So I have a 91 Civic STD that had a B16A wired to OBD0, and all worked fine until a wire grounded out on my tranny and fried my entire dash harness...I don't know if any of you guys remembered my thread from more than a year ago:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1623798

anyways, I have the new dash harness in, converted back to multi-point fuel injected. I also converted to OBD1, and use an old school jumper harness (I think this was rywire when he was first making these things).

Here's some pics to show how things are now:



here's my jumper harness, which looks quite messy right now...have to shape that up later


everything thrown back to together inside


OK, so here's the problem...so I ran into some issues with some plugs that don't even plug into anything (If I'm not mistaken). I was hoping these were optional connections, or just extra plugs from the harness I got (not sure if these are just extra DX plugs.)

these are near the dash fuse box


left hand side of center console near ignition switch... looks optional...[]B*EDIT, I went back to check these out, I may have these in the wrong spot when I put my dash back in (they seem like dash cables to me, not part of dash harness). I also found a ground wire unplugged. could it really be that simple?!?[/B]


these are way over to the passenger side. *Edit I just noticed that 4 wire plug in the back ground that's also not plugged.


thinking these are just extra or optional plugs, I try powering the car so I connect the battery. *extra info, I have a battery relocation kit so my battery sits in the rear. the old negative cable in the engine bay sits unconnected, but still grounds the tranny.* OK, so this was my first attempt, I plug in my positive cable and notice a big *** spark, and thought maybe that was normal...turns out, a huge puff of smoke appeared in my engine bay, and I fried my old negative ground cable; the wire between the chassis to the tranny.

paranoid that I may have fried my dash harness again, I check everything, check every fuse...thank God everything was still OK, or else you would find my car in the bottom of the closest river.


second attempt, no smoke, power seems to be flowing, but everything is in whack. didn't want to keep the car on too long, but I shot this pic:



you see I have the key out, but my turn signal indicator lights and highbeam indicator lights on my gauge cluster are constantly on. my temp gauge is all the way overheated, and I have no fuel pump indication or check engine light turning on.

I was thinking I have either a bad power distribution; maybe I plugged in the wrong plug under the dash fuse box, or bad ground distribution. This also seems like Deja Vu because I think the same exact thing happened when we powered my car up when I first installed the B16. My cousin was the one who solved the problem, so I have no idea what he did. I believe he just said it was a ground issue.

I am also iffy about whether I was supposed to convert my dash harness to Multi-point fuel injection, or to keep it stock. the jumper harness instructions say keep everything STOCK, but my cousin says stock means for an EF "Si" with multipoint fuel injection already. Just need to confirm this with a 3rd person.

Greatly appreciate any info/advice and thanks in advance for your inputs.


Modified by K_1 at 8:35 AM 7/22/2007


Modified by K_1 at 8:44 AM 7/22/2007

 

What do you mean convert your dash harness to MPFI?

 

all STD and DX models come with dual point fuel injection, so you have to convert the harness to Si, or MPFI. I believe that's what the term was to have 4-point fuel injection. correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Ohhh... I see...I thought you meant the harness that runs through the dash. I didn't see the reason behind having to convert that.

 

Yeah you got some wiring issues alright, you gotta make sure that you have the correct dash harness for your car which it looks like you do but I can't be sure from the pics. I can help you narrow down some things though.



That yellow plug is probably for your clutch switch, the other three are to hard to figure out with this pic


This plug goes to your hazard switch (which may explain your signal prob)and that box in the background is your dimmer resistor box which attaches to your heater box behind the dash


the plug in your hand here should go to your blower motor and the one in the background looks like a CEL jumper which I did not think EFs had so thats what confuses me on the harness you have. Hope this helps you out

 

what a hot mess you have on your hands. the blue connector is the service connector to check trouble codes. who made that wickedly ugly wire harness?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DenzComp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ohhh... I see...I thought you meant the harness that runs through the dash. I didn't see the reason behind having to convert that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh yeah, not the dash harness, I meant the cabin harness. mah bad.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VtecSyndrome &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... I can help you narrow down some things though.


That yellow plug is probably for your clutch switch, the other three are to hard to figure out with this pic

This plug goes to your hazard switch (which may explain your signal prob)and that box in the background is your dimmer resistor box which attaches to your heater box behind the dash

the plug in your hand here should go to your blower motor and the one in the background looks like a CEL jumper which I did not think EFs had so thats what confuses me on the harness you have. Hope this helps you out </TD></TR></TABLE>

I see. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I pulled the harness from a manual or automatic EF. This may have been from an automatic because the junkyard didn't have any manual EF's at the time, and I was desperate for a harness.

oops! I forgot about my hazard switch. thanks for clearing that up. I also left out the detail that the harness I pulled from the junkyard had the head light and bumper light plugs cut, so I soldered back my headlight plugs. when soldering then back on, the black wires for the high beam and low beam were the same, so would there have been a problem if I crossed these? would that be the cause of my high beam indicator light being on?

