Alright, the car's a '95 Civic CX with a B18b engine swap done recently. Upon attempting to start it for the first time, no fuel was being pumped through. The main relay kept clicking on and off pretty quick, so with a swapped relay it fired up. The second time this happened was when it was ready for me to drive it home, when the same scenario happened again. This time, we swapped it out for the original relay and it ran fine. The third time was a few hours ago after I got back from Autozone. I went out to go move my hatch and the relay started going nuts again. It had been running fine previously.

The swap was done fine as far as I know so there's no issues on that front. It is running a little rich though, which I'll be taking care of soon. The solder joints in the relay look fine. It doesn't look like any are cracked. The previous owner/idiot wired up a key-less push button starter though. I did trace his work from the old wires to the new ones, then to the switches. I didn't see any loose solders there either.

To be more specific, once I turn the power on (but not turn it over) the relay just keeps clicking over and over and over, then pauses for a fraction of a second for when the fuel pump is supposed to shut off. I don't hear the fuel pump turn on or off at all during this.

Any thoughts?

 

Make sure your battery is fully charged.

 

Do you have to return the key to the on position on and off a few times to get the fuel pump to prime? Im kinda having the same problem.. Ill turn the key to on position and no prime, then ill turn it to off position and tap my main relay a little and turn key to on position and it will prime and start right up. sometimes i have to do this a few times to get the main relay to turn on.

 

Have you opened up the main relay to see what it looks like inside? I had the same problem sometimes it would work sometimes it wouldnt, opened it up then threw it in the garbage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sr420Det &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have you opened up the main relay to see what it looks like inside? I had the same problem sometimes it would work sometimes it wouldnt, opened it up then threw it in the garbage.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes do what he says. Open it up.

What happens on the main relay(very often) is cracks will form where the soldering is and there wont be a good connection. If you have a friend who can solder or you are confident enough in your own abilities just re-solder the connections and you should be fine.

Also when you try to start it up is it hot out? Try moving the main relay away from the sides of the car and position it somewhere where it can keep cool. That is also another reason it may be going haywire, outside temperature.

I hope this helps and good luck!

Mike

 

but both main relays gone bad? he said he swapped out relays and they both worked..

 

It's not the battery because the motor will turn over, just no fuel.

I'm using a switch/button starter system rather than a turn-key. I've already traced the wiring to the switches and back and found no brakes.

Already opened it up and checked the solders. It looks pristine. The car's been sitting in my garage most of the day, which tends to stay pretty cool even if it's in the sun. Even then it's only in the low 70's around here.

In all honesty, Turbocivic1984 seems to be on the same page here. I'm skeptical to think BOTH relays have gone bad since they both were working and then stopped working.