helping a friend with his integra...


alright guys heres the deal:

the problem, engine turns but will not start:
the car, its a 91' Integra LS

things we were doing prior to the problem, change VC gasket, spark plug gasket rings, cam cover, spark plugs, spark plug wires, painted the VC, and replace VC stud (it was stripped).

reassembled everything and tried to start the car... it keeps turning but does not start.

did a search on HT about the issue and then tried to do the following:


replaced distributor, made sure fireing sequence was correct

checked to see if we were getting fuel, pulled the spark plugs and it was wet; so we know we have fuel going in.

checked for a spark; cranked the car with a spark plug attached to the end of the spark plug wire, there is spark.

checked all grounds, from VC to body, from thermostat, from tranny, all there, but still added more ground just to make sure.

checked the charge on the battery; its fine.

checked all fuses/relays; all fine

checked the intake tube just to make sure there was not anything obstructing air flow; it was clean.

also there is no CEL
that pretty much summed up one tiring day for us.

ANY info and suggestions would be greatly appreciated we are fresh out of ideas to try so please HT community give us your aid!

Modified by blk2mid2sol at 4:37 PM 6/17/2007

**************~~~~~~~so you guys dont need to read all 3 pages...***********

it was timing, somehow skipped a few teeth.

replaced the belt and the water pump, after a few tries got the belt to tension properly and set to TDC.

found the dist. pointing to 4 when at TDC, pulled the pin from the teeth to turn 180, but wont start up, so put it back to the way it was before...

now the car is running but feels as if it is not grabbing when you are pressing on the gas pedal...
if you press on the gas pedal lightly while at idle it will actually choke and shut off.
it also struggles to start. struggles for a few turns then turns over (sometimes)

dropped the car off at friends' family mechanic... was told by mechanic it was something electrical...

a friend is suggesting the main relay might be going bad. probably check it tomorrow.

any other suggestions?


Modified by blk2mid2sol at 6:13 PM 6/17/2007

alright talked to the family's mechanic today, he said it was the wiring for the ecu. somehow its not getting the proper amount of fuel?

has anyone ever had this problem before?


... its the first time i have ever heard about it...


Modified by blk2mid2sol at 11:36 PM 6/18/2007

oh yeah tried changing out the main relay... the problem still exists


Modified by blk2mid2sol at 12:53 AM 7/29/2007

took a while to get back at it, friend was in the hospital for a while, but guess what?

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

found out that the 'refurbished' distributor was bad so got a brand new one instead.
started the car and it has never sounded better (about a week ago)

lesson learned... expletive refurbished parts, well from that parts store anyway.

thanks for everyone's help!


Modified by blk2mid2sol at 12:56 AM 7/29/2007

hope everyone can learn from this bad trip.




Modified by blk2mid2sol at 5:06 AM 7/29/2007

 

check your timing.

 

thanks~

besides timing is there anything else that i could check for? the car is just sitting on my driveway right now and i wont be able to work on it until im done with finals (this weekend)

just want to get a list of other things i should check for so i can just run through it this weekend

 

Just by looking at the installs you did just prior to this problem, sounds like the plug wires are in the wrong order, but since you said that you checked that, then dunno.

Make sure your cam timing didn't jump on the timing belt.

Does the CEL light go out when you begin to crank, or just stay on?

 

the CEL just blinks once and then off

just to make sure i tried to do a read out just in case... nothing.

 

mid work bump!

other ideas/ suggestions?

 

Check the Ignition switch

 

you say you replaced the distributor, did you replace the ICM inside the dizzy? Also, remove the rotor, and then MAKE SURE it's lined up perfect, and reattach.

I once had this problem with my 91 DA, and it turned out that the screw holding the rotor on had come loose, allowing the rotor to "sometimes" spin just right to give spark (hence the spark test) but it would not start the car.

Pulled the cap off, fixed the screw, the car started right up.

 

i checked the rotor cap before installation made sure the screw and all connections were good.... the distributor is new...

but ill check it again...

so far... timing, distributor, not too sure about that ignition switch though. but ill look into that too...

thanks for the replies!

keep them coming i have a lot of time on sat and want to make sure i go through all the stops

 

^

and being new, it came with a new ICM?

 

i have a similar problem. a few whacks with a rubber mallet to the main relay and it works like a charm for me. just kick around in the general area and try it. if it still doesnt work after trying that about 10 times then idk.

 

i haven't checked but i'm assuming it is new. ill just add that to the list of things to do this weekend... rip apart the distributor

 

im sure the fuel is priming though but thanks... might just want to try that when i get frustrated

 

just check the timing belt i assure you its probably what it is...

 

i have heard of timing going bad but i didnt even touch it... should give that a few pounds with the mallet while im at the main relay... lol

 

AHHHH CANT SLEEP BUMP!

 

^

well, even if the belt managed to skip a tooth, the motor should still "try" to start. I'm thinking he means check to see if the timing belt is still in one piece. When belts go, they just go. No warning.

 

ok, wait a second though, if you guys checked for spark, and were getting it, then the belt is NOT broken. The dizzy wouldn't spin if the belt were broken.

 

yea but it can still skip enough teeth...the same exact thing happened to my gsr i had spark fuel and everything but when i took the cover off and the timing belt cover off i saw about 3-4 teeth were missing...fortunately i didnt harm the engine...

the least you can do is CHECK and eliminate that part of the problem but i can almost garuntee(sp) thats the problem....

 

alright hopefully its the timing and hopefully we dont have bent valves... ill let you guys know how it turns out this sat.

 

alright i checked out the timing today, when i put the crank at TDC the cams were not lining up. one cam was alright (the one on the bumper side) the up arrow was pointing up and the etch mark on the cam was at the line on the head and the other (firewall side) did not line up with it, it was pointing . i think its about 4-5 teeth off? you think that could be the problem?

oh yeah tried to pull off the crank pulley today but i didnt have the crank pulley remover. How ever i still tried to get it off, tried to jam a hex key into the crankcase (screwdriver didnt fit) by pulling off the bottom sheild and had a friend in the car, left it in 5th and stepped on the break, but it still slipped. soo im going to order the part to pull out the crank pulley today.

wish i could take pics but i lost the usb connection for it...

but do you guys think that this could be our problem?

 

found something else...

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1199463

you guys think this will work?

 

mid work bump

 

sounds like i have the same problem as you. so it was the timing you say..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by go2sleep &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sounds like i have the same problem as you. so it was the timing you say.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

im not too sure yet, as i have not readjusted the timing yet. but hopefully thats it

i will try to get it done hopefully sometime this week or latest this weekend and ill post the results.


Modified by blk2mid2sol at 3:50 PM 5/27/2007