FINALLY FIXED IT. It was a wire that was visible on the god damn starter. Now all I need to do is fix the CEL for knock sensor. What should I try?

posted in tech but i need answers ASAP. Here are some updates:

I have a 1997 civic which I swapped an engine into. It has 2 CELs, 71 and 73 meaning missfire in cyls 1 and 3. It has for a while now, and I have driven it a bit (20miles), even redlining it once or twice. The timing is dead on, the plugs are new as is cap/rotor. The fuel sat in it for a long time, however. Thinking it was probably the fuel I let it run to E (not empty but the first part of the red zone) and then put in 6 gallons of new gas. I used 2 gallons that I had sitting around which i am 99% sure was not premixed with oil. I also added 12oz of injector cleaner.

All of the sudden, I cant go above ~4.5k rpms, it bounces there. During one rev it let me go to 5.5 or so, but then stopped. It doesnt seem to be a set point really, but usually around 4.5k. I gave it light throttle in 2nd and around 4 it did the same thing. The speedo gets all crazy then, too, shooting to all kinds of speeds. I checked the CEL, and it was the same 2. What should I do?


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">We checked pretty decently for vacuum leaks, and checked the injector caps. All seemed good.
Also, let me remind you that it has had the codes for a while but didnt start this gay rev limiting stuff until today. ALL i did was add fuel and work on the valve cover gasket. Could it be the seal on the valve cover gasket? The bolts were stripped so we had to use gasket maker, it still leaks al little but it did before too and didnt have this rev limiting ****.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hmm... when I came back from spring break (about 5 days of non-use) the battery was dead for some reason even though it has in the past been unused for longer amounts of time, and the battery is brand new. Im not sure if I mentioned it, but when the rev limiting thing happens, the speedo goes insain, like to 120 and stuff, and the 'brake' light on the cluster lights up VERY dimmly, not as bright as it would if I pulled the ebrake. Could it just be a ground or what? Keep in mind, I drove it as late as this past sunday before I put the oil and gas in, and worked on the valve cover.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Could it be the speed sensor? Someone told me ot check it, I did, and it was oily as hell in there. (keep in mind the speedo goes crazy at the same time) The thing is, in nuetral it still can do it around 5k rpms. So... Im thinking probably not the vss?</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Im almost positive its the speed sensor. I took it off and their is oil in it. I think what is happening is the vss gives it a shitty *** reading, at makes it think the car is going waaaay faster than it really is and the governer is kicking in. Does this seem reasonable? Would ouil get in there if the vss was bad, or if I clean it would it be ok forever. I checked it out and it actually seemed ok, but there was some oil in there. The gear, however, is fine. I dont want to sell someone a bunk car</TD></TR></TABLE>

[QUOTE]I checked all grounds (neg to batt, trans to frame, power steering pump to rad support, and clip by thermostat assembly on engine harness) and they are all good. The VSS seems ok, and is expensive. I dont want to replace anything I dont need to. The CEL comes on when i rev it then goes off, would it still be stored for scanning? What do I do

ANOTHER UPDATE: All of the sudden, I got a CEL and it said it was the knock sensor. WTF?[QUOTE]


Modified by Atheist at 12:33 AM 4/17/2004

 

Yo, homey just see if one of your boys has an ecu you can try out. Had a similar issue, thought it was the dizzy. Turn out to be the ecu, do you have your's chipped?

 

Oh yea i forgot to mention cap/rotor are new, too.

But ecu? I dont know it might be chipped I doubt it though. I didn't, but the last guy might of as he had some mods on the car. I dont know ANYONE with a civic ex, except for my friend who goes to college 6hrs away, heh. The weirdest part is that it has the same CEL, and all I changed was the fuel, but now it is just starting to be gay about the rpms...

 

Bump cause I need an answer...

 

sounds like the car is running in limp mode.... fix the problems, reset the ecu and try it out...

 

I had a problem like that. Thought it was the ecu so i went through a USDM ecu, my ecu and a P28 chipped with Skunk2 and still had the problem. Switched dizzy's and problem was gone. Put my old one back on and adjusted the timing, no problem.

Try messing with your timing. 23 degrees worked for me (stock JDM GSR).

 

Are u getting any CEL. you might wanna do a scan for codes. Look in my sig if u need info on checking your CEL.

 

dude b4 u do any ecu **** check your injector plugs. when a honda looses a injector plug the the rev limit hit 4grand. i had the same thinkg with mine the clip came off. check them and make sure they are tight! clean them even!

 

repost from your other thread...

i had this issue when there wasn't enough fuel going to the motor, my FPR was only pushing like 30 on my ITR motor. changed it to 50 and all was OK.. i put a stock GSR FPR on to eliminate the shitty aftermarket FPR. check your fuel system... pump, power, fpr.

also, check the injectors like the last guy said.

 

check for a vaccum leak! i know it sounds stupid but mine done the same thing except mine made it to 5000 rpm.

 

We checked pretty decently for vacuum leaks, and checked the injector caps. All seemed good.

Also, let me remind you that it has had the codes for a while but didnt start this gay rev limiting stuff until today. ALL i did was add fuel and work on the valve cover gasket. Could it be the seal on the valve cover gasket? The bolts were stripped so we had to use gasket maker, it still leaks al little but it did before too and didnt have this rev limiting ****.

 

Hmm... when I came back from spring break (about 5 days of non-use) the battery was dead for some reason even though it has in the past been unused for longer amounts of time, and the battery is brand new. Im not sure if I mentioned it, but when the rev limiting thing happens, the speedo goes insain, like to 120 and stuff, and the 'brake' light on the cluster lights up VERY dimmly, not as bright as it would if I pulled the ebrake. Could it just be a ground or what? Keep in mind, I drove it as late as this past sunday before I put the oil and gas in, and worked on the valve cover.

 

I had that problem, switched ECU's and im all good...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DIER88 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I had that problem, switched ECU's and im all good... </TD></TR></TABLE>

What problems did you experience specifically?

 

Could it be the speed sensor? Someone told me ot check it, I did, and it was oily as hell in there. (keep in mind the speedo goes crazy at the same time) The thing is, in nuetral it still can do it around 5k rpms. So... Im thinking probably not the vss?

 

Im almost positive its the speed sensor. I took it off and their is oil in it. I think what is happening is the vss gives it a shitty *** reading, at makes it think the car is going waaaay faster than it really is and the governer is kicking in. Does this seem reasonable? Would ouil get in there if the vss was bad, or if I clean it would it be ok forever. I checked it out and it actually seemed ok, but there was some oil in there. The gear, however, is fine. I dont want to sell someone a bunk car

 

i had the rev limiter problem, it was the ecu,

as far as the speedo problem, my boy had that, it was a bad 02..

 

Just checked all grounds, all were good. Pulled the vss, it was mint. Still having the problem -- WTF.

 

Just a heads up.......pull the codes or clear the ecu. If you have a code present its
a safety feature of the ecu to not allow it to rpm. 4500 sounds pretty low though....usually it allows it to go to 6500 and not to 8k. May wanna also check the ground on the thermostat housing. It may be loose causing an intermitent problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IMALLSLO &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just a heads up.......pull the codes or clear the ecu. If you have a code present its
a safety feature of the ecu to not allow it to rpm. 4500 sounds pretty low though....usually it allows it to go to 6500 and not to 8k. May wanna also check the ground on the thermostat housing. It may be loose causing an intermitent problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Even if I clear the ecu it still does it. The redline of a civic is 6800, heh. The thermostat ground is in, too.