Hey guys, I have a 96 dx and I recently swapped out the engine, both d series, but the new one came out of a del sol and is a bit older. It was running fine, aside from running rich since it was set up for the motor that was originally in my car. Well I was driving home one night and it decided it was going to stop running and it acted as if I had ran out of gas, so it was a slow die and if I gave it throttle it was sputter a little, until it just died entirely. When I checked it out I found out that I'm not getting any fire to the spark plugs, I used the trick to ark off the manifold, but nothing. Here are the different things I've tried from advice from friends and just basic google searching.

I took my distributor off and put it on a friend of mines intergra, fired right up, so i know it can't be the distributor. I can hear the fuel pump priming when I turn the key over, and I've loosened the bolt on the fuel filter, turned it over, and fuel came out..the only thing I haven't done is disconnect the injectors. Again I'm not getting spark though. I've checked all the fuses, swapped the main relay and the ecu with ones from a buddy that i know were in working condition. I've disconnected my alarm and also bridged my clutch switch. I've checked all of the grounds, they're all solid. My belt is fine. Oh, and also I ran a volt meter to the Black/yellow wire on the distributor plug. I'm at a loss, maybe there is a fuse that doesn't look blown but is under the hood? Idk, this is tough. I had a check engine light at first, but that is now gone for some reason. I'm beyond frustrated...Has anyone had a similar problem and there is an easy fix, or what?

Here's a recap:
1.) Tried distributor on other car, works.
2.) Fuel pump primes and sends out fuel, again not getting fire is the prob.
3.) Checked the fuses both inside the cab and under the hood.
4.) Swapped Main relay
5.) Swapped ECU
6.) Disconnect Alarm
7.) Bridged Clutch Switch(which it wouldn't even turn over at all if this was the issue.)

edit**
8.) Timing belt is fine.
9.) No Cel.
10.) Voltage to Black/yellow
**edit

Any advice or other small things I could check would be awesome, and thanks in advance!

 

Any CEL codes?

Did the timing belt snap?

Does the Blk/Yel wire attached to the coil and ICM have battery voltage with the key in ON(II)?

 

I know your trying to help, and no offense, but I listed all of those things in the post. No cel light, belts fine, and yes, getting voltage. 12 I believe.

**oh, I just realized I didn't recap those three things, so if you just read those then I can see why you'd ask. My apologies, stressful day lol.

 

Check the Yel/Grn wire that runs between the ECU and ICM for a short or open.

When you turn the key from off to ON(II), does the CEL turn on and then off after 2 seconds? If the CEL was ON and you have not reset the ECU, then the code is still stored in the ECU. Jump the service connector to pull the code.

 

I've got work soon, so I'll have to wait and check the wire until tomorrow. Yeah, it comes on then goes off, and I'm not sure if I reset the ECU. However, I do have the other ECU plugged that I had swapped it with, so what I'll also do tomorrow is plug it back up and jump it. I didn't even think of that, thanks. I'll let ya know.

 

Removing the ECU disconnects the memory voltage so the code is likely gone. However, you may be able to throw the code again by cranking the engine for about 20-30 seconds.

 

Well that sucks..If by crank the engine you mean let it turn over for 20-30 seconds, then that won't be a problem. But if you mean let it run for that long, that could be an issue.

 

Cranking is all you can do and may reset the code.

 

Ok, so I cranked it like you said, good advice, thanks. I was then able to get a code, it flashed 8 times, which I looked up and it says its a tdc sensor problem, so I guess that's my next step.

 

Measure the resistance of the TDC sensor. It should be 350-700 Ohms.