---------------FINAL UPDATE---------------
For anyone with a similar problem, check your grounds, that was the final problem.

Ok so I finally took the car to honda, they plugged it into their fancy computers and took seconds to find a ground issue on the thermostat. Tightened it up and it runs like new now

---------------UPDATE---------------
ok so I tried a known good main relay from my friends civic. This relay was exactly the same as the one from my civic (unlike the main relay in my '00 SI).

This second relay did the same thing, randomly clicks and engine hiccups.
When I put this relay back in the car it came from that car ran fine. Additionally my relay was put into this second car and it too ran fine.

So, I have decided my main relay is not the problem, something else must be causing my main relay to click like this.

Any ideas?


---------------ORIGINAL POST---------------
I have a 96 civic with an engine from an '00 civic in it.

Car ran "fine" before the engine swap and now the Main Relay is clicking. Whenever it clicks the engine will briefly hiccup then continue to run.
The clicking is intermittent, it has no consistent time that it happens. It happens at idle and with throttle.

So my question is, do you think that something about the swap is causing the main relay to click like this, or do I just need to replace my main relay?


Modified by MonkeyPuzzle at 4:28 PM 9/2/2007


Modified by MonkeyPuzzle at 3:17 PM 3/1/2008

 

i dont think it is your main relay.cause main relay is either work or no work.and what kind of engine u swapped in your civic? do u check the spark plug wires firing order? it sounds like your car is miss firing or do u have any CEL ?

 

I can guarantee that the main relay is doing the clicking. I have pulled it out and held it, I can both feel and hear it clicking.

I have no CEL, except for the less than a second that the engine hiccups. The CEL comes on then immediately turns off again.

The engine swap is a d16y7 from a '00 civic. I'm using the full wiring harness and ECU etc from the 96 civic. The distributor of course is from the '00 civic.

Reasonably confident the spark plug wires are firing in order, how can I confirm this?

 

If it's clicking repidly then check your ground wires, especially the one attached to the thermostat housing. Take it off and sand down the contacts so they're nice and clean, then reattach and torque to spec.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sql_civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If it's clicking repidly then check your ground wires, especially the one attached to the thermostat housing. Take it off and sand down the contacts so they're nice and clean, then reattach and torque to spec.</TD></TR></TABLE>

done and done, I checked all my grounds.

it is not clicking rapidly. It will click once perhaps every 1-4minutes.

I have a '00 civic SI sitting my garage, and I'm thinking of trying its main relay, however they look different. Can anyone confirm if I can swap them around with no problem?

 

sorry dude. i cant remember the d series firing order.but since u have a si in your garage.compare and contrast the spark plug wires order.

 

ok I compared the spark plug wire orders on the block and distributor, they are the same on both this D16 in the car and the d16 that was removed. So they seem to be correct

confirmed from H-T searching, my wires are as below



Modified by MonkeyPuzzle at 12:16 PM 8/28/2007

 

tried the main relay from my '00 SI, but like I said, they look different and have different part numbers.

Problems persisted, and actually seemed much worse. So I dont think I solved anything there, I think the relays must be different.

 

 

Thanks, but the note on there says "If the engine starts and continue to run, the PGM-FI main relay is OK."

So then I can assume with this information that my Main Relay is ok. My engine starts with no problem, and it runs, even after its "hiccup" it continues to run, has not yet stalled because of this.

Does this mean then that something else is causing my Main Relay to click like this?

 

Ok I have now tested the relay per the instructions (thanks for posting those by the way been hunting for that in the manual for ages) and the relay checked out each time.

When I hooked up the positive and negative terminals I heard the relay activate, and then I tested for continuity as instructed and all of that worked good too.

hmph.

So, ideas?

 

the main relay develops a problem that the manual does not have a troubleshooting test for.
bad connections internal to the relay. they tend to get worse when it's either hot or cold or vibration. clicking is a common result.

fix it - http://www.marklamond.co.uk/te...y.htm

 

Thanks for that link, relic1.

So MonkeyPuzzle, please let us know if there is indeed a solder problem in your relay. It makes some sense cause as you experienced when you tested the relay, when certain contacts are energized you get a click. So that's what's happening while the engine is running. So to me it sounds like an intermittant short. If it's not loose solder then it's somewhere in the wiring.

I don't mean to overstate the obvious but sometimes it helps troubleshooting when you talk it out.

 

I checked it out briefly before I came to work today, and I cannot see any dry solder joints, so I shall look more in depth tonight when I get home.

Honestly this is getting so frustrating. To be so close to the problem and not have it solved.

I have sourced myself a main relay from another 96-98 civic to try so I will give that a go tonight too see if I can rule out or confirm if my main relay is the problem.

 

ok so I tried a known good main relay from my friends civic. This relay was exactly the same as the one from my civic (unlike the main relay in my '00 SI).

This second relay did the same thing, randomly clicks and engine hiccups.
When I put this relay back in the car it came from that car ran fine. Additionally my relay was put into this second car and it too ran fine.

So, I have decided my main relay is not the problem, something else must be causing my main relay to click like this.

Any ideas?

 

the last time i had a clicking problem from my main relay, it was becuzz of my engine grounds...it didnt happen 1-4 min for me but , it was clickin out of control non stop...i found out i had only 2 grounds and not my thermo. ground..i added one and it went away

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ekb16 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the last time i had a clicking problem from my main relay, it was becuzz of my engine grounds...it didnt happen 1-4 min for me but , it was clickin out of control non stop...i found out i had only 2 grounds and not my thermo. ground..i added one and it went away</TD></TR></TABLE>

thanks, but I am reasonably confident its not my grounds for a few reasons, one I've checked and re-checked them. And second like you said when the ground was the issue it would be a constant clicking, mine is definately not constant, and is often several minutes between.

Lastly, if it was a loose ground then I think by shaking the car I could get the ground to slip, shaking the car does nothing to affect the relay clicking.

 

Didn't have the time to read through all these posts. But I had the same exact symptoms, and it turned out to be my battery. So although it is obvious, check to make sure your battery has a charge.

 

yeah battery has a good charge, plus the car runs for ages, no problem startng it

 

bump, I need help with this so bad!

My main relay is the symptom here, not the problem. The main relay clicks but SOMETHING ELSE is causing it to do this.

PLEASE any ideas?

 

When you say yoru engine hiccups, what exactly do you mean?

 

I know exactly what he means. The ecu like shuts off for a second the relay clicks and then all is well again but the rpm's will drop then go right back up. It was really weird it wouldnt do it for up to like 30 minutes then it would do it a couple times or it might do it for 5 minutes every minute or so, it was very random. I had the same problem after hours of searching, testing every wire in the harness and using 3 different relays it turned out to be the ecu. I just tried another ecu and it didnt do it.

 

CRX Jimmy has described it exactly.

Sounds like I need to borrow an ECU and try that.

 

---------------FINAL UPDATE---------------
For anyone with a similar problem, check your grounds, that was the final problem.

Ok so I finally took the car to honda, they plugged it into their fancy computers and took seconds to find a ground issue on the thermostat. Tightened it up and it runs like new now

 

where are all the grounds suppose to be? where is the one from the battary suppose to go?