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GSR swapped 89 Civic Si (Code 20 & now Code 16 as well)
Hey everyone! Hit a bit of a roadblock on my swap and I'm not sure where to turn...
It's a 1989 Si that was my daily driver for 5 years, pulled the old a6 out and threw a 95 gsr into it out of my old integra. Got a harness from CJS (Carlos), got it all together, car starts, idles, moves, etc, but it will not rev above 3500-4k rpm and it wouldn't let me check engine codes. It has a chipped p28 in it, I suspected a bad chip so I went to Xenocron to get a stock usdm gsr basemap chip. Tossed the chip in, it's now allowing me to check codes by grounding the service wire off the ecu, I'm getting code 20 (ELD)... This is where im lost because I've never ran across this code, is it my alternator? Fuse box? Grounds? Is my ecu shot? It has a newer alternator and distributor, motor is completely stock besides a header, no wires are disconnected besides vss since I am still cable vss. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated, getting frustrated so I came to you folks, help please.
Last edited by Dumped89Si; 07-11-2019 at 02:17 PM.
Reason: Added code 16 to title, since car is now throwing a code 16.
Alternator huh? Is there any alternator brand that you guys recommend over the others? I'm pretty sure this is just a newer eBay alternator, should I be going for a remanned denzo or try to find a decent used oem one that is known to work? This is the 2nd alternator ive put in this car thats "new", I've heard of them being bad out of the box and whatnot...
Update, ecu is now throwing a code 16, i'm thinking this code was hidden or something along those lines, this is why my car is in limp mode im guessing. Now again the car is running ok, starts fine, idles fine it's just stuck in limp mode and won't rev above 3500.
The harness is new, I went around with a volt meter and everything is getting the same reading, no loose wires for the injectors on the injector side, and on the ecu side...
Replaced the fuse box with a known good one out of my old si that a buddy now owns, same ELD code (20) and code 16 for the injectors.
Any ideas? Is my ecu shot, it seems like sometimes I can check codes and other times I can't, it's like the ecu is locking me out of checking codes sometimes. It's hard for me and my friends to wrap our heads around, i'm running out of ideas and I feel like i am SO CLOSE!
Thanks for your time guys.
D10 on the ecu is reading 4.4 with no wire attached to it, not sure what to make of this, since this is labeled as "eld input".
There's no b19 plug on a obd1 vehicle like there is for the eld on obd0 as im sure you all know if you're reading this (hopefully)
Wait. You don't have the ELD input wired up... and you're wondering why you're getting an ELD code?
Code 16 says fuel injectors, but that code can be thrown by any issue along the wiring path. This includes your fuel pump and main relay. Still sounds to me like you have ground issues somewhere.
Also not clear on the ECU not letting you check codes. You short the harness and it just doesn't blink the CEL, or does it do anything at all?
Wait. You don't have the ELD input wired up... and you're wondering why you're getting an ELD code?
Code 16 says fuel injectors, but that code can be thrown by any issue along the wiring path. This includes your fuel pump and main relay. Still sounds to me like you have ground issues somewhere.
Also not clear on the ECU not letting you check codes. You short the harness and it just doesn't blink the CEL, or does it do anything at all?
Appreciate the quick reply man. Sometimes it'll blink the cel, other times it won't, it seems to pick and choose when it wants to.
No, the ELD input isn't wired up, this is what I need to find out, I can't figure where to wire d10 to, when I wire it to the green/red wire off of the ELD it does nothing, no changes whatsoever, getting 4.4 off the eld input directly from the ecu.
If it was a grounding issue wouldn't I be experiencing a no start problem? Car starts up just fine and idles fine. It takes about 3 seconds after starting the car for it to throw the CEL for 16 and 20.
When the key is turned, no cel shows, but if I jump the service wire off the ecu (grounding it) it'll show me code 20 WHILE THE CAR IS OFF even after resetting ecu, swapping ecu's, swapping eld, etc etc. Once i turn the car on, and ground the service wire it gives me code 20 and code 16.
