So this car was my bread and butter. its been my daily for many years and when my turbo mustang has been down rebuilding the stroker or my diesel truck was out of order with a bad injector this car never let me down. Now it is.

Its a 5 speed 1.5L that the check engine light has been on for about 2 years. pulled the codes and it was bad cam/crank position sensor. when it finally died I put a new one on and it ran good for about 2 months then died. put the old one back on and it ran good for about 2 weeks then died and i cant get it back to life. I have followed all-data and tested ohms on all the sensors and such and everything checks out. car has good compression and is getting fuel to the filter and spark. car still wont start but tries to fire. I have swapped in a known good ECU and still same. Im at a loss now. thought i knew it all when it came to engines but this one has got me. i want my gas milage back so any help is great!!! thanks for your time all-----Dave

 

anyone have any ideas?

 

one more try?!?!

 

what happens when you try to start it? just cranks?

 

Injectors pulsing? Thermostat ground good?

 

Ignition coil working?

 

when i crank it, it will fire and try to start but wont. if i play with the throttle sometimes i can get it to run but it will be 3/4 throttle at only 1200 rpms and as soon as i let go of the throttle it stalls.

 

So you have bright spark at all four plugs, proper fuel pressure, and good cylinder compression, right? Have you checked the mechanical timing? Do you measure battery voltage at the fuel injector connectors with the key in ON(II)?

After resetting the ECU, does code 4 for the crank angle sensor in the distributor return when you crank the engine? Any other CEL codes?

To address code 4, did you replace the entire distributor housing?

 

Yes bright spark, yes good fuel pressue. havnt check mechanical timing. yes resetting the ecu codes still come back. Yes replace the entire distributor housing with two different ones that both test good on an ohm test with over 450 ohms.
It had been acting up for over 2 years sometimes it would start and then die right away and wouldnt restart untill i waiting like 5 mins then it would run fine. put over 40K miles on it with these symptoms. then it slowly was getting more frequent and then just up and stopped while driving one day. didnt buck didnt run poor or anything just accelerating shifted 2nd and it died under throttle and wont restart with out messing with the throttle. so i dont think its the timing belt cuz it would act up then run for months then act up.
I used to be a Ford mechanic and am ASE cert and state inspector for VA. Also blue oval cert. so i deff know a decent amount but this one has me completely dumb founded. i have a 900+hp turbo mustang i put together myself other than the machine work. have a 500hp diesel truck. but this 92 hp civic is killing me!!!

 

I know it's probally a dumb comment but what about the pgm fi main relay, I had a crx with the same problem it would not start for a little while and then it would or I had to bang on the dash where it sat and it would start, so just give it a shot it could be it good luck.

 

I don't doubt your skill and expertise. Many experience members make threads to get feedback with difficult problems.

Have you used your multimeter to test the CKP circuit. This would definitely be worthwhile. Can you also try swapping in a known good ECU?

It's also worth checking the mechanical timing, if only because it's easy and the symptoms fit with such a problem.

 

oh my skill and expertises are what im doubting now. i wasnt saying that to act as i know everything but more that im that lost. I dont know much about honda although i feel an engine is an engine and an electrical harness is an electrical harness regardless of what brand. just a few different things that im lost on.
I have used aldata to check a lot of things with a multimeter for voltage and ohms and continuity. so far everything has passed but im sure i havent checked everything.
I also have swapped it with a known good ecu out of my buddies and it did the same and my ecu drove his car fine. they are different part numbers tho. his has a A in it for america from what i read but mine has an L which i have no idea about.

Where is the pgm fi relay? i think its going to be a bad relay or something like that but i dont know these cars well enough to know whats where and such

 

The diagrams below show how to troubleshoot code 4. Maybe you have already done all of these tests.

The last diagram shows you where to find the main relay. Do the fuel injector connectors have battery voltage with the key in ON(II)?

 

Still not running. Havent touched it in a while till yesterday.
So turns out it had jumped one tooth on the timing belt but i dont think that would have kept it from running all together. I have redone the timing belt correctly, compression is 194 192 194 197 so no bent valves. STILL WONT RUN. Has a new distributor since the other one failed ohm test on cam sensor. new one tested fine. has fuel pressure, has spark, and compression, timing is still dead on. Distributor is not off 180.
What its doing now is not light the injector noid i put in. It will light it 2 times when you first start cranking then thats it till you turn key off then it will do it 2 times again.
It will run when we pour gas down the intake tube so its deff fuel delivery. The PGM-FI relay tested fine when applying voltage to pins and checking for continuity.
The only thing i cant find that is on all data is the PGM-Fi control. is that part of the ECM?
Also have tried a 2nd ECM and still got the same thing.

 

There was a recent thread where a similar problem was caused by the MAP and TPS connectors being swapped.

 

could def be your MAP sensor

 

BUMP

 

That would keep the injectors from firing? I didnt touch any of that stuff so i dont think its switched but im not ruling out that one went bad perhaps.

How do you test both those sensor? ohm test, voltage test? If i figure out how to test ill do it tonight when i get home from work.

 

TPS sensor has Yel/Wht, Grn/Wht, and Red/Blu wires.

MAP sensor has Grn/Blu, Wht, and Yel/Red (or Yel/Grn) wires.

 

If they are not switched tho, how do i check to see if the sensor itself is bad? No one has touched those sensors. and would that really keep injectors from firing?

 

It's pretty easy to verify whether the wire colors match with the TPS and MAP sensor. The MAP is a critical sensor. If there's severe problems with the MAP signal, the engine can lose spark and/or fuel.

Are any CEL codes being thrown? The signal from the CKP sensor in the distributor is needed for the ECU to control firing of the fuel injectors. Are wires pinning to ECU A23 and A24 from the main relay properly grounding?

 

Just checked. the right connector is on the right sensor. MAP sensor wire is still taped from the factory so it wont reach TPS unless i remove tape

 

Any CEL codes?

Have you checked A23 and A24?

(aside) Are the plug wires installed on the distributor cap in the correct firing order?

 

Yeah dude it sounds like if you are having problems with keeping your car running when you turn it over check the dizzy. Faulty dizzy mean engine does nothing. I do have to ask though why you let the engine check light stay on for 2 years if you cared so much about the car???? Maintainence is key to keeping your car as long as possible....if its not the dizzy check the ignition coil and then the battery. If those all check out have your starter repair at and auto electric place...

 

Its my daily beater i have 3 other cars and a sportsbike that i drive as well so i cant really say i care about it all that much, but it is fun to drive and gets great gas milage. I have a 600+ 4.6stroked to 5.0 turbo GT mustang that i built. I have a 2005 mustang gt whipple charged stock engine at 10 psi making 511. i have a 2004 turbo diesel truck i retuned that makes 497hp 721tq. and a GSXr600.
So i do know the basics and then some seeeing as i put the stroker together and did the machine work
I also have a ASE master tech thats a state inspector and emissions inspector helping me. We are both dumb foundly stumped
Its a brand new Dizzy. I have two old ones in the truck that had one of the 3 sensor bad but would still run the car, just had a slight miss and got like 5 mpg less than when the engine light was on.
The plug wires are on right and that doesnt even matter really since the INJECTORS ARE NOT FIRING. i could pull all the plug wires off and it will still do the same thing.

RonJ@HT
I have not checked those pins yet. I would assume they are since the relay clicks the pump on and then clicks with i crank the engine but i havent had a chance to check since you posted that. Im not really sure you want me to go about checking that tho. there were no CELs thrown as of last night, but i will check when i get home tonight. when we run it by pouring gas down the intake tube there is no engine light. we had it running this way for a good 2 mins and it idled smooth and what not