Here is the story.
I bought a bone stock A6 black 91 crx si with about 165,000 miles on it. When I test drove it, it ran fine started up and everything. About a week later I come to pick it up and the guy tells me it won't start. He said he thought it was the starter. I brought it home to try and figure out if it was the battery, alternator, or starter.
I roll started it and drove it around the block just to make sure it would start that way. I parked it at my house, and let it sit for about an hour. I went to start it up and it started right up. I let it sit for another week(I went back to college). I came home a week later, and tried to start it up. It clicked a few times then nothing.
I checked the voltage at the battery with my Fluke. It read 12.35 volts, but the car acted like it had no voltage at all. I put my battery charger on it for about an hour.
Went to start it and it started right up and I drove it into the garage. I let it sit for another week(went back to college).
Came home yesterday and I was going to clean it up. I went to start it to drive it out of the garage and it started right up. I let it run for about 5 mins, reved it a few times, and kept it running.

***Here is where the weirdness starts*****
So while the car is running I open the hood and cover up the spark plugs and distributor. I get the water hose because I am going to wash down the engine bay. I have it on very low pressure, like a sprinkle. I barely let the water touch the engine bay, and the crx shuts off. Even my dad is sitting there watching me and when this happend we both looked at each other, "like what is going on"?
I turn the hose off, turn the key to the off position, and check the voltage. It reads around 12.6 volts. I realized this was weird but I really wanted to clean the engine(that is how dirty is was). I rinsed the engine bay down with just water, and I could see the dirt washing away. I get done washing the engine down and I try to start the crx. It starts right up, and I check the voltage while it is running @ 14.2 volts. I let it run for about 5-10 mins, rev it up and everything seems fine.
I then spray degreaser on the the engine, the car is still running. I let it sit for a few mins. I get the water hose and in a different spot then the first time, I hardly start to sprinkle any water on the engine and the crx dies again. This time my dad and I look at each other, "Almost like we want to run from the car." He is older and says, "What is the world, that is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen in my life."
I turn the crx off, continue to wash the engine down and finish. Turn the hose off and let the crx sit for about 30 mins. I go to start it up to drive it back in the garage and it startes right up.

Sorry for such a long story. Let me know what you all think.

 

Here are a few pictures of the engine bay. I wonder if this is the reason they previous owner never washed the engine bay.
~The clean spots you see are the ones that I cleaned by hand just to compare how dirty it was.


The distributor screw even has the black cap over it. That is pretty rare.

 

You owe me two minutes of my life back!

 

I'm trying to figure out why it starts sometimes and other times it doesn't. Then I go to wash the bay and it dies???

 

The voltage issues you report could be a bad alternator. If I remember correctly the voltage regulator, the thing that determines if the battery needs to be charged by the car, is housed there. If it goes bad and can't read how much juice the battery is providing then the alternator won't charge correctly. Also, the battery could be about dead in terms of cranking amps. Voltage might show in a good range, but if it has now cranking amps it will not be able to turn over well. I suggest getting a new battery and alternator. They're relatively simple to install and will cause you less headache then having to get a jump when you're car won't start away from home!

Could have some sort of short. You have to remember that the wiring housing is like 15 years old! I would chase the wiring from the firewall to each connector (time consuming but worth it) and make sure you see no bare wires or even exposed wiring with no shielding over it (i.e. the black housing around the actual wire, not bare metal wiring). Cover it up good. Also check that all your grounds are good on the car. Should have a well setup ground on the top of the head and on a head stud. There also should be a good ground on the transmission going to the passenger side wheel well area.

Good luck and let us know if you figure it out and what you did to fix it.

Mike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mikejr83 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The voltage issues you report could be a bad alternator. If I remember correctly the voltage regulator, the thing that determines if the battery needs to be charged by the car, is housed there. If it goes bad and can't read how much juice the battery is providing then the alternator won't charge correctly. Also, the battery could be about dead in terms of cranking amps. Voltage might show in a good range, but if it has now cranking amps it will not be able to turn over well. I suggest getting a new battery and alternator. They're relatively simple to install and will cause you less headache then having to get a jump when you're car won't start away from home!

Could have some sort of short. You have to remember that the wiring housing is like 15 years old! I would chase the wiring from the firewall to each connector (time consuming but worth it) and make sure you see no bare wires or even exposed wiring with no shielding over it (i.e. the black housing around the actual wire, not bare metal wiring). Cover it up good. Also check that all your grounds are good on the car. Should have a well setup ground on the top of the head and on a head stud. There also should be a good ground on the transmission going to the passenger side wheel well area.

Good luck and let us know if you figure it out and what you did to fix it.

Mike </TD></TR></TABLE>

I will continue to try and figure it out. I just thought it was really weird that once I started to wash the engine bay(the slightest amount of water) the car died.

 

is the seal of your distributor cap leaking?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JUSTCRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is the seal of your distributor cap leaking?</TD></TR></TABLE>

It is a good posibility. From talking to the owner and looking at the engine. It doesn't look like he has done much maintainence on it. I am sure it won't hurt to do cap, rotor, plugs, wires, air filter, oil change.

 

Why did you spray your car with water while it's running? What was the purpose of that? Obviously the engine doesn't like water on it while it's running, so what's the problem then..that it was just weird?

 

could be the main relay

 

check the igintion switch. while it is running wiggle the key back and forth. if it shuts off, the contacts in the switch are bad. happened to me. the car would shut off ocasionally. sometimes not start/turn over.

also check the main relay could be that now that the weather is getting hotter.

1 more thing. when the engine running, try wiggling the harness in the area you were spraying water. it if shuts off the you might have a short someplace.

 

just dont drive in the rain , anyway did any water get on the plug wires? they might be dry rotted and even a little water makes them arc and short out and the car dies.

 

maybe you car is possesed

 

Thanks for the responses. I am leaning towards the main relay also.
On another 1 of my crxs the main relay caused all kinds of hell. Especially when the weather changed.

 

You know you can check the main relay, if you don't hear the fuel pump kick in then it's obviously that. Main relay isn't going to shut your car down when water touches it.

 

Here is an update guys. I put some new solder on the main relay. All is good now. It starts right up and everything. I even took it to the car wash and washed the engine while the crx was running and it didn't shut off.
Another main relay causing hell.