Josh DeVille

i didnt have the key in at all at first, then i tried with key in, but only clicked forward once, same results for both of them.

did i test it properly though? the neg terminal from the mulitmeter on a bolt for ground and the pos terminal in the a10 or a23 location on the connector? just verifying because i havent done this before.

if it is a broken ground do i need to trace the wire to find it?

Former User

You seem to have done the test correctly. What bolt did you use for ground? Was the bolt painted?

You should get a positive test for pins A9 and A22. Check whether those two pins have continuity to body ground.

You can try to locate the wire break or just run new ground wires.

Josh DeVille

i used a bolt that was bolted to the car right under where the ECU was mounted. and to be sure i also used the metal under the panel itself.

so do i ground a10 and a23?

Former User

Yes. Engine should fire up when those two terminals are grounded.

Josh DeVille

okay. would it be best to clip the wires and run new wires from the connector to a ground point, or just expose a bit of the wire and secure the new ground to the existing wire?

just want to make sure im doing it right, really hoping this works. been without a car for almost 2 months now.

Former User

Either way is fine. Just verify that there's continuity between each pin in the face of the connector and the point where you plan to splice the wire.

Josh DeVille

okay thank you. i will do it in the morning.
but if this does not solve the problem, what else could be stopping the fuel from getting to the engine?

Former User

^Pointless hypothetical question.

Fix the ground problem at A10 and A23 and then go from there.

Josh DeVille

lol alright will do. ill post my result in the morning. really appreciate the help thus far

Josh DeVille

just back back in the house, i clipped the two wires from the connector and ran them with new wire to a bolt for ground. plugged the connector back in.

still doesnt fire up, still just cranks. and i did test the new wires at the point where i clipped them for continuity and i did have it. so i have continuity now, but still does not fire up.

Former User

Check continuity to body ground at A10 and A23.

Josh DeVille

i checked the continuity to ground on A10 and A23, had it on A23 but not A10, i replaced the wire to ground with a better quality wire, but car still did not start.

i decided to test the fuel system today while i was out there. thought maybe i just had a plugged fuel hose or something maybe (was just testing ideas) and i discovered that my fuel pump is no longer working.

this confuses me because before my fuel pump was working, even after the car stopped starting i tested the fuel pump and it was working. (put ear to gas tank then turned key on, and heard it priming. and i loosened the bolt on the top of the fuel filter and turned the key on and the fuel spit out) so it was working fine before.

when i did those tests today they both were negative, no priming of the pump and no fuel spit out around the bolt on the fuel filter.

did i stress the fuel pump by trying to turn it over so many times and burn it out??
or is there something wrong with the wiring or ecu thats stopping it from priming and working?

DarkFlame

Josh, if I were you, I think I would start over, from the VERY beginning, and go through the troubleshooting in an organized, and educated, fashion. I am also experiencing a crank/no-start condition on my '98 Civic LX. THIS is the website that took me through the troubleshooting so that I could isolate the problem.

It is an easy-to-understand guide, and takes you step-by-step through the diagnostic process so that you are starting at the top and doing the easiest and simplest things first, then advancing to the more difficult possibilities. It has a quick flow chart that will get you to through the process without wasting any steps and without spending any money unnecessarily.

Let me add that I went through this process and found that I have current getting to my distributor, but no spark coming out of it --> indicating that the distributor is bad. We checked it with the distributor cap off, so I know it's not an issue with the cap, but with the electronics inside the distributor. RockAuto.com and AutoParts.com had comparable prices, so my replacement parts will be here Wednesday. I hope you can go through the process to a fruitful conclusion.

Former User

You need to fix the lack of continuity to body ground at A10. Don't get distracted by other ideas until this issue is fixed.

Josh DeVille

could the ecu just have gone bad? i mean, id hate that to be the case. but just trying to brainstorm here. ill go check the continuity again, i did not check it after replacing the two wires today.

another side note (may be irrelevant) i got curious and checked the continuity from the two original ground wires, and i got 888 on my miltimeter, didnt know if that was important.

i will redo the wire from A10 directly from the connector tomorrow though, because it still does not have any, and post the results, its too dark to do it tonight.

Former User

Until both A10 and A23 have continuity to body ground, don't expect the engine to run.

DarkFlame

It may mean you need to replace the batteries because they're too low to take resistance (ohms) measurements. If properly built, the multimeter uses current from the leads to measure current & voltage, but has to use the batteries to measure resistance. Also, the display is also probably battery powered, tho a much smaller drain than the current required to measure resistance.

Then, again, it may not mean that, and might mean something completely different, like either open or hard-short. The only way to be certain is to ryfm for the multimeter. If you have the brand and model number, it's probably just a Google screen away. That's the route I would take.

Josh DeVille

thanks for the information DarkFLame, i successfully grounded both A10 and A23 now, so its doesnt matter, but it is good to know more about the functionality of the multimeter.

Ron: i got continuity on both A10 and A23 now and car still does not turn over. and the pump still not working. where do i go from here?

Former User

Check whether fuse 44 or 13 is blown.

Josh DeVille

both fuses are good. also checked the voltage coming from them and that was also good.

Jjbaehr

Remove the back seat and check for battery voltage at the fuel pump when cranking.

Josh DeVille

got no battery voltage from the connector on the pump when cranking, nor when it was just in the on position.

tested the pump with multimeter and seems to be fine, but it is not receiving any power.