Ok, heres the scoop.

1989 CRX HF w/B18A rewired for obd-1 w/p75 ecu

Car is completely finished, except it wont start. The original integra was driven into our garage and then stripped. I know the motor ran fine. Now that the engine is in the crx, the engine just cranks and cranks. I have been searching and reading on H-T for the past 3 weeks and I cannot figure it out.

Here is what has happend:
engine installed (got fuel, got spark but not continuous, Didnt check compression)
I dont know how it could just not run when it was running perfect.

checked and rechecked every wire and still nothing. tried a different dizzy.
(we are checking for spark at each wire w/ a timing light)havent tested the NEW plugs yet. Also verified timing order 1-3-4-2

Firing is still not consistent. cylinder 3 wont fire and 4 is every once in a while.
keep in mind, everytime we change something we crank the car over and over.

it has been a whole week and we cannot figure it out. I say "lets try a brand new dizzy" Nothing gets done and I have to go out of town. Gone for 10 days. My buddy is still trying to get it to start. No luck either.

I get back and we go get the brand new dizzy. We clean up the old cap and rotor and put it on the new dizzy. After checking this dizzy, every plug wire lights up. Sometimes it takes a short pause and starts up again. So I recheck the Double white wire on the dizzy and it is good. I also doublecheck the map, tps, and all fuel injectors. Everything is exactly where its supposed to be. I verify everything with a good Volt meter.

We are basically beating the hell out of each other trying to figure this thing out. I am about ready to give up and part the damn thing out. Then I say "lets try a compression test" I honestly dont think this should even be an issue. I go ahead and check it anyways. Removed all plugs and dissconnect dizzy and fuel injectors. Throttle plate wide open and crank about 4-5 seconds. And We get about 30psi on all 4 cylinders. So, I add a little oil into the cylinders. Nothing.

I just dont understand how a running motor in an integra = a blown motor in a crx. I dont know where the compression went. I did a search on ring wash and basically nothing good comes up. Is it actually possible to wash all the rings and barely have any compression just by cranking the car? I just dont know anymore. I know that timing couldnt have jumped and have the exact same compression numbers for all 4 cylinders.

All I can think of is:
maybe someone broke into our garage and swapped engines with us
or
maybe we did wash the rings

Now, my next concern is:
Once we get finished building another motor, how do we keep this from happening again? Maybe when I changed the engine harness dizzy plugs they werent making a good connection with the dizzy. I appologize for the long post, but I have no idea where to look now.

Here are possible problems that have been checked and recheck and checked again:
injectors
dizzy
plug wires
plugs
wiring conversion
battery
grounds
dizzy white wires
main relay
fuses
tried different ecus(PR4,P75, and a P28)
sensors

If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Seriously frustrated

 

ttt has nobody had this problem?

please, somebody throw me a bone.

 

Well If you have 30psi in all your cylinders, that could be the problem. If your getting fuel and spark, the only thing left is compression. And if you KNOW your getting those two, then compression is where your issue is. So your positive that the cam timming is on? Cause with 30psi in all the cylinders would make me think that your had things switched 180 deg. and possibly bent the valves... Thats just my guess. If you have to, pull the head and see what is going on in there. I hope you can figure it out, I know its frusterating but you'll figure it out and trust me its worth it cause I have been where your at... Good luck....

EDIT* If your only getting spark sometimes, that means that it is your wiring. If you dont get fuel, you dont get spark. Its something that I have noticed when I did my swap. I wasnt getting any spark, then I check'd and wasnt getting any fuel. You HAVE to track down each wire now and triple check it. I triple checked a wire and it was still wrong the 4th time I checked it I finally noticed it was in the wrong pin location on the ECU. Get 100% fuel and spark all the time, then look into the issue of it being cyl. compression.

Blaze

 

we are going to pull the valve cover and check it today.

It just doesnt make sense how a running motor will lose compression and stop running after the swap. Even if I get spark ever once in a while, the engine will still run. It will not run well, but it will still run. I have no clue, but no compression sucks. I will keep you posted.

Thanks

 

Might be your cap and rotor causing to missing once in a while?

 

I agree. Cam timing is likely off. It's possible that you bent every single intake or exhaust valve... but I doubt they would all be consistently 30psi.
Try resetting the valve timing first and pray.

Best of luck.

 

I just couldnt understand how the engine runs and then it doesnt.
We just broke down and checked the valve timing.

And what we found was amazing.
If I had a host, I would show you a picture.

Intake cam was off about 4-5 teeth. Somehow the cam moved towards the firewall all by itself. I dont know if we bent any valves, but we will be doing a compression test tomorrow. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for all input.
It is just amazing how problems like these arise. Beats the hell outta me

 

Final update.

Car has been retimed and will finish ignition timing tomorrow. HF/LS ran for the first time today.

However:
The ecu is throwing 3 codes. 5, 14 and 41

Cyl sensor
ignition signal
O2 sensor

We will be driving this thing by saturday.
Thanks again.