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I am helping my best friend get his 93 DelSol with 16 valve engine running. It was running fine and suddenly will not start. The car was parked in the garage for about 30 days and then when he went to take it out for a spin, it turns over but will not start.
The starter turns the engine over fine but the fuel pump will not run or prime when key is in the on or start position, and it is not getting pulse to the injectors. It will run if you spray some starting fluid in the intake. Jumping the fuel pump makes the fuel pump run, but the car wont actually start. Our noid light tells us the injectors are not getting a pulse signal.
He did buy and replace what he calls the main relay, no joi.
Any ideas, common things to check or a no-start diagnostic procedure?
Thanks in advance, take it easy on us...it's our first post here in this forum. We are both Shelby turbo Dodge guys from the olden times and know our way around those cars. The Honda is a little new to us.
Well it sounds like you understand the general concept of Air/Fuel/Spark being the combo to make the vehicle run and if you ruled out Air/Spark I'd say the first items I would check would be Fuel Relay, Fuses 13, 43, and 44, Ground on Thermostat "ground for main relay", and also do you have any CEL..??
All fuses verified good with a test light, the wires at the thermostat housing look solid. New main relay didn't fix it.
I found the FAQs on no-start diagnostics 101, how to pull CEL codes and how to test and how the main relay works. I'll work through that with my buddy and post back any findings. Thanks for the help thus far and the suggestions. Any others are greatly appreciated.
When you turn the key to ON(II), does the CEL come on for ~2 seconds and then turn off? How did you confirm that the fuel pump isn't priming? A test light is not the proper way to test fuses - use a multimeter, and test for resistance across the tabs. That's why those little exposed metal bits are at the top of the fuse. If you don't have a multimeter, go buy one - you're going to need it.
Could be the ECU capacitors have gone bad due to heat and moisture/condensation, especially in a del sol. Borrow a known good ECU ( P28 for a manual or automatic 93-95 civic similar to your car) to see if you hear the fuel pump prime and the car start.
Will use the diagram above for some of the suggested test and will report back the results.
Did take the ECU cover off, didn't SEE any sign of any electronic problems, no leaking caps, popped resistors, burnt traces, bad solder joints, etc. I know that a visual inspection is just a cursory diagnostic aide. But it also wasn't pull of water or condensation nor was there any corrosion inside. The local salvage yard has plenty of Civic from the same year, no DelSol's though. I think a spare/test ECU is certainly easily obtainable of the Civic is the same.
The CEL light does stay lit after the key is turned on, it never goes off. Which from my reading here the FAQs may be a sign of fault [0] indicating a bad ground, faulty ECU, or some other things we are checking. The ground at the thermostat looks good visually, well loosen, clean and tighten just for good measure. Installed a new main relay, no change. No voltage present at the pump during cranking, no pulse at the injectors when cranking as verified with the noid, all fuses checking good (with test light) with power on both sides with key on. Visual inspection of all fuses also reveal nothing blown.
All connectors at distributor look good and clean, no broken wires or signs of harassment/tampering. Good charge on battery, battery also tested with load tester...its good.
Engine fires, tries to run with a little carb cleaner sprayed down intake.
Will use the diagram above for some of the suggested test and will report back the results.
Did take the ECU cover off, didn't SEE any sign of any electronic problems, no leaking caps, popped resistors, burnt traces, bad solder joints, etc. I know that a visual inspection is just a cursory diagnostic aide. But it also wasn't pull of water or condensation nor was there any corrosion inside. The local salvage yard has plenty of Civic from the same year, no DelSol's though. I think a spare/test ECU is certainly easily obtainable of the Civic is the same.
The CEL light does stay lit after the key is turned on, it never goes off. Which from my reading here the FAQs may be a sign of fault [0] indicating a bad ground, faulty ECU, or some other things we are checking. The ground at the thermostat looks good visually, well loosen, clean and tighten just for good measure. Installed a new main relay, no change. No voltage present at the pump during cranking, no pulse at the injectors when cranking as verified with the noid, all fuses checking good (with test light) with power on both sides with key on. Visual inspection of all fuses also reveal nothing blown.
All connectors at distributor look good and clean, no broken wires or signs of harassment/tampering. Good charge on battery, battery also tested with load tester...its good.
Engine fires, tries to run with a little carb cleaner sprayed down intake.
Anyone ever get this solved?? i’m having the exact same issue-just not enough fuel to get the motor to fire up. I also need to check the ground by my thermostat.
Brand new p28 reading (0) CEL is staying on. Just replaced the ICT (6) and it appeared to have gone away after a ECU reset.
Doing a fuel pressure test next, checking more grounds, and guess i’ll bust the cap off of the main relay although it seems to be priming
93 DelSol won't start, spark but no fuel
