so whenever i try to start the car it cranks and just kinda pops but doesn't start. but if i take the cap to the injector main relay off it'll start a little but then shut off once i touch the gas. i think its in the injector ground wires but prior to putting the harness in i tested all the wires and they were good. any help to this problem is greatly appreciated!

 

What car? Have you resoldered the main relay?

 

its in a 92 civic dx and yeah i rewired the engine harness to do a wire tuck which everything else seems to be working fine in the harness.

 

Check fuses 31 and 24 and, if fine, do this:

http://techauto.awardspace.com/mainrelay.html

 

scratch that. i was quite confused as to what i was actually working with. and now i'm even more confused.

 

What do you mean by main relay cap?

 

i'm thinking of the piece where all the injector ground wires come together in a plastic clip.

 

Post a picture. Is this stock or somebody's re-wiring project?

 

don't have a pic of mine right now but its this piece

 

How many wires and what wire colors run to that plug? That's near the main relay? Are those the power wires for the injectors and IACV?

 

its 8 yellow/black wires. 4 of which go to the injectors, 1 to the IACV and 1 to the Tstat ground but i'm not sure of the other two anymore.

 

Okay -- now refocus on the fuses and main relay.

 

okay so i pulled my harness out again to test the wires for continuity and all of them were good. so check that off the list. i checked all my fuses and their all good also. i put it all back together and tried and the same problem. again it just sputters but if i take the cap (which has a metal piece inside to connect all the grounds to one) off the car will fire right up but run like poop and shut off?

 

Do the two fuses get voltage on the two top test tabs?

Did you resolder the main relay?

 

yeah all the fuses test good on both tabs, but no i haven't touched the actual main relay.

 

By a voltage test?

 

and my fuel pump is working fine so the main relay must be good right?

 

i just checked with a test light because i don't have any kind of DMM.

 

The main relay controls voltage delivery to the fuel pump. You won't have fuel if the main relay is bad, even when the pump is fine.

 

That's fine.

Here's a test:

Unplug the main relay and turn the key to ON(II). Then use a wire to jump terminal 1 (voltage from fuse 31) or 5 (voltage from fuse 24) to terminal 7 (fuel pump). Does this cause the fuel pump to run in both cases?

 

i think i may have found something tho. whenever i try to start it my CEL is staying lit. maybe bad ground to the ecu?

 

This can be caused by a bad main relay or the lack of ground or voltage to the ECU.

Is the thermostat housing ground wire disconnected or loose?

 

its tight and i just sanded it down a little to get a better contacting surface also but that didn't do anything. i'm thinking maybe the wire for the ground to the t-stat could be bad inside the harness. is there an easy way to test that?

 

Test, resolder, or replace the main relay. Then go from there.

 

well the main relay seems to be fine since the fuel pump is working and the injectors are too. but i tried adding a separate ground to the T-stat off the negative terminal but still same story. i'm running out of ideas!