Need some help here.

Chassis is a '91 CRX DX.
Engine is a JDM DOHC ZC.
Battery is a new-three-weeks-before-the-old-engine-blew-up Honda unit.
Spark plugs are Bosch +2, installed into the new engine before any attempts at starting.
Fuel rail has fuel available to it (sprays out when banjo bolt removed)
Spark plugs spark when engine is cranked.
Plug wires are on same locations on distributor cap - known good from old engine.
Engine cranks and cranks, no start.
LED on PM6 ECU blinks once when key is turned on. CEL turns off.

 

Gas in the tank is approx 2 gallons left over from when the old engine failed (Easter), plus 1 gallon of 2-week-old gas.

 

CAP main relay installed approximately 6 months ago (what a pain THAT is on a CRX - one bolt but you're upside down and backwards in the footwell).

 

try another ecu

or check the ecu fuse/main relay

 

Check the bolt that holds the rotor on the dizzy, mine came off twice. good luck

 

I've heard stories about these cars running considerably worse when using bosch plugs. The odds that this has anything to do with your problem are pretty slim, but it's just something I noticed. More importantly, take your distributor cab off and sand down the contact points on the inside, as well as the ones on the dizzy itself. My old crx quit starting about once a month and that always fixed it.

 

check your timing you could be 180 off. and that is bad news...

 

are you getting fuel or spark?

 

he mentioned that on the first post. so i am pretty sure your timing is way off or your missing a major sensor.

 

Ok, took a look at it today.

ECU still gives one light then out.

Injectors all squirt, spark plugs still fire. Swapped over known good TPS, throttle body, and EACV.

Cylinder 1 is at the top/left of the DOHC ZC distributor, followed clockwise by 3, 4, 2.

All four plugs foul up after a few attempts at starting. This means fuel gets into the cylinders. I cleaned them and retried. They are Bosch +2 from WalMart - if NGKs are required where can I get them?

Engine cranks over and kicks/fires a few times but not well enough to make it run. At one point we got four little kicks in a row at WOT. Exhaust pulses just fine.

Fuel, air, spark. That leaves compression and timing. Is my firing order correct? It is the same as what I had on the old DOHC ZC.

 

Check your grounds... especially the one from the valv cover to the frame.....If its frayed and ratty, then that could be the problem..... also, I see you said you replaced the main relay 6 months ago....But if it was a used one, good chance its gone some broken solder...

 

Main relay was new 6 mos. ago, and fuel does get to the cylinders. I'll check grounds.

 

The injectors should be fine; the ones that came with the new engine were bad so I installed the ones off the old engine which ran strongly right up till the when the oil pump failed.

 

Ok, so your getting spark and fuel...all you need now is air...put your hand over the intake pipe when it turns over and see if its sucking air in....

 

Got air going in and exhaust pulses going out.

 

Ok, how about unburnt fuel smell coming out exhaust? If you smell fuel, then the fuel is getting into the cylinders, and then being pushed out the exhaust, unused. If so, then I think it comes back to spark/timing.... And don't forget to check the grounding strap!

 

New NGK plugs went in, cams were in the right location, and i checked the engine grounds (.5 ohms). Fuel comes out the header and can be smelled in each of the four cylinders.

However, I've found the problem.

Compression test.

Nominal/optimal 192 PSI
Minimum allowable 135 PSI
Maximum variance 28 PSI

Cylinder 1 120 PSI
Cylinder 2 0 PSI (!)
Cylinder 3 80 PSI
Cylinder 4 0 PSI (!!!)

Not gonna tear down the engine, just gonna call Mastercard and the state Attorney General. B18C1 time I think, at their expense.

 

A good a reason if any.

 

The engine's as dead as Abe Lincoln and George Washington put together.

 

where did u get the engine from?

 

I don't think it's a very good idea for me to tell the world about it. Unless they are able to come up with a satisfactory remedy there will be litigation.

 

try another dizzy or have some one put it on their car. also check any fuses, or connections. do you have your sensor ground hooked up on the thermostat housing?? what bout the trans and valve cover ground?

 

You can run whatever tests you like on the patient, but he will still be dead.