I'm pretty new here and I just finish putting together my first LS/VTEC. I have a problem witht he motor and I need help asap. The will start but it dies immediately? It will stay running if i hold down the gas pedal. There are no check engine lights. Can anyone suggest where I should start diagnosing the problem. I'm thinking it's the distributor. Heres a list of the parts i put together.

95 LS block
96 complete GSR head
2000 civic Si Distributor modified to plug into the OBD1 harness.
I enlarged the valve reliefs to accomodate the VTEC valves, yeah i know it's not really a good idea but I have no money to redo the whole block. The motor sounds fine.

The reason i'm suspecting the distributor is the fact that it does not have one of the wires in the two wire plug connector as the obd1's. all replies are greatly appreciated.

 

could be the igniter module inside the distributor.

 

Have you checked valve lash? I did a rebuild for a friend a while back and had the same problem. The car would start up and then die. If I held the gas pedal the car would run fine. I found out that I forgot to adjust the valves....they were too tight . Adjusted the valves, then the car ran beautifully.

 

could be that the timing belt is off a tooth or 3. does ti sound like it is bogging the whole time? be a little more descriptive.

 

no money and ls vtec DONT MIX

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BLUE EH3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no money and ls vtec DONT MIX</TD></TR></TABLE>

really? the only thing you need for the bottom end to strengthen it is aro rod bolts. know how much they are? $35 bux. other thatn that its a normal rebuild.

 

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

really? the only thing you need for the bottom end to strengthen it is aro rod bolts. know how much they are? $35 bux. other thatn that its a normal rebuild.</TD></TR></TABLE> you spend about 3500-4000 on a good oem ls vtec

 

OEM lsvtec. lol. whatever n00b.

 

Thanks for all your replies. I got the motor to run ok. I don't know why it does that but the motor only does it when its cold. Once i hold the rev to 2000 and let it warm up it will be ok. The car runs fine, checked ignition timing and set idle speed to specs and it's all good. Could it be the fact that I'm using a 96 gsr top end and the throttle body does not have the fast idle valve. I'm also am running a stock 95 p72 ecu.
But once it warms up, theres this hissing noise that activates like a flick of a switch from inder the car. It's around the catalytic converter area. It does not sound like a exhaust leak but more like a vacuum leak. Yeah I know it's weird but thats the sound. The noise does not change with engine rpms, it stays the same. Then the engine idle will bouce up and down between 1500 and 1200. Does the O2 sensor make any sound like that. I had to make an extension from the header to the cat becaus I'm using the gsr header and my stock civic cat until I can get either a ls header or a gsr cat. When I disconnect the vaccum line from the FPR, the engine rpm stays at 1300, plug it back in and rpms go up and down. Does that tell me somethings wrong with the fuel system?
I'll be checking the compression tomorrow and will follow up with a leak down test to determine if I have any leakage. Sorry for the long post.

 

it has something to do with vacuum. are you getting any codes?

 

I'm not getting any codes. The funny thing is I'm hearing a loud hissing noise from under the car and thats what makes the car idle erratically. I don't know how i can get a vacuum leak cause i replaced all new gaskets and torqued all nuts and bolts to spec. I followed the helms manual.

 

chec all the vacuum lines,

 

when i said oem ls vtec. i mean ls block itr pistons b16 head, no aftermarkt stuff