As I was driving home the other day, I noticed the engine stumble a little bit right as I pulled into my driveway. I didn't think much of it, until the next moring. I started it, and let it idle for about 15 seconds. It then stumbled again, and died. now I can't get it to start.

My diagnosis so far:

- It has spark
- It's mechanically fine...showed 150 compression in all 4
- I pulled a plug to see if it would be wet in there with fuel...perfectly dry. WTF.
..........I had my brother crank the car over with the plug out to see if fuel would be shot out....NOTHING.
.........The Fuel pump primes when the car is turned on...not main relay.
.........I have NO codes.
.........Fuel filter/lines are perfectly fine. I checked/cleaned them out, put them back on, and still no fuel.

At this point, it kinda seems like the injectors arn't firing, but just to make sure its not the fuel pump, I'm going to test to see if it has pressure.

Any other ideas? I would think that I would get at least 1 code from all this crap to help point me in the right direction...

Thanks for any ideas,
Bryson

 

noid lights are a beautiful thing..

 

Well, I just performed some more tests, and it actually has air, fuel and spark. I cranked the car over for a few seconds and pulled the plugs, and they are wet in fuel. I then hooked up a plug to one of the wires and it was firing.

I finally got the car to start up but once again, it would idle fine for about 15 seconds then stutter and stall. Once it stalls, I can't start it up again until its dead cold. Also during the time that it was running, I hooked up my timing light...it did not fire. Just to make sure the light wasn't bad, I hooked it up to another car, and it worked fine.

So I bought a distro king distro, which should be here tues. I'm going to check the coil, crank angle sensor, and ignitor systems later tonight.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdeemseerx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">noid lights are a beautiful thing..</TD></TR></TABLE>

Are those the things that stick into the wiring of something to see if its getting sent a signal? If so, that won't help me at this point.

The worst part about this is that I have yet to get a check engine light...even when the engine stutters and stalls.

 

that sucks. I totally agree with you about getting a new dizzy. If you hooked the timing light up to it and got nothing I would think it was shot too. Hope you get it up and running! Good Luck!~

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ghost_ryder35 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that sucks. I totally agree with you about getting a new dizzy. If you hooked the timing light up to it and got nothing I would think it was shot too. Hope you get it up and running! Good Luck!~</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks mang. This car has been nothing but trouble for me. I sold my last hatch to a freind in need for 1500 bucks, and I loved that car. It was my daily driver for almost 3 years, and I never had a single problem with it.

Now to this car...

I paid 2500 for it, and it looks great, but things just keep breaking. It seems like everytime I fix something, something else goes wrong...

History:

- Noticed the front crossmember was bent (thanks previous owner). Fixed it with my JimFabs, and the next day my Ignitor goes out.
- I noticed I had a giant crack in my rear crossmember, so I swaped it out for a MINT one, and the next day my alternator dies. I went through 5 autozone alternators before I finally just said expletive it and bought a new OEM.
- I swap on some HXs, bilsteins and skunk2 coils and get an alignment. the next day I notice I have this vibration everytime I brake/accelerate. later find out the rack end bushing is fucked, and passenger side inner ball joint was loose!
- I now end up with a slight vibration at highway speeds (60+mph). I assumed it was the axles, so I replaced both...now vibration is worse. I check the axles, and they are perfectly fine. However, I grabbed the inner axle cup and moved it around...Yup...diff is fucked.
-That brings me to last Friday. I bought a 91DX trans, which I completely rebuilt, and was planning to install it on Friday. While I was in there, I replaced the clutch, and easily swapped the tranny. Finished it up, and go to start it and then it happens.

I swear If this car didn't looks so purdy I would burn it to the ground...

 

Wow, clean Si!

 

Clean, yet POS...sleeper style Yo!

 

Pull the fuel line going to the fuel rail and crank the car, does fuel come shooting out ? Also I just ran into a problem where a car would start up normal, then sputter out after about 15 seconds. Turned out it was a bad fpr.

Just wondering, maybe I missed something, but why did you buy a new distributor if you already had spark ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bryson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
and passenger side inner ball joint was loose!
</TD></TR></TABLE>

hehehe, passenger side <U>inner</U> ball joint, did i miss something???

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Pull the fuel line going to the fuel rail and crank the car, does fuel come shooting out ? Also I just ran into a problem where a car would start up normal, then sputter out after about 15 seconds. Turned out it was a bad fpr.

Just wondering, maybe I missed something, but why did you buy a new distributor if you already had spark ?</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, it has proper fuel pressure. I put on another FPR, and it does the same thing.

I bought the distro because for some reason my timing light isn't picking up the signal. Also I will try to get a pic of the insides. It looks just nasty. There is a sticker inside that says its been remanufactured, and the crank angle sensor looks nasty. I'm going to go test the continuity/resistance of the coil/ignitor/cas in a few minutes. Even if it isn't the Distro, I would rather buy a good one now, and rule that out, than to find out later that it was the distro and not have one...Just like bringing condoms on the first date...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mrtoastyjr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

hehehe, passenger side <U>inner</U> ball joint, did i miss something??? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes...only I mean't to say "driver" not passenger. There is an outer ball joint of the steering rack, and then there is an inner ball joint that screws into the rack. This was the part that was loose...

 

Ok...lil update...

I tested some stuff and hers the results...

Coil: primary resistance = .6 (.3-.5)
Probubly good considering I did the test from the screw and not the terminal.
secondary resistance = 11,500 (9760-14640)
Ignitor: black/yellow...voltage = yes
white/blue...voltage = yes
white...ground = yes
blue...ground = yes

Crank angle:
all 3 resistance = 350 (350-550)
Continuity between center terminals and body?...NO.

