So.. I have a 96 hatch, fully built, boosted, blah blah blah, Recently bought the car and the turbo only had a mesh screen on the turbo inlet, I decided to put a intake pipe and filter onto the turbo so that I wouldn't have to worry about anything when driving the car in the rain or when it was or is liable to rain.. And I have also been having issue's with what I was thinking was the main relay giving me trouble because it has not wanted to start a few time's on warmer day's and after the window's being up.. Ok so, I have put 4 new main relay's in it within just the last month , including some generic crap from advance auto, some import direct crap from oreilly's, and a duralast one from autozone and now today a actual mistuba one straight from my local honda dealership considering I figured it may prefer a mitsuba brand one considering that is what it came with ofcourse... Ok so I put the brand new mitsuba oem honda main relay on it today and it clicked when I was attempting to start it but it wasn't kicking on my fuel pump .. and one of the other main relay's I mentioned did the same thing , one would click but not kick on my fuel pump, and the duralast wouldn't even click at all,moreless kick on my fuel pump..... And I know about and have read all about how the heat messe's with the soldering inside the main relay's and figured it might just be that or that I was having bad luck and getting crappy relay's.... But, something else I also noticed is that sometime's I have to kinda wiggle my key or position it just right before my fuel pump will kick on, and I did just that and it kicked on earlier today and I took the car out for the first time in a while.. Well, I get out and onto a straight away hoping to lay into it and have some fun and it is like the car is in limp mode or something and isn't half the car that it should be and is honestly flatout running totally pussyfied compared to how it usually ran beforehand... Mentioned all this to a friend earlier and he mentioned that it was probally the ignition switch on the electrical side *leftside of the column* going bad and could be why I have been thinking it was the main relay...... But, overall my question is, could a ignition switch going bad make my car run like absolute crap and not have half the power that it did ?? .. or could it have something to do with me running a intake tube with a aem dryflow filter off of my turbo ?? instead of just the mesh screen that it originally had on it ??.. guessing my car was tuned with just the mesh screen on the turbo inlet .. so could the intake tube and aem dryflow filter possibally be making my car run like crap or has messed with my tune possibally ? ...... Any help would be oh so appreciated and thank's in advance

 

Nope.. But a shitty, failing fuel pump would

 

I'm guessing it's an OBD1 conversion. When you turn key on but don't crank, the oil battery, and check engine lights should all come on, and the fuel pump should start. Then the check engine light should go out and the fuel pump stop. If the pump never starts and the check engine light stays on-- and you're sure the main relay is good-- it's likely a bad ECU. ECU failure overall is not common, but one common problem OBD1 ones exhibit is to be slow to boot up when the key is turned on.

 

Methinks you got overexcited.. Read below..


Fella isn't actually in limp mode; says the car is running crappy. My opinion on this after reading and sifting through a ton of irrelevant info, points to a potentially failing fuel pump.

 

Or maybe tune. Hard to say really. Lots of stuff left out, lots of unnecessary stuff thrown in.. lol

To the OP.. Did you buy it already boosted or did you boost it after buying it? What system are you running for the tune (hondata, neptune, crome, etc)? Is this actually tuned with an RTP system or chipped?

 

No the car isn't actually in limp mode I don't guess,but definitely has half of the power ifnot even less than it originally had all of a sudden, and when I first took it out yesterday after putting a new main relay in it and installing the intake pipe and filter ran off of the turbo inlet like I had stated, and I kinda layed into it and hit 2nd gear it and halfway thru 2nd gear it all of a suddenly jerked real hard like it had majorally cut out or lost power, but that was the only time all of afternoon of driving it that it did that, just ran very weakly compared to how the car normally run's.. Car was fully built/boosted when I bought it , have had it maybe 2.5 month's now, guessing it is obd1 also and getting ready to look more into it here in a few minute's. As far as tune, all that I know is that it was tuned at RLZ in concord Nc. And as far as all the light's coming on for the oil and battery and check engine yes they do then go off like they should, But like I had stated I have noticed that I sometime's have to kinda push in with my key or kinda wiggle it into a certain place/position before my fuel pump will kick on, before starting it.. It idle's fine other than I can definitely tell that it isn't rattling the inside the car like it normally doe's from the power it's got '400+hp' and when I went to rev it, and it don't wanna rev over 5500rpm for whatever reason... While I was out in it yesterday after I even tried taking the filter off of the intake tube and put my mesh screen back on and also put my old main relay back in it and it was still running very weak like compared to what it should run like..... And thank you two for responding

