while driving on the freeway, my gsr completely shut down. i managed to pull over and tried to restart the car, but it just wouldnt fire up. i kept turning the key and the engine was starting up a bit so i gave it some gas. i almost got it but it just died out again. all i had on my dash was a battery light and an oil light. so i checked my car manual and it said if the oil light is staying on, i must be low on oil. which worries me.

4 months earlier, my block cracked and leaked oil. but today, it turns out, my dip stick showed the oil was full so oil leaking is out of the question. but the car just wouldnt start,

so he got out a pair of jumper cables..thats not it. checked the alternator, belts, etc, all fine. then finally, he thought it would be my fuel pump. not enough fuel would equal car cutting off while driving. makes sense..

after tow truck guy towed us to my house, he took out a can of ether (i didnt even know u can have a can of ether!) and he sparyed a little bit into my air intake box. (btw, my car is 99% stock besides stereo i guess) i tried starting it and this time, it ALMOST started. waaaay closer than before. so i asked him what the ether spray did.

he said the ether would act as instant fuel basically. if the fuel pump is f*cked up, this would be the only type of fuel your engine would receive. and of course, when he sprayed the ether, the car actually did start for a quick second but died out right away. so in his opinion (he even admits hes just a monkey with a wrench, hehe..at least hes honest) but in his opinion, he thinks the fuel pump is broken or the connections are loose, etc.

so what is your opinion on this?

by the way, i had a turbo installed on my gsr about 4 months ago. the oil fitting cracked my block and thats where the original oil problem came from. i took off the turbo and turned it back to stock, but i left the fpr gauge, the walbro lph fuel pump, the denso spark plugs, and thats basically it. my car has been running in perfect condition ever since the block was welded back on, and i even double checked the weld today and it looks solid. no oil leaking anywhere.

so my guess, is the walbro fuel pump just gave out, or maybe a hose from the fuel pump came loose. its 3am right now so i have to wait at least until tomorrow to get a shop to look at it.

so opinions are appreciated. thanks in advance

 

ya sounds like the fuel pump

 

So when you took off the turbo you left the fuel pressure gauge installed? That would tell you if you have fuel pressure or not...

 

If you turn the key to run you should be able to hear the fuel pump whirr for few seconds. If you do, it's probably not the fuel pump. I had this problem too, it was my ignition switch. The contacts were really worn so I had to hold the key between start and run to get it to run.

 

It is probably the fuel pump. BUT if its not Check the Cat converter. I had a car once that the honeycomb inside the cat converter broke loose and clogged it. causing the car to stall on occasion. might check that out if all elese fails.

 

did you check the distributor? your ignitor might be going out...just a thought. it sounds like the symptoms of a bad ignitor...just my 2 cents, and good luck, let us know what it turns out to be

 

sounds more liek an ignitor tho..

 

check if you have spark. pull out a spark plug still connected to the wire. start car, and no spark means something with the ignition system.

when it happened to me, i did the cheaper things first.
cap and rotor, and plugs. this didn't work, so moved on to the next.
ignition coil. changed this and the engine started right up. checked timing and was ready to go.

btw, these are really easy to replace and get at your local autostore. turned out that the ignition coil i bought from pepboys was made by the same company as the oem ignition coil.

 

it could also be the little rubber hose that goes from the fuel pump to the metal thing the pump mounts to. ive seen that little hose split before so you dont get any fuel pressure. and because there wouldnt be any pressure you wont hear the pump whirrrr like you normally would.

 

forgot to mention..i do have my fpr gauge still on. when i tried starting it, he tow guy said he noticed the needle on the gauge moving. or trying to move when i turned the key. not sure if that tells u anything.

now my only question about the ignition or spark plug is..if any of these items were to fail, would my car just completely shut down while driving 80mph? im not too familiar with these items. i always assumed it was connected to starting the car, but not keeping the car running.

well, i get free towing for 5 miles from AAA and theres a nice litle shop a few miles from my house. ill probably just bring it there today to have a "professional" look at it.

anymore suggestions wouild be great. and thanks again

 

Your ignition & spark plugs aren't just for starting. If they quit working the engine dies, just as if you'd turned off the key. Of course, the same thing would happen if your fuel pump suddenly quit working...

When you tried starting, your fuel pressure gauge SHOULD HAVE gone right up to proper fuel pressure, like 45psi or whatever. Not just the needle trying to wiggle...

 

so if my fpr gauge doesnt go to the proper psi level, would it be safe to say its the fuel pump?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tru Dynamix &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so if my fpr gauge doesnt go to the proper psi level, would it be safe to say its the fuel pump?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Well, now you have to figure out if the pump itself is bad... Maybe the main relay is bad so it doesn't give the pump any power. Or the ignition switch is bad so it 'turns off' the main relay... Or even KillerWabbit's idea about a busted hose in the tank. That's what circuit drawings & a DMM is for.

 

yeah, youre just going to have to test to make sure the pump is getting power and if the pump is even good. i really dont think its a main relay because you said it shut off while you were driving... main relays normally dont do that. a bad main relay normally has problems starting in extreme temps or when its been sitting off for a while.

good luck with whatever it is.

