I'm working on a 1992 Accord that just had the transmission rebuilt. Before the rebuild the engine seemed to run perfect. After reinstalling the trans and putting everything back together the car fired right up but after 30 seconds of running it started making a "thunking" sound repeatedly (seems to be coming from under the battery/ back firing in the intake) then stalled. started back up ran for a min then did the same thing. and now it wont start at all.

It seems to fire when I spray ether down the intake but dies soon as the ether is gone. I pulled the fuel line off and had no fuel coming from the pump, so my first thought was bad relay. tested the Main relay and it passed the test. tested the fuel pump by jumping power to it and it is working. after jumping the pump and running fuel to the fuel rail i tried to start it again and still nothing, so it makes me think the ECM isn't telling the injectors to pulse.

Anyone have any thoughts of what could cause the injectors not to pulse and why the fuel pump isn't getting power from the relay?

Btw, I have checked all the fuses and they all seem to be good, i'm more looking for an answer related to something not working right after being unplugged or something when I removed the trans since the motor was running fine before. But any help will be appreciated, Thanks

 

check for weak spark

 

Thanks, I will... But would weak spark cause the pump to not get power from the relay and cause the injectors not to pulse when there is fuel in the rail?

 

There is nothing in the engine bay that will make a thunk sound and be related to your fuel issue. Check your spark first since you said the noise is coming from the distributor area. It is possible for the ignitor to blow and make a thump sound. At the very least open up the distributor and see what it looks like in there.

 

Not sure about the "sound"

But there is a very important ground on the T-stat housing. Be sure that it is clean and tight.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. @holmesnmanny the inside of the distributor looks fairly new inside. would the ignitor going out cause the injectors not to pulse? the main relay is good, retested it just to make sure. @Lost again, is this ground strap your talking about the negative battery lead strap? or is there another specific ground that has something to do with the ignition system?

 

ok, just checked the spark by pulling each plug and grounding it out while trying to crank the motor, and put a timing light on each wire with all the plugs in and am not getting any spark from any of the plugs now.

 

The gound I was talking about is on the t-stat housing

 

oh ok, sorry it didn't click when you said t-stat ground. but ill check it tomorrow when i get to the shop.

 

ok so my couriousity got the better of me and I went to the shop to check that ground and sure enough, I forgot to put it back on when I put the trans back in... it was hiding under the tstat housing so i couldnt see it... messed up how that little thing could cause all those problems. anyways its fixed and running great, thank you so much for your help. it was bugging me bad haha

 

Glad you got it

 

I got one more question, like I said before I just rebuilt the transmission and now that the motor is running I took it out to test drive it and it doesn't seem to be fully engaging in reverse or 4th overdrive... Any thoughts on that?

 

Shift cable adjustment? From the center console, there is a bit of adjustment that can be done.

Also be sure the throttle control cable - from the TB to trans - has the proper adjustment.

 

Both of those seem to be adjusted right, and also, prior to the rebuild, the tcu, shift solenoids, lock up solenoid, were all replaced and I just checked the pressures, in every position of the shift handle the Trans is running with around 100lbs of pressure. This is frustrating

 

Do you know what combination of clutches are used in reverse? Like how the Trans makes reverse when selected