Hey, whats up... I know I don't post here much, but I was hoping some of you guys can help me out. I just swapped in a first gen b16 in my 95 civic coupe. I have a chipped P28, with an OBD1 distributer (so that should take car of the OBD1 stuff). No real mods other than my Tanabe exhaust. Well, heres the problem, when I got the swap done the car was running fine, but as I went from home (NYC)on my trip back to school (michigan) I notcied something with the car. About 500 miles away, my tach started jumping a little, I thought it was going bad so I didn't car too much about it. As I continued to drive the tach (needle in tach) started jumping around preety violently. I was traveling around 4K RPM because of the short grearing ratios of the J1. It started jumping from 4k to 2k then to 8k and it did that for a while. As it hit 8k the car would studder allitle, giving it a jerky feeling. As I was pulling over (in ohio) and looked under the car I noticed that the cat was burning bright red. Took it to a mech there and he couldn't find anything wrong. What do u think it could be? The distributer is out getting looked at now, and Im hoping it was that, but to be honest, I don't know a great deal about auto mechanics so I could use your help. Thanx in advance.

I should also tell you that while i was pulling over the car turned off.


[Modified by EGCoupe, 10:08 PM 2/1/2003]

 

If your cat was red its lighting off unburnt gasoline. My guess is you're misfireing, but there could be something more. I would check distributor, spark plug wires and plugs.

 

okay, ummm also... I was on an extremley tight budget, so the night I picked up my car I needed to continue using the Stock DX spark wires, could that do it. I was told they were the same.

 

bump... Guys please, I heard this is one of the most knowlegable forums... help me out please. Could it be my plug wires since it came out of my DX?

 

okay, bump for the last time... PLEASE HELP ME OUT GUYS

 

you should post a link to this in the TECH forum.

 

The cat could be clogged, it could be running really rich, and you may need some plug wires. Lots of stuff you could check. Does is blow black when you get on it? What condition is the cat? Throwing any codes?

 

if the cat was glowing red my guess is that there isn't much left in the cat anymore, ie it all burned up, or does this only happen with FI? try going to walmart and getting some new plugs, first take em out and just look at them, there are charts on the net for what to look at(colors etc). good luck and keep us posted.

 

Not throwing any codes, and when the engine was installed i put in some Bosch Platinum, the ones with the 4 prongs... I'm thinking the plug wires could be messed up cause they were from my dx engine... also, when I was looking into where the plugs get put in the last one had some rust residue that I think came from the plug wires, could this do it...?

 

first mistake was buying bosch plugs go get some ngks 2nd go get some ngk spark plugs that are for a b16, then next make sure u don't have any oil in your spark plug holes and check your timing, cap and rotor

 

if the tach was bouncing and the engine wasn,t reving, i would say distributor or ecu ground. the ecu should be grounded to the thermostat housing.

 

hmmm... The ECU ground?, I'll check that out. Also, whats wrong with Bosch? Thanx for the answers guys, i really appreciate this.

 

There will only be one spark in the path of least resistance. The other 3 electrodes just get in the way.

also check the big tranny groung to the frame

edit: the plugs arn't the problem. they are just a little overpriced and a little too much hype


[Modified by fire7882, 12:11 AM 2/3/2003]

 

okay, Im making a list of the things im gonna check tommorow... do you think that my wires could be gone or is the DX wires just as good?

 

Reset your ecu.
Check plugs.
Next time use the RIGHT parts bro, esp. when making a long trip...
ECU ground wire, you mean wiring harness?
Test cat.
Header torqued, all exhaust bolted properly.
Was your engine termo. gauge giving a reading?
Do you have a fuel psi gauge?

 

reset ecu, by unplugging it then plugging it back up? Where is the ECU ground? The exhaust should be fine, it worked before. And what do you mean torqued header? can I tell just by looking at it? And yes the thermo gauge was giving a reading. And no fuel psi guage. Thanx again

 

Use search to find "reseting ecu". I'm too lazy to explain.
Cataylist can go bad. Exhaust leak could cause over heating. The wiring harness is grounded, I don't know what others are talking about.

 

The ground on the wiring harness (bolts to the thermostat housing) is a direct ground to the ecu as i have come to understand

 

what kind of obd I distributor do you have? i would check the ignition coil. it is possible that the wires from the ignitor to the coil are loose and that would cause your tach needle to bounce around. this could also cause a over-rich condition leading to a glowing cat. just a guess.

 

this distributor is off of a 95 GSR. Also, how would I check the ignition coil, is this the coil in the dist? Your Idea sounds really good so far, but would it make my tach jump after a certain RPM, cause it really only does it past 4k RPM

 

i have a b16 in my 92 si and am also using a 95 gsr distributor. i had the same problem with the tach needle freaking out while on the freeway and at times the car would stall when going real slow. i found that one of the screws on the terminals for the signal to the coil came loose. tightened it up and no more problems. and yes, the coil is in the distributor.

 

ok this may not be the problem with your tach but, what injectors are you using i hope obd1 LS or sir2 or gsr?????????

 

i think if his car is an ex then he can use those injectors as well.

 

Im using it from the 95 DX... I've been told by every mechanic that those injectors are the same thing. I'll try tightening the screw too...

 

I would use some 92-95 LS injectors they are way bigger and with the dx injectors you are probably running so lean the cat is glowing and it is missing.The check engine light is because the computer can't richin it up the injectors are so small that the pulse width that it would take to flow the right amount of fuel with small injectors is so far out of range of the computers capability that it throws a code.. try that