Bought the car in March of '10 had the stock engine in so we swapped a sohc ZC in (in End of June of '10)(dpfi - mpfi) and all that. Manual tranny. Car has been running fine ever since. Motor runs strong no smoke nothing weird, no codes. The other day I parked at a store, got out, came back, tried starting it again, nothing. Finally was able to start it but idled horribly. We recently replaced the starter and battery so those were mainly out of the question as things that were wrong. We tried pulling a spark plug, cranked it to see if we were getting any fuel into the combustion chamber and we weren't. So we checked the fuel filter and it seemed clogged (even though it was replaced in the summer when we swapped out the engine), so we replaced it, still wouldn't start. Next, we weren't hearing anything from the fuel pump every time, sometimes it was just a weird noise, so we replaced the fuel pump. Now after a few tries the car started and idled fine, we let it warm up to temperature. As soon as we tried putting it in gear and move, the RPM's dropped and the car wanted to die. Before putting it into gear we revved the motor and it seemed fine. It would rev up and idle down fine. After the car sort of died the first time, we turned it off. Started it again and it idled fine yet again. Once in gear and tried going it wanted to die again. We ALSO are NOT getting ANY CODES from the ECU.

What could be the problem?

Spark plugs were replaced but not the wires, could that be it? (new rotor and cap though)

Why would the car start and idle perfectly fine, but die when trying to drive off?

PS. when the car died originally, I couldn't get it started at first, when it did, it idled horribly. Since replacing the fuel pump, the car started on the first few tries, idled fine, but now seems to want to die when revved, but not everytime... I'm so confused!

 

If you can't hear the fuel pump you prob need a main fuel relay. Located under the dash. If the pump is working fine and everything else checks out I would look into the ignition switch.

 

so even though the car will start and idle just fine, it could be the ignition switch?

like i said, the car starts and idles just fine, the problems begin when i give it gas while in gear (i.e. try to drive off), the rpm's drop off and idle gets all erratic.

i'm leaning towards clogged fuel line somewhere (i hope not) or something is up with the ignition system (spark plug wires, rotor/cap etc)

 

maybe....maybe not

 

try switching out the main relay first, or re-solder it. go from there. if it is the main relay, you just changed out that fuel pump for no reason.

 

sounds like youve just thrown alot of parts at it. swapping the fuel pump out proly wasnt needed

 

what's a lot of parts? a $10 fuel filter? what's "proly"?

the old pump wasn't priming the system and the car would not start, it was getting voltage, but not doing anything. when i installed the new pump, it primed and the car started right away.

it seems that the go to answer on honda-tech is always the main relay. why is that?

is it possible the pump was getting voltage, but the relay is still bad? wouldn't the relay being bad make it impossible for there to be voltage at the pump?

 

not all the time. take out your main relay and look at all the solder points on the one side. you'll see hair line cracks in the solder. because when the relay gets hot it expands the points, but when it cools off the cracks in the points spread back out. makes priming the fuel pump random

this will also make the fuel pump cut out while the car is running too.

when you changed to the new pump, and it ran fine, that was just probably one of the random times that the relay was still touching the points.

*and you won't be wasting money on this fix. just add more solder to the points or resolder the points. easy fix.

 

Okay, also if it wasn't the fuel pump anyways well then it still needed replacing. It was, more than likely at least, the original fuel pump with well over 150,000+ miles.

 

honda pumps go pretty much forever? lol have you double checked to see if rotor screw came loose? didn't see if u had. also, make sure the coil is strong

 

Yeah so I suck at reading, I missed that part about it starting.

From the part where you said you intermittently not hearing any noise from the pump when you turn the key on and then hearing a "weird noise" I would check out the main relay.

If that checks out ok then I would start looking at the distributor, mainly the ignitor. If you have a spare one laying around, swap it in and see if it's any better.

 

alright, so i checked out the main relay, checked continuity per the service manual to all points. solder looks perfect on all points, i'm assuming it had been replaced at some point as it was super clean (unlike the rest of the car) and was not bolted to the chassis as it should be.

i also checked the harness, per the service manual, and it checks out as well.

still no CEL.

i'll check the ignition system.

anything i should look out for?

 

To The Top.

 

really, no hairline crack in the solder? hmm.... and you no codes or flashing lights coming off the ecu? hmm.... any word on your distributor?

only other thing i can think of is throwing in some injector cleaner in it, and see what happens.

 

i mean, i didn't bust out a magnifying glass or anything, but i didn't see anything wrong with any of the points.

i ran all the tests listed in the service manual for the relay and the harness and everything works perfect.

also, like i said, the relay was just hanging behind the panel and is in super good/clean condition, which makes me thing it has been replaced.

on a side note, should the ECU light be blinking at all? it only blinks once when the ignition is put in the ON position. NO CEL though.

 

fuel pump or main relay. does the lights and everything turn on when you turn the key on the cluster. or what?

 

You'll need a magnifying glass to see cold solder signs. Honda main relay suppliers put out a $hitty product and Honda didnt correct the situation.

The 1 blink means ECU is getting power. That is correct

I think you saw my post about the rotor screw in the distributor.

Also check mechanical timing of the crank and cam pulley. It's a slim possibility but you need to rule that out.