Background: 92 civic h/b w/ 1995 gsr motor-Turbo

Ok here's the problem. My engine surges quite violently when i'm moving and will eventually sputter and die. There are times when it will backfire loudly as well. The surging was never really an issue until now.

Things that I did before this happened:

- re-installed my turbo gauge (cobalt series) to feed off a constant power. However, during this process, the gauge shorted and i heard an audible *click* when it happened. I assumed it was just the gauge that fried

- The same night, we tried to re-chip my ECU for launch control and shift light. After we installed the freshly burnt chip (uberdata v1.66) the car would not start properly at all. We eventually found out that the chipping was faulty so we re-started a whole new basemap and it worked, though this is where the violent surges really start.

Things I did to try to fix the problem:

- Took out my newly installed gauges including all the wiring - Did not work
- Changed my distributor w/ a used one - Did not work
- Checked all my fuses - all intact
- re-burned the chip again - Did not work
- Scoped the engine - everything is functional
- Cleaned the IACV - Did not work
- Changed the plug wires to MSD - Did not work
- Changed the main relay w/ a used one - Did not work
- Checked the previous relay for damage or disconnection - None

Things that I think could be wrong:

- Something is grounded underneath my dash
- the ECU itself is shorted (but wouldn't this throw a code?)
- Fill in the blanks

Things that I've noticed:

- My RH turn blinker sometimes flash really fast (as if it's burnt a bulb) but both bulbs are intact
- Problem is worse when the weather is warm/hot and almost non-existent during early morning or night time driving.

Please help. This problem makes it difficult and dangerous to drive and also lowered down my mileage from 500km to 300km

 

Can any help please? I know I sound desperate, that's because I am.

 

usaully when the main relay clicks, it has to do with shorts or grounds. usually around the wiring harness. i had a problem with my main relay clicking and not starting because the ground to the harness near the thermostat housing was loose. tightend it up and it started fine. and it didnt even throw a code.

 

Check the ground on your thermostat. This happened to my car as well as a friends of mines.

 

What i'm confused about is why would it act more severely on warm/hot weather as opposed to cold weather? Usually if it's a short or grounded wire, would it be a constant problem whether it be cold or hot?

 

What would I be looking for? burnt wire? loose/bad connection?

 

for that ground on the thermostat, usually a loose or bad connection

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by acerz007 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What i'm confused about is why would it act more severely on warm/hot weather as opposed to cold weather? Usually if it's a short or grounded wire, would it be a constant problem whether it be cold or hot?</TD></TR></TABLE>

no it could do it just out of no where. like my friends.

 

Thanks for the replies ... gonna take a look on Tuesday and see if it's any of those. Again thanks for the hand :D

 

this is just a thought....and because you switched out the relay I think it is safe to say it is not that part specifically. but who here is familiar with the infamous main relay problems in older civics and crx's? hot weather/cabin temperature causes the soldering to expand resulting in the main fuel relay not working. Like I said above, I'm assuming the relay isn't the prob, but it sounds like something of the same nature.

 

I actually changed the relay before too for a brand new one. Apparently the new generation of main relays are better compared to the old one's. Maybe something along the line's of the relay itself could be the culprit. I just changed the ECU and chip and apparently the problem hasn't resurfaced, but the problem is it's cold and raining right now so I can't be 100% sure if it's really gone or not. Time will tell.