Moose Muscles

So, neighbor down the road has had a 89 CRX Si sitting for years, never moved. It is just rotting in the SC sun. So, since my current daily only gets about 16-18mpg and I drive 74 miles round trip to work (daily) I needed something to get running and save a little on gas. Fast forward a few years and I walked down and inquired. He sold it to me for 1200 not running, yes quite a bit high. I didn't know any better at the time.

Long story short, the guy owned an electronics shop so the car is full of custom wiring, custom hand built dash, digital gauges, electric supercharger, and all the monster wiring you could dream of from the system he pulled out (but left the wiring). I figured what the hell, doesnt have to be pretty, just get me from A to B with a slight smile. So I bought it.

Car wouldn't start so I replaced the starter and battery, both brand new. No dice. Power at the starter but it never engages. So I am going to continue my search to??? Main relay? No clutch relay (it has been pulled out/bypassed). Problem is will all the custom this or that it is hard to find anything because it most likely isn't in it's normal place. Hell I have yet to find the fuse box.

I will be pulling the dash apart as much as possible, I imagine everything is hiding in there. I will upload some pictures in a bit so you can see the hornets nest of wiring I have to deal with.

So this will be my build/I'm not super familiar with Hondas/I'm an idiot and help me please thread.

Moose Muscles

~sp33~

lol. I read your blurb and got excited, but damn that looks like a nightmare.

Any details on the electric supercharger though? Sounds interesting. Starter should have power, but the signal needs to be hot for the solenoid to kick on. If that wires got power but your solenoid isn't throwing then your starter has issues.

Moose Muscles

From my understanding, this style of electric supercharger is mostly a scam on ebay. Basically it is wired into the throttle, when you go WOT it triggers a fan to come on in the intake piping. I have seen numbers of anywhere from 2-5 psi, dyno's barely get a blip from them. I questioned the previous owner, he said it was noticeable in throttle response during auto x. I haven't had the thing reliably running so I can't confirm or deny. Personally, I would rather just get a bigger motor or an actual forced induction system.

I have tomorrow off with no kids at the house so if the rain isn't too bad I will get a little time to play with the CRX. Parts are starting to pile up for my other car so I have to focus a lot of free time on it at the moment. Either way, the CRX is going to be an ongoing project. Hopefully I get it running soon, then I can start to make it look good. Eventually, I would like to move to a K series motor for the larger displacement.

CroSi

Marcos Barrios

who the hell asked you?
i think we have a very interesting crx right here
once its running right

LankorDie

Toss a stock body harness, and engine harness in it and you have yourself a rust free crx with a really good looking WW kit.

scelestus

To be fair, it's probably more like "stock body harness, dash harness, maybe firewall harness and engine harness".

But before all that though, I would definitely check all your grounds. There's one on the water neck on the back of the head, should be one somewhere under the dash (originally would have been under the steering column), and the obvious two from the battery to chassis and valve cover to chassis. There's one in the rear too, but it shouldn't matter to more than your tail lights. Also verify the contacts to the starter, you may have voltage but nil amperage when it tries to draw. This guy clearly messed with the wiring, so I would absolutely start there.

As much moxie as the previous owner had to try all that business, I'm not sold on the quality of their work (or their taste, those tail lights gahrrr). Still, I'd love to see what you find under the dash, and do you have a pic of the engine bay? Curious how much that's been messed with too.

arries289

Good lord! You have to wonder what the hell they were thinking! I think I would start, as mentioned above, by ripping out all the after market stuff and repairing what is left of the factory harness. Without a factory dash and auxiliaries, it kinda sucks though. A lot more work there because of that. Maybe you can find a dash somewhere for it? Otherwise, it does appear to have good bones. Especially in the rust dept!

Moose Muscles

Engine bay pictures coming tomorrow. I have the whole day off tomorrow with no kids so hopefully i can chase some grounds and try to get this thing started. I agree about the tail lights. I like clean oem and a k series motor.

09chaplak

OMG that looks like a nightmare hahaha

LuckyStrike90

First I agree with most, kill it with fire. For a daily, doubt it would be very reliable.

Second, can you hear the fuel pump prime when key is in the On position?
What do the spark plugs look like?
Going to very hard to diagnose with no Cel codes.

Moose Muscles

-Checked all fuses, good.
-pulled starter, going to bench test this week one more time.
-pulled spark plugs and wires, continuity checks on wires were good.
-removed the ridiculous intake, won't be going back in except for test drives.
- Agree, tail lights and many of the mods are not my taste. Will be restoring to oem look. Already sourced 2 full doors with matching ignition, and full dash.
-Sourced a company that does carpets, going to have all new carpet made.

Now for the tech stuff. I got the started again by shorting across the starter and spraying a little gas into the intake. Archaic, but works. I now believe it is a combination of fuel and ignition problems. Used a test light on the ignition wire into the starter, no voltage. So there is at least my first problem. As far as fuel goes I have not narrowed it down yet.

so...
1) Is it worth pulling main relay to check it/Repaired?
2) Is it worth checking the fuel filter?
3) Open to suggestions for next steps...
4) No I won't set it on fire, I won't give up that easy. I am a glutton for punishment and want to save the old hondas.

thanks again, with 2 kids running around it is quite the stop and start project.

Moose Muscles

LuckyStrike90

My best bet is clutch relay, it's near the Main Relay but is more square than rectangle.

I had the same issue and had to jump the relay for the starter wire to get voltage.

Do you hear the fuel pump prime when the key is in the II position?

Moose Muscles

there is no key or actual ignition. It has been converted to push button. I cannot hear it prime or don't remember it priming, but then I wasn't listening for it either.

the clutch relay looks as if it has been removed and or bypassed. I will snap a picture tomorrow if I get time during my son's bday party. I imagine the switch is mounted to the clutch pedal support in that open hole I have. Thanks though, I will give it another look

Moose Muscles

Starter bench tested like a champ. Now to chase down the ignition wiring and see where the break may be.

highly doubt it is a grounding issue with the amount of additional grounds installed from the speaker set up from previous owner.

2x0

~sp33~

Yo dawg, gotta ground on your ground so you can ground while you ground.

Have you got your hands on the CRX workshop manual? Will be super handy to diagnose things/trace wiring/test relays etc. Google 'CRX workshop manual'. If you can't find a download link, PM me your email and i'll send it through.