I have an auto ecu lying around, stock p28 auto ecu, when I plug this auto ecu into the car and start it up, the car runs like total dogshit and is acting like it isnt getting enough fuel, cutting out, etc, BUT THE CAR IS NO LONGER IN LIMP MODE. Same codes 16 and 20 with both ecus, except of course the auto ecu is throwing a code 19, which doesn't matter. I'm fully aware that I should not run the car long with this auto ecu, but it has shown me these things above.
The manual chipped p28 running a gsr basemap is my main ecu that I've been talking about, it seems that sometimes when I attempt to ground the service wire, it won't allow me to check my codes, but sometimes it does...if I remember correctly I COULDN'T check codes until I plugged in the auto ecu, and then plugged my manual ecu back in, now it's hit or miss if i can check codes or not.
The car sat for a little bit and I had some water sitting in the tail lights, causing some of my tail light bulbs and turn signal bulbs to burn out, I haven't replaced them yet, could this be causing something to trigger my ELD or is it completely not related? As far as i remember I've driven beat cars with blown bulbs and it never made a difference, but I figured I'd ask.
Not sure if I've said this before but i have 3 extra main relays, all known working relays, swapped em out and no change. Hopefully this isnt too much of a read for you all to decipher, I appreciate you guys' time! Thanks again for taking the time to read all of this.
If it was a grounding issue wouldn't I be experiencing a no start problem? Car starts up just fine and idles fine. It takes about 3 seconds after starting the car for it to throw the CEL for 16 and 20.
A dodgy battery ground would definitely cause a no-start (had it happen), but I've had enough weird issues besides that I won't put anything past a bad ground. Sensor range issues due to the thermostat ground are what I've seen the most. That doesn't sound like a match for your issue, but I still would clean the crap out of that ground point to make sure.
Originally Posted by Dumped89Si
When the key is turned, no cel shows, but if I jump the service wire off the ecu (grounding it) it'll show me code 20 WHILE THE CAR IS OFF even after resetting ecu, swapping ecu's, swapping eld, etc etc. Once i turn the car on, and ground the service wire it gives me code 20 and code 16.
I would see what kind of draw there is with the car off - if the ECU is spitting codes with the key full off then it's getting power in some way it isn't supposed to, that's either wiring or the ECU. Can you reproduce that with the auto ECU hooked up?
Originally Posted by Dumped89Si
The car sat for a little bit and I had some water sitting in the tail lights, causing some of my tail light bulbs and turn signal bulbs to burn out, I haven't replaced them yet, could this be causing something to trigger my ELD or is it completely not related? As far as i remember I've driven beat cars with blown bulbs and it never made a difference, but I figured I'd ask.
If it shorted the wiring somewhere then maaaaaybe, but I don't think it's likely. Some continuity testing may be in order there.
Originally Posted by Dumped89Si
Not sure if I've said this before but i have 3 extra main relays, all known working relays, swapped em out and no change.
This doesn't sound like a main relay issue I've ever heard of. I would probably look at the fuel pressure when you try to run the rpm up, just to make sure that's behaving correctly.
I'll check today after work what things are reading with the car off & whatnot. I have 3 other main relays and they all do the exact same, I don't believe it's my main relay that's causing this, and yeah I agree..i'd rather worry about this code 16 that has been hidden this entire time.
What should I be looking at regarding this code 16? Should I be dropping my tank to see what my pump looks like? I've wiggled around connectors at the injectors and at the ecu, took the cover off my ecu and tested the pins for the injectors off the ecu, all reading 13.5 if I remember correctly.
Appreciate the replies everyone, figured i'd post a quick update..
Had a friend come over with a fresh virgin p28, just for gits and shiggles. Plugged it in and boom, no more code 16. Seems that both my manual chipped p28 and my auto p28 are shot.
Still throwing a code 20 but I'm going to disable eld in the ecu, I went around and checked all fuses, multimetered everything until my fingers fall off, all looking perfect. I'll report back in a few days if anything comes up, which it usually does...but fingers crossed!
07-03-2019, 02:58 PM
GSR swapped 89 Civic Si (Code 20 & now Code 16 as well)
