B16, MSD ignition & Blaster coil, reprogrammed ECU


I switched out my passenger side axle and distributor cap and now it won't start. It was sitting for about a week while I worked on it during whatever spare time I could find. Once I finished, I found it wouldn't start and have been working on it for two weeks more now. It turns over fine and there were a 2 times in the process of trying to fix it where it sounded like there was the slightest hint of combustion, but nowhere near enough to get the motor running. 95% of my attempts to start it provided nothing but the starter cranking. The entire ignition system is fine. I've measured the coil and injector resistances. I've checked if each wire would spark to the motor's metal and got a lovely blue spark that arcs a good 1/2" (engine ground is fine). I even had the arc make it through my glove and painfully jolt me straight up to my shoulder. I've replaced the wires and plugs. I checked the timing belt, found that it was a little loose and replaced it as well as the tensioner. The marks on the crank and cam gears line up perfectly while the rotor is pointing right at #1 distributor cap terminal. The plug wires are properly hooked up. Just so you know that they are, the cylinder #'s are 1-4 from driver's to passenger side and are connected to the cap from bottom left clockwise 1-3-4-2. I've replaced the fuel filter. I loosened the filter-to-rail line and got a strong spray of gas pushed out of it. I hear the pump prime when the key is in the ACC position. I installed a noid light to the injector connectors and they are all receiving voltage. The O2 sensor, MAP sensor and K&N filter are brand new (changed a month ago to pass emissions). I checked the TPS sensor voltage and it rises smoothly from .5 to 4.5V as the throttle opens. I've checked all of the fuses. I've tried spraying starting fluid into the TB while cranking. I've checked the ECU connections. I've stuck a q-tip into each cylinder and checked if it soaked up anything. I can smell a little gas on the plugs when I remove them after trying to start it. I think that's everything but don't be surprised if I reply to a suggestion with, "oh yeah, I did that too." So anyway, I've recently noticed that each time I pull a plug after trying to start the car it's got some kind of dirt on it. It's not carbon deposit or corrosion, it's just dirt. It doesn't seem to happen if I disconnect the injector, but that could be that the dirt only sticks to the plug after it's been wetted with gas. The dirt reappears as soon as I try starting it. Please reply if you have any ideas at all. Keep in mind that I just created this account and only have 4 more posts left atm. Thanks for any time time you spend thinking about this problem.

 

i have had almost the same prob for like 2 mos now. ibought a car drove it home no prob until i tried to start it back up nothing... spark fuel a ton of new parts. last week did a comp test and turn out it was a blown hg. same prob with the spark plugs too i cleaned them off tried to start it and wet and dirty. im not trying to scare you, but a compression test is cheap easy and can rule out some problems. good luck

oh yeah my car is a 94 civic ex with d16z6

 

Thanks a bunch for the reply. I just had the HG redone last year and was thinking that the compression wouldn't suddenly drop from running fine to not starting just from sitting for a week. I'll run out to buy a tester and check it out right now.

 

sorry i missed that your car was running fine before. im pretty sure that wont be your prob then but it wont hurt to rule it out. you said you changed the dist cap, did you by chance try the old one again maybe the new one could be defective, although that wouldnt explain the spark plugs. im sure it is a stupid ? but you made sure you were at tdc when you checked the timing, all your grounds are clean. idk no start prob are a pita i know.

 

Man, that sucks. Im having the same sort of problem. about 98% of the time my car has rough starts, takes a while to get it going. Its annoying the **** out of me, and I have no clue whats doing it.

 

any luck?