So according to my book, I should have continuity from the middle terminals to the body, but I don't. I have continuity from the respective terminals themselves, but not to the body.

Hrmm.

 

I'm curious if just by chance there's something you forgot to tighten or install properly after you plopped in your tranny..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tyro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm curious if just by chance there's something you forgot to tighten or install properly after you plopped in your tranny..
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Nope. Also, because it did this same thing BEFORE I installed the clutch/tranny it couldn't possibly be related to anything that I did.

Also, the only thing that I did touch that would have any relavence, was the ground strap on the tranny. I made damn sure that the ground was clean, and tight.

 

So anyone have any ideas why I don't have continuity from any of the crank angle terminals and the body?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bryson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So anyone have any ideas why I don't have continuity from any of the crank angle terminals and the body?</TD></TR></TABLE>

There could be an open in the wire some where, would be my best guest. Maybe you cracked a wire when ripping the trans out.

 

...on the distributor? how? And why would the car have stuttered BEFORE I swaped the tranny...?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bryson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That brings me to last Friday. I bought a 91DX trans, which I completely rebuilt, and was planning to install it on Friday. While I was in there, I replaced the clutch, and easily swapped the tranny. Finished it up, and go to start it and then it happens. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry for any confusion, but you had indicated that the problem began post-tranny install.

-------

I guess one of us could do the same measurements on a known-good car to compare??

 

Oh, yeah I guess how it could be perceived like that...sorry...

But I know for a fact it had nothing to do with the tranny/clutch swap, so I didn't mention it in the origional post.

I should get the new distro tommarow morning. The truth shall be told then... dun dun dunnnn.

 

DISTRIBUTOR!!!!

it is you dizzy man, i am willing to bet 100.00 bucks on it, had similar problems on my old si, one thing I would recommend is to keep your old distrib and change out ignitor, and or coil.., when you get you new dizzy I would recommend going to external coil setup.. car will start easier, and will actually increase you mpg..

but is just my opinion and 700.00 worth of time and money..from my past car..
but good luck

 

What problems did you have? Did you get any codes?

The weirdest part about this is that I have yet to get a single check engine light. Even when the motor stalls....

 

go through all your vacumm lines check the dizzy. check all your grounds maybe run got loose for that little drive you took.. happened to me. when i did my tranny somehow or another i dont know how but it did.

did you hit any bumps? if so check and see if all your wires didnt plop loose in your dizzy happened to my girlfriend lastnight.. she was on her way home and hit a bump car stumpled and then shut off. went through everything, everything was good still wont start tho, took off the new cap i put on earlier in the day and saw there was a pieace of plastic broken in the cap and then saw the connecters underneath the rotor wasnt on so i put that back and started right up.. just check through everything..

DONT GET FRUSTRATED.. YOUR BABY IS SICK AND NEEDS HELP

AND FOR THE LIGHT (CHECK ENIGINE) IT COULD HAVE BLOWN. I KNOW A MECHANIC THAT WILL TAKE THE LIGHT OUT OF THE GAUGE CLLUSTER INSTEAD OF FIXING THE PROBLEM

 

Sounds like mine did when my ignitor went out. It was fine and then hiccuped on the way to work one day. Wouldn't start that afternoon. Next day I finally got it started and all the way home and then it freaked out again and wouldn't start. Swapped the ignitor and problem solved... at least for a year or so.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AMChev &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like mine did when my ignitor went out. It was fine and then hiccuped on the way to work one day. Wouldn't start that afternoon. Next day I finally got it started and all the way home and then it freaked out again and wouldn't start. Swapped the ignitor and problem solved... at least for a year or so.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's not the ignitor though. I swaped it out for another one I have that I know works, and it did the same thing.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda Crx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">go through all your vacumm lines check the dizzy. check all your grounds maybe run got loose for that little drive you took.. happened to me. when i did my tranny somehow or another i dont know how but it did.

did you hit any bumps? if so check and see if all your wires didnt plop loose in your dizzy happened to my girlfriend lastnight.. she was on her way home and hit a bump car stumpled and then shut off. went through everything, everything was good still wont start tho, took off the new cap i put on earlier in the day and saw there was a pieace of plastic broken in the cap and then saw the connecters underneath the rotor wasnt on so i put that back and started right up.. just check through everything..

DONT GET FRUSTRATED.. YOUR BABY IS SICK AND NEEDS HELP

AND FOR THE LIGHT (CHECK ENIGINE) IT COULD HAVE BLOWN. I KNOW A MECHANIC THAT WILL TAKE THE LIGHT OUT OF THE GAUGE CLLUSTER INSTEAD OF FIXING THE PROBLEM </TD></TR></TABLE>

The grounds are fine, and the check engine light is fine. It comes on when I first turn on the ignition (self check function). Also, if it was a vaccum line the motor would run, but it would idle high. It's definetly not doing that. All the connections in the dizzy are fine.

 

this exactly happened to me... since I have a gas pressure gauge I could see if there’s fuel going to my fuel filter, there wasn’t... then I tried to listen to the fuel pump to see if it cuts on, no noise... that tells me 1 out of 3 things might be wrong...

1. main relay
2. fuel pump going out
3. fuel sending unit.

I could hear the relay opening/closing (that's not the issue). then I started to play with the sending unit's wiring and it turned on... at this point I think is the wiring. I’ll cross my fingers.