Last week my GSR started acting up and I haven't been able to pin point a solution. I was driving home from work last week and after getting through traffic I noticed that if I tried to accelerate it would bog at 3-4k rpm in 4th and 5th gear. When I finally came to a dead stop at a light it would not accelerate at all but would just continue to bog, it did launch maybe around 2k briefly but that was it. I pulled over to the side of the road, visually inspected everything including timing belt (moon cut out on valve cover) and checked fluids, everything was good. I went to start it up and it fired up fine and idled fine, I revved up a little bit and held it at about 3k and then it just suddenly died and would not start again after that. I called AAA and got a tow home.

Once I got in the garage I started checking for fuel pressure and spark. I had spark across all 4 plugs and fuel pressure was fine. The car would sometimes start after sitting for a while, run and idle fine but as soon as I touch the gas pedal it would die. For the sake of eliminating any potential issues I started replacing parts related to these kinds of issues based on the Helms manual. I replaced the main relay, fuel filter, spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor and fuel pump (new walbro 255). After replacing all these nothing changed except that it will not turn over at all now.

I've checked all fuses related to fuel and ignition and all of them were good. The battery is holding a charge and all electronics seem to be functioning fine. I've swapped the chipped p28 with a known working P72 and still nothing.

When I replaced the fuel pump the car fired up after a little hesitation and it seemed to run fine, I was able to give it gas with out it dying. I figured I would let the motor warm up and see if this did solve the problem. After about a minute it started to "hiccup/sputter" more and more frequently and then just died and made a really odd noise when it finally shut off all the way, almost a moaning sound and I swear I saw a little puff of white smoke come out of the bypass filter on the CAI.

While the car was running this last time I checked the timing with a timing gun and it was spot on. Oil level is still good, no leaks. I got underneath the car and checked the cat as it had been making some funny clunking noises lately (was planning on replacing with a test pipe soon) so I gutted it out just in case it was clogged and creating back pressure, still nothing.

I am getting a CEL for the IAT (code 10). I'm not sure if this would have anything to do with the car not starting but from what I have read the car should still start and run with this code.

I recently swapped in a new block with jdm ITR Pistons, ITR rods, and golden eagle block guard and put in a new Competition Clutch stage 2 clutch. I also put in a mishimoto fan switch and thermostat. I have put on about 3500 miles since this work was done and I haven't experienced any issues. The rest of my build is a port and polished head with SuperTech Titanium valve train, 3 angle valve job, 98+spec itr cams, 2 layer head gasket, skunk2 IM, professional products TB port matched to IM and a chipped p28 ecu on crome.

Does anybody have any ideas? I've searched and have read probably every thread related to the issues I'm having. I'm stumped though because most haven't been able to get the car to start again unless the issue was fixed, except mines not starting at all now.

Update: Just ran a compression test and the dry numbers seemed pretty off. Keep in mind that the pistons probably had a bit of unburnt fuel on them, from testing to see if new parts solved the problem, during the dry test. The test was also done with a cold motor since she won't start and it's about 45 degrees out in my garage right now. The wet test results were good after retesting a couple of times, I'm thinking I may have put a tad bit too much oil in cylinder 1.


Dry Cylinder 1-205, Cylinder 2-180, Cylinder 3-125, Cylinder 4-145
Wet Cylinder 1-235, Cylinder 2-230, Cylinder 3-225, Cylinder 4-220

The pistons were fitted properly with brand new factory rings about 3500k miles ago and the valve stem seals were replaced about 15,000 miles ago so I'm pretty sure the numbers were way off on the dry because of the unburnt fuel. I could certainly be wrong though.

 

"After replacing all these nothing changed except that it will not turn over at all now"

Do you mean starter motor is not working now? 94

 

No it is still cranking just not turning over.

 

"Crank" and "turn over" are the same thing.

You mean it turns over but won't sputter or cough or show any sign that it wants to fire up.

When you're cranking it, does the tach needle jiggle just a tiny bit, or is it dead-still?

 

Sorry your right. I'm dead tired today, I've been on a 14 day stretch at work and worked 75 hours just this week since Monday. Spending my time away from work trying to fix this damn thing equals hardly any to no sleep.

The car turns but will not fire up now and shows no signs of wanting to.

I haven't really looked to see if the tach needle moves but I'm sure I would have noticed it move if it was. I'll check in a little bit and report back.

 

Your compression is all over the place and way more then 28psi difference, even with the wet test.

However it should still run, do you hear the fuel pump priming? 94

 

The fuel pump is priming. As I stated above I installed a new walbro 255 pump, main relay and fuel filter. I also cleaned the injectors to make sure they were not the culprit.

See original post for updated wet compression on cylinder 1, I'm thinking I put a tad bit too much oil in there causing a higher compression number.

 

The tach needle definitely does not budge, just checked.

 

hate to be the bearer of bad news, but to me something isnt right. on the dry test cylinder 3 should not have been that far off from the 2 and 4.. I say you take off the head and see what is going on.

even on the wet test it still looks fishy. the compression should only be about 5-8psi off from each other, and not more than that. somethings not right.

question though, did you do the compression test at WOT?

 

The test was done at WOT

 

if your tach stays dead still while cranking, it can be an indication that the ignitor is bad
have you actually checked for spark?

 

We have yet another bad igniter here, folks.

 

dont take the head off yet, do all the easy stuff first, If u have a buddy with the same car as you or anyone who has a distributor swap it with yours quick and see if that helps. integra distributors are kinda know to not be that great

 

dizzy

 

I was wondering if it was priming after you said, " except mines not starting at all now"

However, with the tach needle not moving at all, it is an indication that the ICM is not working, but before you swap out the distributor, pull the cap/rotor/leak cover and confirm connections to the coil and ICM are clean and tight, you may need to unplug a connector and "pinch" it with some pliers to tighten it, carefull not to over-"pinch" it.

If that does not solve the problem replace the ICM, or swap it out with a known working one to try it. 94