alacard

This has been going on for weeks now, and I have tried everything under the rainbow...
I REALLY need some help from people who are knowledgeable on the subject before I simply light the car on fire.

The specs: engine is a stock 2001 b18c1 turboed and tuned by a reputable tuner...car is a 98 hatch.

The problem: After the car sat for almost 2 months, the engine is incredibly difficult to get started when it is cold. It will either not start after multiple cranks or it will start and almost immediately die. After multiple of these instances and black smoke coming out of the exhaust, it will eventually stay running with the help of giving it some throttle. Once the engine is at normal operating temperature..it starts first try, every time. And it runs fine.

-It has spark at all four spark plugs.
-After cranking it multiple times (as described above), the spark plugs are wet from fuel..so they are getting fuel.
-There are NO check engine lights..my life's not that simple.


Here is a list of everything I've tried:

-swapped main relays
-swapped ecus
-swapped ignition coils
-swapped dizzy rotor
-put in brand new spark plugs bkr7e's gapped at .030
-swapped spark plug wires
-swapped ECT switch
-swapped ECT sensor
-swapped batteries/charged batteries
-swapped map sensor
-all grounds were removed and scuffed up
-IACV was removed and cleaned
-Compression test showing 230 across all four cylinders
-bled the radiator for bubbles and checked coolant level
-checked that fuel was being pumped out of the under-hood fuel filter when ignition was turned to II


And here are a bunch of videos documenting every angle of the problem:

This is the initial startup issue:
http://www.youtube.com/v/ps6ohZg6Zdc?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/QeGatvK_gGA?fs=1&hl=en_US

This is the process I have to go through to get it to run and eventually idle on it's own:

http://www.youtube.com/v/KHIBuINus2c?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/WIT5qvxTnjo?fs=1&hl=en_US

After going through the above process, it will eventually run fine...but it still seems to sometimes have an idling issue where it will die randomly:

http://www.youtube.com/v/reY44KLRd2Y?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/kWFRQ7oLv_w?fs=1&hl=en_US


Here is the original thread:
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/98-hatch-tuned-01-b18c1-turbo-hard-start-stalling-problem-when-cold-2861831/

alacard

up

Crx dude

what colour was the spark?

alacard

It was difficult for me to determine a color with my untrained eye..but it seemed to possibly be a white/orange spark. Definitely no blue.

DelSolMarine

i am having a similar problem... what kind of injectors are you using... i had to make some minor adjustments to my battery injector offset and check your voltage!! it still occurs a little bit... but the BIO and voltage corrections helped

what injectors are you using?

alacard

Hmm. Interesting. I have 650 precision injectors. I've never heard of battery injector offset. Is this something you adjust in the tune? Also, what are you suggesting I should check the voltage of? And how?

Crx dude

Orange is a weak spark. Has the ignitor been changed before?

alacard

I'm not sure about previous owners. But I have not changed it.

Crx dude

sounds like its time to change your ignitor.

alacard

The problem was, indeed, the igniter! After all of this mess, it was a 1 inch by 1 inch square. A square that cost me 160..

Thanks to anyone who helped.