Hello everyone, This is my first time posting to this website. I have a 97 Civic with a d16y8. I pulled the engine last year and rebuilt it (pistons,rods,springs,retainers,cometic gaskets,etc.)
After reinstalation into the car I added a cheap ebay turbo kit. Currently I cannot get the car running without ether. I have verified my ecu with a known good one, the main relay is functioning, the fuel pump is priming, the injectors are firing( I pulled them out with the rail and visually verified fuel was squirting) I have fresh gas in the tank, I have spark, I new plugs gapped accordingly. I have tried unplugging the map and other various sensors.

Im kinda at a loss here of where to go next. I have yet to test compression but seing as this is a fresh motor and its able to run on ether Ive kinda strayed from bothering to check. Any input would be apreciated. I will also note that the cel does stay on after key is turned and these are the codes
P0117
P1259
P0700
P1758
P1768
Previous owner swapped in a manual transmission and disconected all the auto stuff. Dont think this has anything to do either since the car ran before the rebuild.
Any input would be very much appreciated!

 

Install a chipped OBD1 ECU and get the engine management system tuned.

 

Thats on the list of things to do, but before i get an apointment and start giving a shop my money ide like to hear my car run under its own will. Surely the engine should still be able to run on the factory ecu right?

 

It's a bad idea to start and run the turbo engine with the stock auto OBD2 P2P ECU.

Hopefully a moderator will soon move your thread to the Forced Induction forum, where experts there will likely tell you the same.

 

Gotcha, well in that case a hondata may be the next step. From my research a p28 seems to be the best choice. Would you agree? And apologies for posting in the wrong forum. Im new to this website.

 

Did you adjust the valves? Is it cranking over just not starting?

 

I lashed lashed the valves according to spec during the rebuild. The engine will crank and attempt to start so long as I prime it. Only way it will run though is if i spray ether into the intake.

 

Sounds like it’s fuel related then. What your fuel pressure at?

 

Solve the ECT code first... this makes starting and running the engine very difficult. A stock ECU should start and run the engine as long the basic parameters of the engine have not changed much from stock... like compression, camshaft profile, T/B size, etc.

 

Only large change was the vitara pistons and SFR no notch rods. I know they adjusted the compression by a point or so. As far as the ect code ide imagine thatd be just a faulty sensor seeing as the engine has never been up to operating temp let alone overheated. Right?

 

For the short time I got it to run it apeared to be around 40 or so. Ill have someone crank it tommorow to get a concrete answer.

 

Are you using stock injectors? My stock motor would not start without a base tune from my tuner after I installed everything. It was like 50 bucks and they emailed it to me. I did of course have my Hondata s300 already installed though.
My guess is that you need an ECU and a base tune and I bet it will run. p28 is the most common ecu to use and readily available from most tuners.

That is A LOT of codes though, I'd try fixing what you can first. Ignore the transmission codes IMO, although I have no idea if they would cause a no-start scenario? Sort of as a fail safe?

 

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I am currently using the stock injectors and stock pump. As far as the codes go the ect failure code seems promising as mentioned earlier. As far as the trans codes go they were there before i built the engine and it was still driveable. Im gonna inveatigate more after work today. Will keep everyone posted.

 

The P28 (VTEC) and P06 (non-VTEC) are fairly common, and if you have soldering skills, you can convert the P06 to VTEC. If you buy an OBD1 ECU, the first thing you should do is replace the capacitors.

I agree with correcting the ECT code first in your attempt to get the car started.

 

Unfortunately work ran out pretty long yesterday so I didnt get to swap the sensors. Ill be stopping by advance to grab a new one later today. After install do I need to reset the ecu? Clear codes? Or just plug it up and try to start?

 

Huge thanks to everyone for all the help and good advice!

 

No ECU reset needed unless you have stored codes. The ECT sensor works dynamically, so it should provide results immediately if it was the problem.

 

I replaced the ect sensor located on the dizzy side of the head, plugged up the scanner and cleared the codes. Tried to start the car but no dice :/
pulled up the codes again and the ect code p0117 is still there. I guess now i need to take run a continuity test right? Anyone have a good suggestion?

 

Check the wires in the ECT plug close to the head. They tend to get brittle because of their proximity to heat.

 

Ill investigate later today after work. I will mention that last night I checked the ect plug with a multimeter and I had good voltage both ways. So I don't think its shorted. But bad contact is a possibility.