Guys,

I have a 1989 Crx hf with an OBDO B16.

This past weekend, I changed my brake prop valve and put on my ETD traction bar. The car was running/starting fine before and now it won't start.

Problem: When I try to start it, the car won't crank at all. No fuel pump priming...no power at all. The headlights won't even turn on. I know the battery is good for sure (I just bought a new one). The weird thing is that when the car is off, a few indicator lights on the cluster are slightly lit up...and when I press the brakes, they get brighter. This makes me think I have a short...

Also, I have a Viper alarm on the car and it will NOT work (I try to disarm or arm the car with the remote and the car does not respond).

I thought it could possibly be some grounds, so I sanded down the terminals / main grounds, but no luck.

Anyone have similar experiences or have some advice on how I should go about finding this short? Thanks in advance.


Modified by Braco11 at 12:39 PM 3/31/2008

 

You are describing the perfect situation of a "short" somewhere..... good luck man......or your starter solenoid could be stuck....that'll do it too.

 

would the start solenoid cause me to have no power at all?

 

Ive seen it happen if it is stuck out, but I think you have something else going on...

 

cool...thanks for the input...

 

make sure the battery ground is fully tightened. My friend recently painted his engine bay and the paint ungrounded the battery causing a slew of problems. Edit: didnt read well enough to read you already checked these.

 

Check that main power cable going from the + up to the fuse box. Use a volt-meter in different spots going up, until you don't get power any more, could be a blown main fuse.

 

thanks for the advice...

i checked all fuses (under hood and under dash) and they all seem good...

but i will check the voltage on my battery cables when i get home...

 

if u are still having issues, i would attempt removing the alarm to make sure that isnt the problem. and just to make sure, where is the siren for ur alarm? i only ask because sometimes they install them behind the front bumper, and u may have pinched the wires when installing the traction bars, just a thought though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SoCal B18b 4dr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if u are still having issues, i would attempt removing the alarm to make sure that isnt the problem. and just to make sure, where is the siren for ur alarm? i only ask because sometimes they install them behind the front bumper, and u may have pinched the wires when installing the traction bars, just a thought though. </TD></TR></TABLE>

thanks for the advice...my siren is located in the engine bay though, so i don't think i pinched a wire when installing the traction bar...but i will check to make sure.

UPDATE: I was playing with the car last night and realized my ecu light is constantly on when i have the battery connected (but no key in ignition). Then, when I turn on my headlights, the ecu light gets slightly brighter.

I'm gonna try and locate the power/ground wires to ecu and see what's going on. I also checked my main battery cables in the engine bay with a voltmeter and everything seems fine.

 

bump for more advice / suggestions...

 

man im having the exact same problem in my a6/y8 mini me swap if anybody can help us i'll appreciate it!!! thanks

 

What grounds exactly did you check, and how many.

 

lol. i found the problem!

a few months back, i had to swap the motor out because my tranny was giving me problems. well i guess i never connected the ground that goes to the tranny and then to the chasis even without that ground though, the car ran fine...

i think the problem was when i installed my traction bar. the traction bar is powdercoated and not a good conductor like the oem crossmember. therefore, i think the traction bar messed up the circuit and i wasn't able to get by anymore without the ground. not sure if that's the case, but i think so...

anyway, it was the ground.

i guess i'll be going to the track