2000 Civic Si... No Spark...

Had an MSD Ignition on it.. with MSD Hooked up with the magnetic pickup it would run, but run like a bag of smashed asses...

Tried 2 different stock distributors... no spark with either...
Put the ECU into my Si, and my Si wouldn't start...
My Si ECU into this si, and this si wouldn't start...
New ECU is on the way though to replace it, but that isn't the problem...

Any other ideas? Distributor is getting 12 volt power... already checked that... What are the other voltages/ohms that the distributor should be receiving from the ECU?

Gimme some other ideas....

 

what magnetic pickup?

 

Magnetic pickup on the MSD ignition... as if you were hooking it up to an old GM Distributor... The owner had it tapped into the signal wire for the ignitor that comes from the computer just to see if he could try to get it running... Thats probably what fried the ECU

 

MSD should have a red and white wire that go to the pos and neg of the old stock coil.

 

yeah... i know... he had it hooked up this way, and was driving with it, until one night at a stop light the car just died and wouldn't restart... he just decided to try the magnetic pickup wire after about 3 weeks of not being able to get the car started... Thats not it... I have tried 2 different STOCK distributors...

 

This isn't just a stupid problem like a battery not being connected.. this is a true gremlin...

 

so right now, you have the msd disconnected and still no spark?
have you tried a known good ecu?
checked all your fuses?

 

with a stock distributor, no spark...

Tried a known good ECU out of my Si... All the fuses are good...

 

What does your CEL do when you turn on the ignition? Does it come on for about two seconds and then go out?

 

yes... the ECU powers up and cycles, both with the good ECU and the bad... But there is no spark... hook up a timing light to it and crank it and get nothing... put a spark light in line with 1 of the plugs and get nothing... no spark... What wires send ignition signal to the distributor from the ECU? Anybody have the pinout/wire color?

 

B13 yel/grn

 

how did you get that? do you have a complete 2000 civic si ECU pinout chart?

 

Helms ETM. (Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.) It has the pin locations and wire colors of every connector on the car. Plus a hell of alot more. It's a must have for anyone who regularily has to diagnose electrical problems.

 

bahh... i'll just fire up good old alldata in the morning...

 

ok, if you determine that you have a no spark condition, the very next thing to check would be electrical fuel injector pulse.. If no pulse exsists, then it would be related to the ECU, cam or crank sensors... if you were to have a bad connection at the cam sensor and no signal was being sent to the ecu, then it dont matter how many different distributors you tried, it still wouldn't start... just a thought...


[Modified by BreakStuff, 12:55 AM 9/27/2002]

 

[quote] put ur ignition back to stock
msd is the worst **** i see
if u msd be prepare to stuck on the road [quote]


i would have done that along time ago....

Start with this...
step 1 take the msd out and look for the nearest trash can and throw it away
step 2 put the ignition back to stock
step 3 check all ground..even the one on the thermo housing...
step 4 check ignition fuse ( i dont care if you allready checked it do it again)
step 5 check ecu & back up Fuse
step 6 check the crank angle sencor behind the pulley(on the crank)see if its still there..
step 7 Now take a spark plug and put it in one of the wires and lay it on the manafold and crank the motor over and see i you have spark.
step 8 if all those didnt help then at least we took care of step 1

 

The crank angle sensor is in the distributor. The one behind the crank pulley is the crankshaft speed fluctuation sensor. Two totally different animals.

 

Ok let's see. Instead throwing around in the wrong direction like everyone else seems to be.. I won't Guesstimate what the problem is. I'll tell you how to find the problem technically..

First, there's no spark you say. Ok.. How do you know there's no spark?.. Did you take it out see if the plug was sparking?

Second, did you ohm check the spark plug wires to see if they have less than 25,000 ohms. Because anything higher than 25,000 ohms won't start your car. If you're not able to Ohm check and get an infinitie reading, do a continuity test. You probably pulled the wires off the distributor cap so many times that the connection between the spark plug wires and connector has torn off.. Just fix it if that's the case. That's what I would assume since you said you've changed the distributors a couple of times. But you didn't say if you changed the spark plug wires.