 

5500 rev limit could be a launch control setting programmed in. Is the ECU just chipped, or is it an RTP unit like Neptune or Hondata? Or do you know? The jiggle of the key to get the fuel pump to prime is about a 90% possibility of being the ignition switch going **** up. Power loss could be a couple things from tune issue, fuel pump/pressure, to loose couplers in your intercooler pipes.

 

Considered that myself.. Honestly haven't even drove the car enough since I have owned it to remember if I have even revved it before while engaging the clutch, other than to pull out in it and shift gear's... Guy I got it from claimed it has a 8500 rev limiter.. And not sure about the ecu yet , just tried putting my mesh screen back onto my turbo inlet and took it for a spin and it seem's to have a little power back but still not like it was by far... And noted down that the fuel/air gauge is reading sometime's 16.5 to 18.0 while idling and sometime's 17.5 to 18.0.... and 13ish to 15ish while cruising along at 50 and 55mph ... And yea kinda ofcourse wondered if throwing a intake tube with a filter on my turbo has messed with the tune .. along with a few time's having to jiggle the key to get the fuel pump to kick on .. hoping it wouldn't be any loose coupler's in the intercooler pipe's , Build supposedly only has a lil over 6k or 7ish k now and look's clean and seemed to run extremely strong until yesterday after putting a new main relay on it and the intake pipe and filter on the turbo, But ofcourse quite anything is possible sadly

 

Seems to be REALLY lean without boost, even cruising is leaner than where I would want to be myself. Where's your A/F at under boost?

 

If you are saying you were out driving and experienced a sudden decrease in performance that never got better, a skipped timing belt is a prime thing to suspect. Also you should investigate whether it is still running on all 4 cylinders.

 

Earlier while out on the highway cruising along at 55mph and 60ish the air/fuel ratio gauge was reading 13.0 to 15.0 .. then brought it back home and parked it and while idling the air/fuel ratio gauge was reading 13.5 to 17.5 and sometime's 18.0... Then decided to run out to get some chevron techron fuel system cleaner and got back and parked and while idling the air/fuel gauge was showing 16 to 18.5 and when in boost it's moreless 12.0ish to 13.5ish.............. And mk378 I wasn't out driving it when the sudden decrease in performance happened , It happened after putting a new main relay in it and putting a intake pipe with a filter onto my turbo inlet, instead of the mesh screen that it originally had and I'm guessing the car was tuned with just the mesh screen on it, instead of a intake pipe and filter ... But I put the intake pipe and filter onto my turbo inlet and a new main relay in it the other evening after it not wanting to kick on my fuel pump on warm evening's and even with a new main relay I kinda had to jiggle my key a bit before my fuel pump would kick on and then I started it and went out in it and it was the beginning of it now being half, ifnot more than half as powerful of a car as it was before putting a new main relay in it and the intake pipe and filter on the turbo..... So since I have kinda had to wiggle my key while starting it a few time's to get my fuel pump to kick on and if it is the ignition switch and the electrical side of it would that possibally cause it to be running so weakly ? ... Gonna check the plug's and other possbilitie's out tommorow If I have the time

 

Somebody , Anybody

 

Txdragon you're awesome ... Before checking into a bunch of thing's, I decided to take the hatch out for a spin this evening to see if it was still running the same after throwing some chevron techron in it and sorta got on it a few time's and it was fairly quick but still not the car it was , got home and parked it and started looking everything over under the hood and realized at the bottom of the turbo at the ex-let that the coupler has came loose and there is a big gap and leak in my innercooling piping , so I am definitely losing boost forsure.... Gonna fix that probolemo right up tommorow ...... Thank's Txdragon and other feller too