 

ok, so i just got off the phone with two mechanics who i usually go to. both said it definitely sounds like the fuel pump or something connected to the fuel pump. he said the ignition is still good because of the fact that the car basically started for a quick bit when the ether was used.

either way, i gotta get it towed so they can check it out for sure.

ill keep u guys updated.

 

ok..so i got the car to my mechanic (i love AAA! free towing!) anyways, the mechanic did a few tests on the basic things. he said my fuel pump is working fine. he hears it when i try to crank the car. plus my fpr gauge shows that im getting the fuel..he then checks my injectors to see if they are all working, since no fuel is getting into my engine....but the injectors are fine he says..but he noticed that they dont open up when i crank the car.

so he thinks it could be one of two things. the ecu or the main relay.

he was closing up so he said to call him 2m at noon to see what he finds out when he will diagnose the car.

but can someone explain to me what the main relay is. basic knowledge of it. i will admit i am not too informed on that. thanks

 

i think your mechanic is wrong bro.....it sounds like your timing belt snapped.....when's the last time you had it changed and how many miles do you have on your motor? hopefully im wrong and it is somethin simple but if it's not then replacing the timing belt is really simple.....good luck man

 

dude.. if it was the timing belt.. he'd have more of a problem on his hands. timing belt snapping on a honda = motor swap time. car would not even "almost start"... its not the belt.

fuel pump

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tru Dynamix &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... but can someone explain to me what the main relay is. basic knowledge of it. i will admit i am not too informed on that. thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>
They might as well call it a fuel pump relay. Honda usually combines the fuel pump relay together with a relay powering a couple other things. It's usually buried up in the left kick-panel, above your left foot.

I don't remember what else it powers, but maybe the injectors. The injectors are supposed to have +12v power at all times. The ECM switches their ground on & off to fire them. That's something he's probably gonna check.

So he hears the pump & the fuel pressure gauge says you got pressure. That means the pump & its plumbing are OK. Does it KEEP running if you crank the starter for several seconds? I think if the ECM doesn't see an ignition signal from the distributor, it shuts off the fuel pump after a couple seconds. That would also explain the injectors not firing, because if the ECM doesn't see the ignition signal it won't fire the injectors either.

 

once again...i think it's the ignitor. here's a short story:
a co-worker of mine went out to lunch, car (92 hatch w/ 94 GSR motor)started right up and he was on his way. right when he left the parking lot, his car died...starter was turning, but no ignition. FP was okay...by the time i got there, the car started(WTF?) took the car back to work...when we got off work, the car wouldn't start again. but this time when he was cranking it, the car "backfired" through the intake. i figured it had something to do with the distributor/ignitor, so we swapped distributors and it started right up. he had his car towed to one of the dealer, and it turned out to be his ignitor...while he was at it, changed the cap, rotor and wires
I may be right or wrong, but we'll see

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by opi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">once again...i think it's the ignitor...</TD></TR></TABLE>
I thought Tru Dynamix said his fuel pressure wasn't coming up properly or his injectors aren't firing. If his fuel delivery is OK, then yeah, it could be an ignitor or something like that.

I guess I'm getting confused about what exactly his car is actually doing.

 

I say the ignitor. Switch distributors with a friend, see if that works.

 

u guys got it right. the distributor. it didnt go bad. BUTthe mechanic said a few screws came loose. he said someone must've been ******* with it. perhaps someone try to steal it but bailed out and left it the way it is. but thanks so much guys for your help. im just happy i walked away from this with more knowledge, and not a large bill.

well, i think its time to sell the gsr. insurance is too high..theives everywhere. and a nice wrx sounds pretty good right now anyways. but thats a different story.

 

hi guys. i just got my gsr back. in specific details for all fo u who still care..the distributor in the gsr has 3 screws or bolts holding it in place. supposedly one of the bolts came off and was found in my engine compartment. the other 2 bolts were very loose and about to come off any second. he said if all the screws came off, woulve had a bigger problem. but all the mechanic did was screw everything back together, adjusted timing and now its fine.

now heres my opinion on what happened. i noticed my radio was tweaking on sat, the day before i drove home and got stranded on freeway. turns out my power wire on my battery was VERY VERY VERY loose. well, i thought it might have been my fault cause i am scared shitless about the battery terminals so when i installed my power wire for my car audio, i did it just tight enough so everything is put. but i remembered tightening it pretty tight.. so i didnt think twice about it. but the way the tow truck guy tightened my power wire, it seemed too loose. so with that being SO loose and my distributor basically coming off, i have concluded that this past weekend in my apartment complex at Davis, ca (where i go to school), some ******* was probably trying to steal my car.

i figure, he broke into my car..and my FACTORY alarm went off for a bit..then he popped the hood and unscrewed my battery powr wire to turn it off..and somehow thought messing with the distributor and hope to steal the car. then when that was done, he probably connected the battery terminal again loosely. probably got scared off and didnt finish the job.

or i could be playing detective too much here and it all couldve been bad luck?

well, can someone please tell me how/why a car thief would mess with the distributor if he were trying to steal my car? the mechanic said the dist. is an option for car thieves. i always thought u just take a screw driver and try and start the car from the ignition?

 

glad to hear you got the car fixed man I had a feeling it was the ignitor/distributor...

as for stealing the distributor, either the thief needed parts, or he was trying to disable your car, so he could come back and clean it out(maybe?).

anyways, good luck