, when it would start with the key, it wouldn't turn off.

When the car won't start with the key the only way to start it is by compression, you know, downhill in 2nd gear and let out the clutch to turn the engine over.

I took some pics of the inside of the ecu.....could this be a cause of the problems?

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Yeah. Sure. I think if the shop did shoddy work of that degree it would have been apparent when you drove it home the first day.

Seems he knew enough to take it to a "JDM" Shop and get a swap done. Doesn't sound like you're too knowledgeable either.

How do you think that this is swap related then if it's happening long after the swap was done?

That's called push starting. And that sounds like ignition/starter problems. Have you at least STARTED to check those?

What problems do you see with the PCB?

badmannersgod

WTF is everyones problem? I didnt say it was a shody shop, I didn't say it was related to the swap specifically.

The correct term is Compression Start, and I haven't checked anything because that's what everyone said to do, remember, "don't touch it, take it back to the shop that did the swap."

I was wondering if the corrosion inside the pcb casing was normal.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

I don't see corrosion ON the PCB unless you didn't take a picture of it. Normally PCBs don't corrode. Components soldered TO the PCB do. Check for blown caps and the like. Also try swapping out for a known good working ECU although I don't see HOW it's the ECU.

Did your friend monkey around with any wiring? Try to install something he shouldn't have? Are the harnesses in good shape?

I also don't see you trying to address the ignition and/or starting systems either. Are you stuck on the ECU as the cause? Why? What's your reasoning?

I also don't recall you NOT saying it was the shop and shoddy work. You mentioned a shop. You mentioned a swap. And you didn't correct anyone when they started connecting all of the above erroneously.

So to clarify. The shop had nothing to do with it (like I thought) and it seems neither did the swap. All this started happening weeks AFTERWARDS.

badmannersgod

Look, I'll admit, I don't know alot about Honda's specfic problems and known problems but I use my logic.

-Started the Car via compression start, turned OFF and REMOVED the key, car continues to run.
-I unplug the Ignition Switch Harness under the dash, car CONTINUES running.
-So I continue to start unplugging the Fuse box under dash while car is still running. I have every connector unplugged and car still ran.

-I'm not fixed on the ECU, but I have seen other cars where water got into the ECU and made it do wierd things. Logically, if the casing of the ECU has corrosion than the internals might have been exposed to it as well.

The shop might have something to do with it, I am not sure, since the swap NOTHING else was done on the car, not sure if it was a coincidence or not so I mentioned it.

So I should look into the starting/ignition systems?
Has anyone experienced or seen anything similar?
Where/What are the common wiring issues on Honda's?

Thanks.

JDM_teh_WIN!!

Did you pull the main relay? I've read that it can keep the car running when the key is turned off. Which I dunno maybe points to a bad ignition because if you have a bad ignition unplugging it really isn't going to do anything to solve the problem. If its not that then it's possibly the main relay since you are having start problems as well.

Rashad G.

My car is doing the same exact thing, it wont turn off with the key. All lights would stay on in the dashboard and the engine would stay running. The only ways i have to turn off everything is to either make it stall then disconnect the battery to turn off all the lights. ooor unscrew the ignition relay under the hood while the key is in the off position.

sleepyaccord96

i have never seen a honda do these types of things....someone has done something to it for this to happen.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Ignition switch. Check it.