i appologize in advance for those who hate to read long stories, i'd shorten it but im in a severe rush as is and now im in a very unpleasant mood because of my car so i just wanted to type this one time and be done with it... i also want to thank those who actually spent the time to read this and leave me some suggestions.

ok, before the story let me first just say what my set-up is... i got an 89 dx hatch with a 96 ls motor running off of a 90-91 pr4 non-OBD ECU.

now, many problems with my car have shown their face in the past two nights. these problems include CEL code 43 showing constantly, water/radiator (white smoke, plus drops of water) fluid coming out of my exhaust, whining fuel pump, possibly a faulty o2 sensor. since the car has decided to throw a code all of a sudden i decided to do some diagnostics to see what i could find out. well, and let me be right out with this, im not a technician by any means at all. so in trying to figure out these problems i caused some other minor problems. for instance, i had acquired a solder gun to solder all the connections i made myself previously from twisting wires together and putting electrical tape over it which included a spot on the wire coming off of the o2 sensor. i had previously had an a/f guage tapped into this wire but in doing so i cut the o2 wire in half, so i simply twisted the o2 wires back together as good as i could and removed the a/f gauge for good. now when i had the a/f gauge hooked up and working i never threw a code, even after i took the gauge out and just had the cut o2 wires twisted together i still never threw a code. but now when i solder the connections and take it out for a drive i throw this damn code. and ever since then i could not for the life of me figure out what caused me to throw CEL 43. it would make sense that it would be my o2 sensor since that was the only thing i was messing with at the time. but i dont think its the o2 sensor because when using the stock pig-tail and connectors that come off of the o2 sensor and having that connected, i still threw the code, and when taking off that connector and using my own connectors i still threw a damn code. and, since its a 96 ls motor, i have two o2 sensors on my exhaust manifold so i tried the other o2 sensor to see if maybe it was a faulty sensor, but the other sensor still threw the same damn code. and yes i reset the ecu every time.

so now this made me move onto my fuel pump, which would be another reason why code 43 would be thrown. and i have to admit that my pump has had a whine for over 6 months now but ive never really noticed a bogging issue or choking issue. when i first had the swap done, i had a different fuel filter which whined horribly loud and i had that replaced and ever since then it hasnt caused a problem, except the whining that i always hear still. and up until now i never had a real solid reason to believe that i needed to replace my fuel pump/filter.

and off of the whole throwing a code topic, ive noticed that after everytime i had reset the ecu from messing with the o2 sensor, i would have to let the car idle for a good 5-7 minutes before the code would get thrown, so in doing so i would sometimes stand behind my car to hear how it would idle. when doing this i noticed white smoke (not a great amount, however, there was more smoke at night then during the day) and also when getting real close to my muffler i noticed little drops of water being shot out constantly.

now my question are as followed, when bypassing the stock connectors that come with the o2 sensors from the integra and using my own connectors do you think that could be causing my ECU to think my o2 sensor is bad because of a bad connection on my part? and bypassing means simply cutting the connectors off and putting my own female and male ends on the wires and using those instead. also, does it seem like maybe its not the o2 sensor at all but maybe finally my fuel pump and/or filter decided to crap out on me and im just freaking out because i was messing with the o2 sensor in the first place? also, what the hell is up with this water/white smoke in the exhaust??

thank you in advance,
jordan

 

is it over heating at all?....the white smoke is usually coolant, so you might have a blown head gasket, this making the o2 sensor go crazy because of the coolant that's going by the exhaust...etc..

good luck!

 

water is a natural thing of combustion, and its more prevalent when warming up (partially cause condensation adds to it), so i wouldn't worry about the water right now. maybe run a compression test, but thats all.

cars with one wire o2 sensors take time to warm up and actually have an accurate reading, so that's why the computer waits before condemning it with the code.

what it sounds like could have happened with it is the wire got broken farter up when you were messing with it. they're old and brittle, anyway.