Third, the battery is one of the most important parts of a car. Check to see if you're getting more than 9volts from the battery. To do this, get a voltmeter and check the voltage. You should have 12.6volts. If you get 10.5volts, you've got a shorted cell. And if you've got less than 9volts, charge the battery. Now if you're battery is low, you have to ask yourself, "Why?". My simple answer would be because your alternator isn't working right. And there's two things that'll make an alternator fail. One, the diodes in the rectifier are dead. Two, the wire from the rectifier to the voltage regulator is grounded and dumping the current to ground instead of the battery.

Fourth, you said that the ECU doesn't work. Well, by connecting the magnetic pickup on the MSD ignition to the signal wire for the ignitor that comes from the ECU, it probably backfired and fried your ECU. You always have to make sure that when connecting to a wire that comes the ECU, you MUST put in a ZENOR DIODE. That way, current can go one way but not the other. Meaning, you'll get the signal to the ignitor, or whatever he was doing, and it won't backfire and fry the ECU.

Hope some of this helps get that squirrel running in your head.. Because mines pretty tired now..


[Modified by PnX-R, 11:04 AM 9/28/2002]

 

Ok let's see. Instead throwing around in the wrong direction like everyone else seems to be.. I won't Guesstimate what the problem is. I'll tell you how to find the problem technically..

First, there's no spark you say. Ok.. How do you know there's no spark?.. Did you take it out see if the plug was sparking?

Second, did you ohm check the spark plug wires to see if they have less than 25,000 ohms. Because anything higher than 25,000 ohms won't start your car. If you're not able to Ohm check and get an infinitie reading, do a continuity test. You probably pulled the wires off the distributor cap so many times that the connection between the spark plug wires and connector has torn off.. Just fix it if that's the case. That's what I would assume since you said you've changed the distributors a couple of times. But you didn't say if you changed the spark plug wires.

Third, the battery is one of the most important parts of a car. Check to see if you're getting more than 9volts from the battery. To do this, get a voltmeter and check the voltage. You should have 12.6volts. If you get 10.5volts, you've got a shorted cell. And if you've got less than 9volts, charge the battery. Now if you're battery is low, you have to ask yourself, "Why?". My simple answer would be because your alternator isn't working right. And there's two things that'll make an alternator fail. One, the diodes in the rectifier are dead. Two, the wire from the rectifier to the voltage regulator is grounded and dumping the current to ground instead of the battery.

Fourth, you said that the ECU doesn't work. Well, by connecting the magnetic pickup on the MSD ignition to the signal wire for the ignitor that comes from the ECU, it probably backfired and fried your ECU. You always have to make sure that when connecting to a wire that comes the ECU, you MUST put in a ZENOR DIODE. That way, current can go one way but not the other. Meaning, you'll get the signal to the ignitor, or whatever he was doing, and it won't backfire and fry the ECU.

Hope some of this helps get that squirrel running in your head.. Because mines pretty tired now..

 

Ok... problem solved... here's the list...

He gave me the car w/ the MSD Distributor ghetto rigged in, and 2 stock distributors in the trunk.

I yanked the MSD **** out, put in distributor number 1, and got nothing... put distributor #2 in, and nothing.

Put his ECU into my car, and my car was dead. put my ECU in his car and it was still dead.

Then, decided to begin chasing wires. Went to chase the ICM wire from the ECU to the distributor, pull the distributor cap off to find NO ROTOR!

So i put the rotor from stock distributor #1 in there, and it starts right up but has NO power. With the distributor all the way advanced, it read Top Dead Center for timing...

So yank the valve cover to find the intake cam advanced, and exhaust cam retarded, by about a tooth each... straightened them out, reset the timing and BAM! Kick it up a notch!

 

LOL I hate it when that happens. Your not the first one to do that.