I finished my motor build last weekend. b20/vtec turbo, but after test drive I had problems starting the car, I can start the car by push starting it, or with continuous attemps , car is getting sparks, fuel and air. problem seems to be power cut to the starting cycle.

things I've tried so far:
new distributor
new starter
new obd1 to obd2b ecu harness
new map loaded to the computer

turn on the ignition and wait for cel to go off, fuel pump primed etc.
symtoms are motor cranks churrr -churrr -churrr chop-- churrr -churrr churrr -churrr chop... it will do that until it starts or backfire from being flooded. during this cylce when the starter stops the volt meter will show low or zero volt for a second then crank again.
I've tried running a wire directly from the starter solenoid to the battery, with the ignition on it will behave the same, with the ignition off it will crank continuously, or wth power remove from the injectors it will crank continuously.
may I add the car runs great, drives great, and fast as hell, but there is a fault in the starting system.
I've done all th obvious so please don't tell me to jump the battery, check for fuel, timing, or sparks.
can someone help me

 

anyone, I've searched no luck, trouble shot.

 

Had a similar issue w/ a B18C n/a. It started having a starting issue. Found the timing was off and readjusted the belt. Started and quit running again after 15 mins and didn't want to restart. Then it would start when we push start but wouldn't w/ the starter. Ran fine and felt strong once started. After many testing we went back to the timing belt and installed a new one. Now it's fine. The old belt was just stretched out enought to cause a problem.

 

If the engine push starts fine, then you should check the ignition switch.

 

I've checked cam timing, and everything is at TDC, using a new greddy timing belt. I've read multiple threads of LS/VTEC---B20/VTEC cam timing issues, never seen a article on how to fix it. for my motor the cam gears lined up at TDC while the crank is at TDC also, can the timing still be off?

 

even though the ignition still puts out power it could still be bad?

 

Yes. In ON(III), the switch must connect the battery to the starter, IG1, and IG2. I suspect the terminal for IG1 is bad in ON(III). Test the switch.

 

will check the switch in the morning

 

but to think about I've bypassed the ignition switch when I ran the wire from the starter solenoid to the battery, and it still does it. I will still check the swith tomarow though.

 

the problem is not with the ignition switch, today while cranking it came up with a TDC sensor in the S300 error code section, after it started I reset the code and it did not come back on.
on the weekened I will tripple check the cam timing. maybe the distributor is going bad also.

 

How did you rule out the ignition switch? The ability to push start points to the ignition switch.

Ignore CEL codes that don't repeat.

If the cam timing were off, the engine would run poorly or not all.

 

I work w/ Hondas as a living and if I didn't experience this myself I would've said the exact same thing to this guy. With my experience w/ the similar issue this was my exact mindset and thinking. If I can push start it and ran fine then it had to be something w/ the ignition switch. There had to be something that was wrong in the START position circuit. Couldn't find anything and eventually gave up. A week later w/ a fresh mind replaced the timing belt (since I knew it was old anyways) and what do you know. The car works fine again. Sometimes weird stuff like this happens. I was left scratching my head and but was relieved.
(I know for this guy is not a timing belt issue as he mentioned. But, just sometimes in a blue moon the obvious may not be the answer.)

 

reason I ruled out the ignition switch is because I cranked the engine without using ignition switch, by running a wire from power to starter solenoid, and it does the same thing.

 

but you do have a ppoint about the cam timing though, becauce the car runs great! smooth and steady even on these 1600cc. I own 3 hondas so I will borrow the swith from one to see if it fix the problem.

 

This observation/test does not rule out a bad ignition switch.

 

picked up this today, will report back with results, hope they a good results.

 

just finished testing with the new switch, same problem! last option which I doubt is the problem timing.

 

Dang!

Check whether the G3 ground wire from the engine to transmission is clean and tight. If this ground wire is bad, the starter won't crank the engine.

Do the same for the critical G101 ground wire on the thermostat housing.

 

checked the grounds, upgrade the grounds, add extra grounds.
still same issue, I am getting tired of it, order a new used dizzy since the tdc sensor code came on one more time, I still haven't rechecked the cam timing yet

 

problem fixed, turned to be the distributor or something in it, I was using a ebay obd conversion harness when I discovered a pin came loose apparently the harness short something in the distributor, I swap to another and it seems to short that one also before I discovered the harness was bad. I put a harness in from xenocron and it was good but the distributors are both now bad.

which brings me to now I werend convinced that it was my ignition key, or grounds after I checked them so I bought a GSR one for $60 installed it today and problem fixed.