I took my 91 hatch to the gas station before work today. I turned it off, went inside and got my stuff. Came back out and went to start it, and it was having a tought time. It turns over, runs for a second, then dies. If I give it gas, it stays running, but runs horrible, with all sorts of pinging and noises. Any ideas? It ran fine up until this, and I had to have it towed back to my house. The car is a 1991 Civic Hatch with a B18b swap

 

Any CELs?

 

no cel. I checked most of the easy stuff, plug wires, timing is lined up on the cam gears, fuses, etc.

 

Fuel pump took a crap? I dunno, I'm pretty worthless except for what I've had happen/electrical... sorry I can't be of more assisstance.

 

I'm going to check out the fuel system tommorrow. I know that most likely without someone seeing the car in person, it would be hard to troubleshoot this. But I figured I'd take a shot and see if anyone else had simlar things happen. I just really hope it isnt anything major, because I already have a 2000 Si with a motor ripped apart right now.

 

Checked the injectors, and the fuel pump is working. When I turn the car over, if I give it gas, it stays running, but VERY rough. Lots of pinging, and just general bad sounds. Coming from the engine and the exhaust. Also a small amount of black smoke coming out of the exhaust. God damn this is pissing me off. Both cars out of commission

 

do a quick search on Honda-tech for MAIN RELAY definately your problem.

 

I'll definitely check it out. I usually do a search before I ask anything on here, but I was in a hurry yesterday, and I really didnt even know what to search for.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crx_88_si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do a quick search on Honda-tech for MAIN RELAY definately your problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not likely the culprit. A blown main relay doesn't even prime the pump for a split second. Engine will just turn over and over. He said he can keep it running while giving gas, so it's not it.

IACV took a crap. Either A. Take it off, clean it up or B. Change it.

 

I'll try that too, I'm going to take off the main relay and check it out, see how it looks

 

i dont know if it is the main relay...i had a relay problem when i got my crx and when the relay was mested up it wouldnt start at all, but when it did turn over it ran fine

 

Black smoke might be an indication of carbon build up. Could your plugs possibly be fouled? It's gonna run like crap, if at al,l if you have fouled plugs

 

renew head gasket

 

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

Not likely the culprit. A blown main relay doesn't even prime the pump for a split second. Engine will just turn over and over. He said he can keep it running while giving gas, so it's not it.

IACV took a crap. Either A. Take it off, clean it up or B. Change it.</TD></TR></TABLE>


You never know, I had a similar problem with my relay before replacing it. Although mine didn't ping or make weird noises it would turn over and felt like it wanted to die but if I stepped on the gas it would stay on momentarily and eventually bite the bullet.

If I gave it some time (few minutes rest) then try it again it would turn over and be fine like nothing ever happened.
One day, luckily in my own garage, the relay decided to go bye bye so I purchased a new one from Autozone ($43 or so) and haven’t had a problem yet.

Good Luck
JG

 

if its not the main relay..check ur igniter and or coil

 

I changed the plugs and still did the same thing. I'm going to try the main relay, and the IACV tommorrow. We had some nasty storms today, so I had to put it on hold.

 

I had a little set screw back itself out of some igintion component that caused a lot of the same problems you are describing. I think it was the little screw that holds the rotor to the cam? It's been awhile, and I wasn't the one that fixed it, but I remember thinking how stupid it was. Basically, my ignition timing was thrown off on the OTHER side of the engine (NOT the belt).

I would go to try to start it, and it would turn over and try to run, however VERY crappily, with tons of black smoke pouring out the back. What was happening was, without the screw keeping things where they should be, random chance was allowing the car to run barely every now and then, for a short time (no more than 10 seconds).

sorry for the very non-technical description, but thats what I remember.

 

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

Not likely the culprit. A blown main relay doesn't even prime the pump for a split second. Engine will just turn over and over. He said he can keep it running while giving gas, so it's not it.

IACV took a crap. Either A. Take it off, clean it up or B. Change it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

iacv?! the car can run w/o that even plugged in, how do you think it wont let it start?

its the main relay man. the reason it starts and then sounds like crap is because there' still fuel in the system and it runs for a second while it uses up all that pressure and then you press the gas to keep it running it sounds like its puffing right? thats the sound of lack of fuel.

next time you are in the saem situation (hot start) listen for the clicks that corispond w/ the check engine light coming on or off.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JG90CRX-Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
You never know, I had a similar problem with my relay before replacing it. Although mine didn't ping or make weird noises it would turn over and felt like it wanted to die but if I stepped on the gas it would stay on momentarily and eventually bite the bullet.

If I gave it some time (few minutes rest) then try it again it would turn over and be fine like nothing ever happened.
One day, luckily in my own garage, the relay decided to go bye bye so I purchased a new one from Autozone ($43 or so) and haven’t had a problem yet.

Good Luck
JG </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

OP <TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by premo_si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Checked the injectors, and the fuel pump is working. When I turn the car over, if I give it gas, it stays running, but VERY rough. Lots of pinging, and just general bad sounds. Coming from the engine and the exhaust. Also a small amount of black smoke coming out of the exhaust. God damn this is pissing me off. Both cars out of commission</TD></TR></TABLE>

pinging noise is it loud? or is it more of a knocking noise.

 

It's definitely a pinging noise

 

I checked the main relay, and I can hear it clicking when I turn the key to acc. I can also hear the fuel pump prime. I also took off the IACV, but it looks ok, to me, and the little screen in there is clean. Honestly though, I wouldnt know what a bad IACV looks like. I took it out And tried starting the car, with the same results as before.
It runs barely when I give it gas, and just feels like its fighting me to die out. While its running, it makes a pinging or popping, kind of like a small backfire. I'm going to see if I can take video with my cell phone, or record sound so maybe that would help the diagnosing of the problem

 

sounds like the timing is off. maybe it jumped time.

 

I checked the timing today, and it's fine. I'm also getting a spark on each plug wire. I unplugged the fuel return line, and when I turn the key to acc, fuel pours out of the fuel return line. I'm not sure how to check fuel pressure, so I thought that might give me and idea of wether or not its getting fuel. Also, I did a compression check, and its 190 all the way across, same as it was when I bought the car.
So, I'm running out of ideas, and I figured that if the plug wires are getting a spark, that the ignition system would be fine.
I was thinking that maybe the check engine light might not be showing up or something, so is there a way to check the ecu for codes without a scanner? Like can you use a paper clip like I can on my 2000 Si's ECU?
God damn this is frustrating

 

anyone else?

 

Ok, so I changed the fuel filter today, just for fun, and it still wont run. I'm growing more and more frustrated, and don't know what else to do. Anyone that can help, please do so, im bout to push this car into the Hudson River