workin on my boys 88 HF with a d16a6 swap. he just bought the car, and the guy he bought it from said it wasnt starting due possibly to a distributor problem. so we snatched my working distributor and ECU off of my d16a6, but it still wouldnt start. it threw code 20.

then we swapped my whole engine wiring harness from my engine and tried it cuz we thought there was a wire short, but it still wont start, and now its throwing code 6, 10, 15, and 20.

the engine was recently rebuilt, has new plugs, and ran well after the previous owner swapped it in. what could it be?

 

Is the engine getting fuel and/or spark? Is the compression of the engine good? As for the codes, 6 is coolant temp sensor (shouldn't affect starting), 10 is air intake temp (won't affect starting), 15 is ignition output signal (will affect starting) and 20 is electrical load detector (not sure). Of those I'd say that code 15 is your culprit. Try swapping the coil and ignitor with known good ones and see if that solves your problem. As for 6 and 10, are those sensors plugged in? Or perhaps the harness is plugged into the wrong sensor. The air intake temp sensor plug and the IACV plug are kinda close together, so maybe those 2 got mixed up.

 

yes the engine is getting fuel, about 34 psi. i dont know if the engine is getting spark, how would i check that? if the engine is cranking, doesnt that mean its getting spark? also, the distributor is good, so the coil and ignitor are known good ones.

could it be a starter problem?

need help please!

 

If the engine is cranking over, then it's not a starter problem. Check to make sure that all of you grounds are on good and secure. Especially the one on the thermostat housing. You can check for spark by putting a screwdriver into the end of a sparkplug wire, place it near a ground, have a friend crank the engine over, and if there is a spark that jumps from the shaft of the screwdriver to the ground, you have spark.

 

so take out the plug wire which goes on the spark plug, put a screwdriver in the end of the plug wire, and then put the screwdriver near the chassis?

do i do it one by one, or take out all of the plug wires?

the grounds are good, checked those thoroughly. what were you saying about the main relay? could that be a problem?

 

You can just do it with one of the sparkplug wires, preferably #1 cylinder. Disregard what I was saying about the main relay, I mixed up this post with another I was answering

 

TIMING BELT

it happened to me..... but no harm to my engine thank god

 

wheres the theromstat housing ground in a 1.5l dpfi dx?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by riceburners1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">TIMING BELT

it happened to me..... but no harm to my engine thank god</TD></TR></TABLE>

what happened to you? what were your symptoms? and what was wrong with the timing belt?

 

If you end up having spark and fuel and it still wont start check your cam timing to make sure that the t/b hasnt jumped a tooth. If it wasnt tensioned properly this may be something to check out. HTH

 

I'm having pretty much the same problem, I've tried all the same tricks even the spark trick, you can touch the exhaust manifold to see if its at least getting warm aswell I believe, I was told in my similiar post to also check fuses but I haven't a clue which fuse would cause this

if there's no spark its either the dizzy or wires or something else, the something else is what my problem is...

lemme know how it goes rasta

There's some car starting virus goin around maryland

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by psicrxsi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wheres the theromstat housing ground in a 1.5l dpfi dx?</TD></TR></TABLE>
underneath the distributer

 

i am getting no spark..a code 15. my car cranks and i basically changed out the distributor(came with ignitor and coil too), dist cap and rotor...and still no spark. my wires are pretty new too. this is iritating me.

 

hmm I'm still checking on it myself, so far culprits could be, ecu, dizzy -cap/rotor , wires, ground
I've checked everything oh and timing belt


as far as the ecu what was explained to me briefly is that if the wires are incorrect it could have burnt out the ecu thus causing no spark
but you're getting a code 15, I'm not getting anything at all, is there a way to tell if the ecu is operating correctly?

 

alright, i checked the timing belt, and it seems pretty loose to me. im gonna retighten later on tonight and ill let you all know what happens.

hey wiz, you could also try testing the 'electrical load detector' located in the main fuse box in the engine bay. also, check the 15A ecu fuse. if you have a friend with a d16a6, you can always swap ECU's to see if the ECU is operating correctly.

 

the timing belt snapped, the engine cranked, but didnt fire, and it had spark. just bring it to a shop where they know what they are doing, they will find the problem for you...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by riceburners1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just bring it to a shop where they know what they are doing, they will find the problem for you... </TD></TR></TABLE>

riceboy, come on now, thats the last resort, after you've done everything that you can! what kind of do-it-yourself-er are you??

anyway, looks like cam gear was really off. i set the crank pulley to TDC for piston 1, checked the distributor, and the rotor was pointing to the number 1 wire. checked the cam gear, and it was TDC for piston 4. dont know if this was the problem, but now im trying to move the cam gear to TDC for piston 1 with the timing belt off. how would i go about this? i tried using the 12mm bolt on the cam gear under the timing belt, but it only lets me go so far, plus i am afraid of overtorquing or breaking the bolt.

HeLP~

 

ok, as my luck turns out, it still didnt start. i set the crank/cam/distributor in time, and it still wouldnt start!!! now im getting a code 9, along with 6, 10, 15, and 20. this is crazy. what could it be?

im getting fuel and spark, but im smelling gas near the injectors...im guessing this is normal?

could it be the wiring from the ECU to the engine? does anyone have a test harness that the Helms manual keeps talking about?

 

ttt

 

any update Rasta?
none on my end, 400 more spent still same result

 

if you find out what was wrong let us know, my ls wont start its been almost two weeks im about to tow it to a shop

 

still no luck people! i need some serious help.

ok, i thought i was getting spark, but a friend came over today and looked over the car with me. apparently we are getting no spark, but the engine is turning over. if its making that cranking noise, that is the starter right?

so what could some problems be if im not getting any spark? besides plugs...? (im gonna buy some and change them tomorrow)

 

Pull the plug wire out and ground it out on the body or something. Leave it about 5cm away and you should see a spark jump.

Ok, the engine is turning over, and not running, correct? Does it try to start? Or is it just starter whine? Ummm, check your timing, most definitely. The 4 main things an engine needs to run -
A/F mixture (*correct or near correct A/F mixture; most likely not your problem)
spark
compression
timing

That should help you out a lot. If you did find out that you have no spark, try putting on a known good distributor, but be sure to check your timing, if you don't have that dizzy in the exact same spot as the one you first pulled off, then your timing will be off.

EDIT: If you are getting a spark, you need to also check if the dizzy was put on correctly, and not 180* out. I've done that before...

 

thanks for the reply.

so no spark, the engine is turning over and does not run. i think it tries to start. what would just a starter whine sound like? like just a continuous crank or not that consistent?

i checked the timing, ECU, and distributor. even went as far to change wiring harnesses. replaced ECU, distributor, and wiring harness with known working ones.

timing is fine. didnt check compression however. could bad compression be a cause for not starting? umm dont know how to check the a/f mixture, however i do know im getting fuel pressure.

 

ttt