Thank you guys for looking at my post, i hope you can help me out.

so i bought this unmodified 1989 honda crx that has been sitting in a unit for roughly 4-5 years. I bought it and towed it home. battery was dead so i replaced the battery, changed the fluids, drained the old gas and refilled with fresh gas, and changed the oil.

the problem is that the car cranks but wont fire up.

when i turn the key to ignition, the check engine light stays on solid the whole time. it never flashes and the main relay never clicks, so the fuel pump doesnt prime either.

theres no light codes being illuminated by the ecu also

so i thought the main relay was bad which was a common problem in these models. got another main relay, tested it in my friends car, but it still has the same symptoms.

so maybe then the next thing i can think of is the ecu being bad. i tried 3 different ecu's and still have the same symptoms.

i checked all the fuses and they are all good

what else can i check?

 

Have you checked for spark while you are cranking the engine? First thing I would try

I would buy a new distributor cap and rotor, spark plugs and fuel filter just out of maintenance sake after sitting so long. Only about $40-$50 to replace all

If you dont have spark, the coil is very simple to test, simple resistance check (especially since you will have the dizzy cap off while inspecting/replacing it)

 

Does the main relay click after replacing? Should be 3 times. 1 while it turns on, 1 after fuel pump primes, 1 while trying to start car.

 

as above. The main fuel relay is the weak spot of the crx,besides the points of leakage.
You can find it on the driver side,next to the fusebox,mounted against the side of the car. I dont know the exact specs of an usdm car,but on a edm you should remove the coin box to see it.

 

The main relay works. Tried it on a friends car. So far I tried main relays and ecu's. None of them fixed the problem

 

i also have checked the grounds and they are all secure. anything else i should look for?

 

well, the relay not clicking means your fuel pump isn't getting power. You can crank till your battery dies, and never get it to turn. I know this because a similar thing happened to me... I ran out of fuel, but indicator said it wasn't empty. Tried cranking for like 5 minutes off and on. Got a ride to a gas station, came back and put in a gallon, and started right up, lol.


Anyways. Figure out why main relay seems to not be working. Can you hear fuel pump priming when you turn to key 2? If not, then that is most likely why cranking and no start (no fuel). Follow the wires to/from the main relay. I would say you can also bypass the relay by jumping part of the plug just to test.

 

the actual main relay does work, but not on my car. so i am going to assume i might have an electrical problem. theres no fuel priming as stated in the very first post.

 

Fuel pumps are known to go bad in 88-91 ef have u tried jumping the power wire to see if u have a good pump

 

Go over all the fuses and make sure they're all seated properly. Have you also checked the ground in the boot?

 

ground in the boot? whats a boot and where is that located?

regardless if the fuel pump is out, the main relay will still click right?

 

See the attached file regarding the CRX main relay harness electrical troubleshooting. If you are positive that your relay, ECU, and fuel pump are in perfect working condition, it is obvious that you have an electrical issue. The file I've provided was taken directly from the FSM (Field Service Manual). I'd strongly advise that you acquire it (the FSM can be found online and downloaded for free). Makes life a whole lot easier. Good luck.

 

thank you very much. ill try thIS

 

http://youtu.be/ZP4C_B4Fxzs

 

Help me

 

i am having the same problem with my bone stock honda crx.

it ran before being parked for 4-5 years.

it has a solid check engine light, fuel pump doesnt prime.

i know the ecu and main relay is good because i tried it on a friends car and it worked

however, following the service manual, i failed at step 7 also.
when i probe the white/blue wire and the black #2 wire with the key in the start position, i get no power.

also when i jump the #5 and #7 with a metal paper clip, i get no fuel still. the paper clip gets very hot very fast!

 

Che'lu,

I want to make sure I've provided you with the correct diagnostic info. Do the wire colors coincide between your car's harness along with the diagnostic info I gave you? If so, then it is indeed the right information.

If step 7 & 8 failed, you must correct the problem BEFORE you move on.

Your multimeter is your best friend in this situation.

Step 7 checks if you have a good starter signal. This means that the Blue/white wire should give you positive (+) voltage when you turn the key to start. If this does not happen, verify that the Blue/WHT wire is not broken. Test for continuity like Step 8 says.

If step 5 & 6 are good, and your jumper wire heats up on step 10, it could mean 2 things:

1) Your YEL/BLK wire is grounding to the body somewhere. This needs to be fixed. Trace the YEL/BLK wire and make sure it is in good condition from the connector all the way to the fuel pump. You may want to remove the fuel pump also and make sure the wire insulation is not broken.

2) Your fuel pump may be seized, or may have shorted internally. If the wiring is all good, you may want to take out the fuel pump and jump it with a battery to free it up. **BE SURE TO RID IT OF ALL FUEL TO PREVENT IT FROM CATCHING ON FIRE WHILE TESTING IT. AND TEST IT AWAY FROM THE OPEN FUEL TANK!!!** If the fuel pump still does not work when you jump it with 12volts, you need to replace it.

Good luck.

 

thanks spiff671, i just finished school this semester and finally have free time to work on the car.

 

When I got my crx it had sat for nearly 5 years. I had to replace the fuel tank, pump, filter, alternator, battery, and had to clean EVERY ground with sandpaper.

 

I had a similar problem in my civic. I replaced everything. relays, fuses, fuel pump, etc. I ran a wire straight from the battery to the fuel pump and it started running.
We finally concluded that I had a short from a pinched wire somewhere between the firewall and the fuel pump.
Rigged up the fuel pump in the safest way I could coming from the battery through a few fuses and a toggle switch.
Might not be legal and is definitely not advisable, but it still works.

 

for some random reason, the main relay started to work on my car. fuel pump didnt prime. dropped the tank and tested the fuel pump. it was dead. so i changed the pump and put everything back together now its running great. its weird that there was an intermittent main relay problem even though the main relay is working. i must have fiddled with the wires under the dash causing it to work or something. thank you everyone for your replies!