I have a b16a2 in my ek hatch and its has trouble starting on first start(coldstart) after 6-7 attempts the car will finally stay on but it runs really rich at low idle for the first few minutes, if you add gas it kills the car so I have to wait for the car to slowly reach operating temp. There’s nothing really obvious that I can see that would cause this.....block needs to be decked as theres a small coolant leak but im not sure if that would cause this??? Head was resurfaced and rebuilt 2 months ago, used new arp studs and new headgasket. Last time I did a leak down test nothing was over 11%

 

Which ECU are you running? Also, depending on how much material was removed from the head while machining will alter compression substantially.

 

Its running on a P2T, not really sure how much material was removed from the head but it does make sense how it would change the compression. My question now is why does it run normal once it starts to warm up, I can turn the car off and start it right back up after sitting for a short period of time?

 

Ive heard of a p2e or p2p . If youre referring to an obd2b ecu, it will look for other components ( i.e knock and ckp )on the engine, that a p28 will not. I would suggest running a p28 with a jumper if you can.
The ecu will make every attempt it can to compensate other than normal conditions. Otherwise inspect idle related components. Low flow or blocked coolant lines play a large roll in idle. Post pics of what youre working with.

- Post your end results

 

 

OP, so you are saying that the car used to idle just fine, and then two months ago you had the head worked, re-assembled the engine and now you have issues ? If so, it is NOT likely that the ECU is the problem. Why do you believe you need to have the deck machined... are you still overheating ? The P2T version is from an EM1 and should run the engine that you have just fine unless you have modified it significantly from a stock B16A2. One or two passes cut on the head surface do not constitute a significant modification. A P28 ECU in its native form will do absolutely nothing constructive in your application... the only way this suggestion would be remotely usable is if you had it socketed and installed a Hondata s300 so that you could alter the tune program inside the P28 ECU... and since this is an OBD-1 type ECU, you would need a conversion harness as suggested above to be able to plug it into your car.

Look for an issue in your installation of the cylinder head... and focus on the parts that you "changed".

 

Engine is completely stock, heads were replaced with oe parts. Car is not overheating, but theres enough coolant loss for me to know its not normal, also spark plugs are starting to foul and oil is a little milky. Reason I believe it needs to be decked is cause it has a new head gasket and arp studs were torqued to spec so there shouldn’t be coolant leaking from the block. I don’t think much material was removed from the head, just had a burnt valve and decided to replace parts and have it resurfaced. Head was assembled at the shop so im not sure what could’ve gone wrong...cause the car runs fine once it reaches operating temp, doesn’t feel sluggish or underpowered. Was already planning on rebuilding the bottom end but just wanted to make sure that I dont spend all that money and still have the same problem

 

Did you do a valve adjustment after re-installing the worked head ?

 

yes I did a valve adjustment, wouldn’t there be a tick if it were off ?

 

first vid is the startup after sitting 3-4 hours. 2nd vid is after idling for a few minutes