Hi all I’m new to the forums here but I’ve been reading them for a while now.

I have a 94 eg civic lx sedan with a d15b7.
i just recently pulled the motor to replace all of the seals before installing my Rev9 turbo kit.

here’s all that I did to the motor whilst it was out of the vehicle:
Oil pan gasket
rear main seal
front crank seal
timing belt and tensioner replacement
installed dsm 450cc injectors with resistors

now I have the motor back in the vehicle with everything plugged up and ready to go but I’m running into an issue where it will crank but not start.

I tested the wiring on my injectors, and I’m getting a proper 12v reading, I’m also able to hear them pulse with a mechanics stethoscope (so we’re getting fuel, I can also smell it coming out of the wastegate dump tube.)

I tested all 4 spark plugs for spark and I was getting spark on all of them but it seemed like cylinder 4 was getting erratic and inconsistent sparks.. so I’m not sure about that

I did a compression test and I was getting inconsistent readings anywhere from 90 to 135psi. Then I would go back and do it again and get completely different readings (these were dry compression tests) From there, I went to check compression on cylinder 1 and the motor all of a sudden started cranking faster and I was only getting 30psi readings from that cylinder.

I called it a night after that and picked it back up this morning. I checked timing which seemed to be accurate but the belt was too loose for my liking so I tightened it up. now it seems to be cranking at a normal speed but still won’t start.

I know that’s a lot, but what could I possibly be skipping over? Could it be as easy as an unplugged sensor or what?
I’m going to do another compression check shortly to try and get consistent numbers, then I’ll post an update.

thanks.

 

Put a quick fog of wd40 down into the cylinder and see if you get better numbers, The oil will "clog" the rings. If you get way better psi with oil'ed rings, you know that blow by is affecting your compression. If not, you could have gunked up valves which aren't allowing them to close completely.

If you're sure the timing belt didn't jump, check the resistance of your sensors like the TPS and MAP/MAF. Do you hear the fuel pump prime when you first turn the key to acc?

Those injectors are over twice as big as the stock ones, what are you using to dial back the injector pulse? If nothing, you're likely flooding out.

 

I have a chip tuned ecu that i bought pre tuned off of eBay. I specified that I had bigger injectors so I’m assuming the would have dialed it back? But I am currently trying with my stock ecu since nothing was working. I can definitely smell a lot of fuel so flooding it out is a likely scenario.
I have a chip emulator with Crome, should I throw a base map on there and adjust the fuel?

I also will try the wd40 trick and pin checking! Will update

 

If the fuel has been just pouring into the cylinders how would I go about getting the excess fuel out?

 

Cranking with the fuel pump fuse/relay removed will likely push it out the exhaust. Some of it will have "washed" the rings and cylinder walls and gone down into the oil. One sure way is to leave all your spark plugs out and just wait for it to evaporate.

 

Ok so I did some research and I’m pretty sure that I’m flooding it. I pulled the plugs and I’m gonna let it air out for now, and In the meantime I’ll set up a tune that’ll hopefully help me get it started.

my only question is, wouldn’t it still fire? Wouldn’t the motor still want to start and ignite at least once even if there were too much fuel in there?

 

Adam LZ did a 1J swap in his garage like 2 years ago in a purple 240. Tried to start it the first few times, nothing. pulled off the intercooler piping, about half a gallon of gas came out. They pulled the fuel pump fuse out and tried to turn it over a few times to exacuate the fuel.......It started with the pump off, there was so much extra gas inside the engine and ran for like 20 seconds even tho it kinda sounded like it was under water. Its just like getting a lawn mover to run off squirts of brake cleaner.

Waaaay to much fuel wont run. the vapor is more flamable than the liquid. An almost empty gas tank is more dangerous than one filled to the brim.

 

Your issue is most likely your ECU/ Injector/ map settings!

Those Chipped ECU settings are garbage and if you didn't specify the size injectors the dead times for the injectors and what map sensor you are using you in the dark until you can get the ECU hooked up to a laptop and have the Injector settings and map sensor checked to confirm they match what your using.

You should get a Hondata S300 installed in the ECU and have the person installing it setup a proper base map. Contact http://www.phearable.net/

You can try installing the stock ECU stock Injectors and stock map sensor and see if the engine starts unless there is another issue you have.

 

Go back to your stock injectors and stock map sensor if you’ve changed it and run your stock ecu. You should at least gotten a chip from phearable if you can’t afford an s300 and no eBay crap to be running your motor.
Running on a chip with no wideband is a high risk of killin your motor.

I say run it stock injectors and map sensor for now till you get a wideband and a chip from phearable then boost it.

Also check your valve clearances

 

Ok so a little update. I went back to the stock injectors last night, and I did a spark test on all of my plugs before trying anything. The plugs were still too wet to produce any spark so I waited til this morning.

I did another spark test this morning and all of them sparked just fine so I threw them in and still nothing at all. Not even a sputter, I know I’m getting spark and I know I’m getting fuel. So from there, I did one more compression test and here are my numbers from passenger side to driver side. (Left to right if your looking at the motor in front of the car)

dry test:
1. 130
2. 120
3. 80..
4. 125

wet test: (couple squirts of wd40)
1. 130
2. 130
3. 80..
4. 125

Im not sure what to conclude from this, does this mean I should pull the valve cover and check springs?

I’m confused because I didn’t do anything to the motor that would mess with the compression, so that shouldn’t be the reason why I’m not able to start.

 

your rings on cylinder 3 needs replacing.

option 1: You can replace the rings on cylinder 3 or
option 2: while you have it apart replace all the rings and bearings while you have it apart.

option 2 is the better option since your boosting and it’ll be a fresh build and not worrying about bearings or rings goin out on you while your boosting.

 

Did you put a stock ECU in and stock map sensor??..

 

yes, I am using stock injectors, stock ecu, and I never changed out the map sensor (so it’s still the stock one)

are there any sensors that could potentially be letting the motor crank but not start? I’ve seen in a few places that a faulty map sensor can throw off fuel injection and spark timing, could that be a possibility?

 

Ok so not the "chipped ECU" right ?

If your timing jumped then yes it could prevent it from starting,

Have you checked all your fuses?

 

correct, I am not using the chipped ecu. I have done a visual overlook on the fuses but I haven’t taken them all out to throughly check, so I’ll do that real quick. I should only be worried about the fuse box next to the batter tray correct?

 

Check the engine bay fuse box too! also make sure the transmission ground is on or else it wont start!

 

Fuses are good all around. Grounds are all clean and secure. I’ve gotta be missing something (clearly)

I took the motor out (it was running perfect but it leaked from everywhere) and now with it back in, I don’t see any connections that I could have missed. All of my plugs are plugged and all of the vac hoses are secure