car is a 95 civic dx, died on my friend while he was driving it and couldn't get it to start again. Replaced the alternator, distributor, and starter and it ran for a bit, but then died again on him while he was driving it. Then he gave up and sold it to me after he did a compression test and thought it needed a new motor.

Right when I got it, I noticed the main ground to the valve cover was off, and the spark plug wires were in the wrong order so took care of that and thought that was the problem all along and after cranking it for a long time, I got it to start very roughly, took it around my neighborhood and sometimes when I'd give it gas it would hesitate hard and sometimes the revs wouldn't increase even if floored. After driving it for about 2 miles, car died while driving it uphill, let it sit for a couple minutes and started up again, then did the same thing three more times until finally shittin out on me.

Ever since I got it, I also re-checked the compression, compression was solid 160, 150, 160, 170. Tried another new distributor and still nothing.

Any ideas? sorry for the essay, just wanted to be thorough

 

might be a bad fuel pump, thats what it sounds like to me. Or main relay ...

 

Ditto the above^^^.

Definitely what I would check next, [fuel pressure at fuel rail]. 94

 

I forgot to mention that the fuel pump is priming and after trying to start it it smells a lot like gas. Took out the spark plugs and they were a bit wet but definitely smelled like gas. So you guys still think it could be fuel related?

As far as the main relay goes, could I try one from my gsr on it?

 

Could still be a fuel issue, [low fuel pressure because of a weak pump] that's why a pressure check needs to be done, it could also be an ign. issue.
Have you checked for spark?
Pull the distributer cap and check connections to the ICM and coil. 94

 

i don't think the main relay from a gsr fits i might be wrong, and have you tried another injectors? maybe the fuel system is clogged....and you didnt say if you had spark or any codes before or now.

 

Ok I'll try to test the pressure, but to do that, is there a special fuel pressure tester?

Oh yeah, that's the other thing, when I first got the car, I checked the distributor and it had a loose connection to the ignitor and I bit on it to make it a tight connection and still wouldn't work, that's why I still tried a new distributor and that didn't work either. Car does have spark...not the strongest spark, but it's a decent spark. Also tried another ecu and that didn't do anything.

 

Ok, well can you think of anything that could go wrong with putting any random honda main relay in that I have laying around that fits?

You think these symptoms could be bad injectors? It crossed my mind, but found it hard to believe that they were starving the engine enough to not even allow it to start as well as making the spark plugs wet and making it smell like gas? But maybe I'll find some to throw in.

 

oh yeah, no codes before or currently

 

We did a swap on my friend car, it ran good for the first couple days, then all of a sudden the car would start, and die if you tried to rev it up, ended up being bad fuel pump, and you can hear the pump prime AS WELL

 

I would definitely do a fuel pressure check, just buy a permanently mounted fuel pressure gauge... http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkw...romZR40QQ_mdoZ I have the B&M one on my 94LS.

PS, not all PGM-FI Main Relays are the same, but it's a good bet if the plugs are the same so is the relay.

 

i would go with what fcm is sayin...