Hey guys,

I'm having a few issues with my hatchback. I recently installed an Edelbrock turbo kit and had it tuned on crome (obd1 p28) by Church in Southern Californa.

So here's the deal:
I ran the car on a base map for a week and it ran like crap, but started every time fine. I got a tune at Church and the car ran great but it wouldn't run vtec. The ECU was pinned wrong. So I replaced my p28 ECU last week and put in the chip from the other ECU.

Everything worked great. Car ran good for 2 days. I got in it on Sunday and it wouldn't start. The starter would click and everything else seemed to work, but the engine wouldn't turn over. So I checked all the connections under the hood, spark plugs, wire grounds, starter ground etc. Still wouldn't start.

So I opened up the ECU and pushed on the chip. It moved a very slight bit down, like it wasn't all the way down. Car started great. Problem fixed, I thought.

Yesterday (Monday), drive to work and try to leave for lunch. Car won't start again. Open ECU, remove the chip and put it back in and it works again. Same issue as Sunday.

Today (Tuesday), The car starts fine, goto work, everything is good. Get in my car to come home. SAME ISSUE. This time I have to remove the chip 3 times and put it back in for it to work.

Now the obvious is that the ECU isn't holding the chip properly. It's a new ECU and this only started after that. So that is going to be my first step.

Buuuut, I've noticed a very small leak in the head gasket in the front just left of the header/exhaust manifold. And the car burns a lot of coolant lately. It also spits white smoke at high RPMs. After researching I think it could be the headgasket too. I read that coolant can get into the cylinders and so on.

SO I guess the best thing to do would be to try a new ECU and do a compression test and maybe a leak down test?

Any insight is appreciated. Super annoyed. Thanks! -Sean

 

Next time you go to start the car after it sits for a while turn the key to the point right before cranking and keep your eye on the CE light and your ears on the main relay and fuel pump. The CE light should come on and turn off, the fuel pump should prime and the main relay should click when the light goes out.

If the CE light stays on WITHOUT the fuel pump priming and main relay clicking, the ECU needs to be repaired.

 

So I checked today once it wouldn't start. First time, the CEL stayed. The second time, it turned off. It seriously has a mind of it's own.

SO I took it down to the shop. Swapped the ECU for another p28 and changed to chip. Turned the key two clicks, the CEL turns off and you can hear the fuel relay click over by the glove bock. Tried it again, same thing, and the car starts.

We'll see what happens when I go back out to my car in an hour.

 

So far so good after a few trips around town. Hope it's fixed.

 

Just wanted to update this since I feel like everyone always leaves the threads unfinished. I'm guilty of doing it too.

The ECU seems to have been the problem. I've been daily driving the car for a month now with no more issues.

 

Thanks for reporting.

 

So you bought another ECU? I could have repaired yours for only $50...

 

Next time. This was last year. Having new issues now HAHA. Never ending headache. Car is in paint now so once I get it back I need to figure out what the issue is.

 

Old thread but I'm having very similar problem. Car ran fine, next day it didn't want to start. Checked everything like OP did and everything is OK. I bought an obd2 ecu to plug into my obd2 harness without a jumper and hope this works!!