Yet another no-start
White&Nerdy
Senior Wagonist
This is actually on my gf's 88 CRX Si, but it's still a D16A6 like my RT4WD wagon, so I figure I'll ask here.
Got the replacement engine installed, drove it home from NH in October. Yay! (OK, the trip home was hairy because the master cylinder gave up the ghost while the car sat this summer, but I replaced it and brakes are fine.) A week later, she takes it out for a drive. Maybe 6 miles up the interstate, the engine shuts off and won't fire again. Got towed home. Tried to start it later, and it worked fine. I was able to duplicate the issue once, but then it hasn't run since. Yeah, it's been months now.
First, it's *NOT* the main relay. The beauty of having both of these cars is that I can swap parts between them to test.
Her main relay worked in my wagon, and mine didn't change anything in her CRX. I swapped in a spare distributor, and that didn't have any effect either. Surprised me, since according to my research the symptoms are similar to those caused by a bad ignitor, which is built into the distributor. There are already extra grounds between the engine and chassis. The fuel pump works. ECU codes were 6 (coolant temp), 15 (ignition output signal), and 20 (electrical load detector). After having the battery disconnected for a while there are no longer any codes (probably since the engine hasn't started and run since then). And all the fuses are OK.
I'm completely out of ideas on what the problem could be, and am grasping at straws - like here.
Got the replacement engine installed, drove it home from NH in October. Yay! (OK, the trip home was hairy because the master cylinder gave up the ghost while the car sat this summer, but I replaced it and brakes are fine.) A week later, she takes it out for a drive. Maybe 6 miles up the interstate, the engine shuts off and won't fire again. Got towed home. Tried to start it later, and it worked fine. I was able to duplicate the issue once, but then it hasn't run since. Yeah, it's been months now.
First, it's *NOT* the main relay. The beauty of having both of these cars is that I can swap parts between them to test.
Her main relay worked in my wagon, and mine didn't change anything in her CRX. I swapped in a spare distributor, and that didn't have any effect either. Surprised me, since according to my research the symptoms are similar to those caused by a bad ignitor, which is built into the distributor. There are already extra grounds between the engine and chassis. The fuel pump works. ECU codes were 6 (coolant temp), 15 (ignition output signal), and 20 (electrical load detector). After having the battery disconnected for a while there are no longer any codes (probably since the engine hasn't started and run since then). And all the fuses are OK.I'm completely out of ideas on what the problem could be, and am grasping at straws - like here.
Comments
try swapping it out with your wagons ECU
yea (electric load code) usually means ecm if cooked, helm manual says replace. ive seen this happen because the ground to the thermostat is not tight make shure its snug before changing
The ECU was not grounded at the thermostat housing, but near the starter, directly connected to the negative battery terminal. That seemed a good ground to me, but I did reconnect it to the thermostat housing like it's supposed to be (I looked under the hood of my wagon for a stare 'n' compare). No effect. Made sure the engine and chassis have good ground connections, and I have continuity all over the place. Even swapped ECUs between cars. My wagon's wouldn't start the CRX, but the CRX's had my wagon up and running with no problem. So, the ECUs are good.
And now I'm out of ideas again.
The problem, apparently, was a bad connection on one of the wires going to the ignitor - the yellow one. The terminal came off the wire when I unplugged it to swap an ignitor from my spare distributor. I put a new terminal on today, reassembled, and the car fired up rather easily for having been sitting for 3 months.
I am getting a check engine light from time to time, but the ECU isn't giving me any codes for it. For all I know, the ECU may be resetting itself and relearning how to run the engine most efficiently after I reset the timing.