I'll have to recheck my blower motor plug.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dem0nk1d &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what a hot mess you have on your hands. the blue connector is the service connector to check trouble codes. who made that wickedly ugly wire harness?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, that thing is so old school. I bought this from my cousin who held onto it for a while and never used it. He said he bought this when everyone was first making jumper harnesses for OBD0 to OBD1. My ECU plug converting didn't make it look any more beautiful either. I didn't know EF's had code checker plugs. my jumper harness has an optional wire to plug this up.

thanks for the help guys!


Modified by K_1 at 9:47 AM 8/11/2007

 

bump for more attention

 

someone at least explain to me this part



EDIT ground problem solved




Modified by K_1 at 6:55 AM 7/24/2007

 

OK, it's been a while since I've worked on this.

So I have everything wired up, power on and flip the key. Fuel pump comes on, check engine light turns on and off the way it should....push in the clutch pedal and turn the key.....nothing.....no click or anything...check starter, all connections seem fine. no click when I turn the key....I had this happen to me before but I forgot what I did to fix this...help a brother out guys? thanks in advance. I would love to get this thing started by today.

 

got all your grounds?? tranny ground etc.... good luck!!

 

Did you check your clutch switch? Is it hooked up properly?

 

Problems like this always happen when swapping harnesses. Honda made a specific harness for every year and every trim model.

Ex: A 91 DX harness will only work flawlessly in a 91 DX.

I'm sure they cam be made to work, but it's not without a lot of headaches. It's never worth it, just find the same year/trim.

 

grounds seem to be OK, but it's good to double check. I'll get up on that.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 143MYVTECEF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you check your clutch switch? Is it hooked up properly? </TD></TR></TABLE>

you know, that was one thing I couldn't figure out and forgot about. it's the yellow plug above isn't it? that may be the problem, lol

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tippyman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Problems like this always happen when swapping harnesses. Honda made a specific harness for every year and every trim model.

Ex: A 91 DX harness will only work flawlessly in a 91 DX.

I'm sure they cam be made to work, but it's not without a lot of headaches. It's never worth it, just find the same year/trim.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I hear you on that. it is a big headache. It's hard to find a STD Civic out at the junkyard, so I had to go with this DX harness. I did try a 4door LX harness, and that was a disaster.

thanks for all your help guys

 

Grounds are A-OK, clutch switch is good to go...I remembered that when my clutch switch wasn't working the last time, that plastic piece that pushes the button (like on the brake pedal) fell off and I replaced that with a flat screw with a bolt, so I know that's good.

any more suggestions? maybe the starter itself is crap....would that explain why it doesn't click over at all? any way I can check without having to go out and buy a new one just to find that that wasn't the case?

 

I just checked the service manual, apparently you can test the starter with either a starter testing tool (Which i imagine you dont have, i dont even know what one is) or by running a test wire from the positive battery terminal to the starter solenoid. If that doesnt crank the engine, then the starter is bad.

 

thanks for looking that up. unfortunately, my battery is relocated to the rear so running a test wire may be out of the question. but I will check around for a starter tester

 

checked starter today, it was bad so went to buy a new one...installed, and motherF#$% still won't turn over....anyone have a diagram of the clutch switch? or any details on how to check it? maybe I just haven't plugged it in or something

 

FINALLY! cranks, but siezes, WTF?!?? I think I was given the wrong starter. I gotta 93 Integra GS starter from advance auto. when I saw it, it looked a little different, but was very similar...was this the correct starter? or should I have used a 95 Del Sol Si (B16A) starter, or 2000 Civic Si starter?

...or could my engine have seized after all these years of neglection? (only about over a year now)



Modified by K_1 at 9:58 AM 8/16/2007

 

hmmmm, well make sure there is oil in it lol. And if by seizing you mean its comming to a noisy metal to metal grinding hault, then yes, your motor is fawked.

But if you just mean it dies, then you have a different problem on your hands. Most likely with that ugly wire job.

 

LoL! I agree, the wiring is messy and ugly, but as long as it runs, that's all that matters to me rite now (I'll fix it later)

when I say seize, I meant it clicks over and everything, but the engine seems to hault...what it seems like is the starter doesn't match the teeth on my flywheel, but I don't know for sure. are 93 Integra starters compatible with B16A trannys?

when I got the starter, it looked a little different from my core, but the girl kept insisting it was the same...I was gonna change it out for a 2000 civic Si starter, but I took her word for it....this is what I get for trusting a chick's auto knowledge.

 

i have got this same exact problem with my b16a ys1 trans. i have a ls starter and just am not to sure about it working. have u fixed this yet? or does anybody know for sure which starter to use?

 

all of the b-series starters are interchangeable the older 90-93 ones look different they are direct drive and a little larger. the newer ones are smaller but they will both bolt on and work the same