GSR swap.....engine won't start
 

I just finished my GSR swap into my 96 DX. When I turn my key to acc. the radio, lights , dash, ect. goes on. That's normal, but when I turn the key to start the engine, all the lights shut off and nothing happens. Engine won't even try to crank. When I had connected the wires to the battery, I remember smelling a bit of hot acid..... Could my battery be dead, it was basically sitting in my garage for 1 week, w/o charging (I know I should have charged it).

Any suggestions on what else it might be.

try this
 

Look at your grounds. Surely the battery is dead now, anyway. But the grounds. I had this problem too. Things inside light up cuz they have grounds. Engine is'nt grounded so it has nowhere to let the Yummy Juice flow to... :) lol

yep, mine did the same thing, it was bad grounds on the motor. the way i figured it out was i took jumper cables and took one end and hooked it to the motor, and the other end of the same color to the chassis. I turned the key and bam it started.

I'll find out if the battery's dead today at work and I'll check the grounds out as soon as I get back home. I'll keep you posted.

There's a big ground that goes from the tranny to the passagner side frame rail that's easy to miss (your intake pipe above it) and grab a wire brush and clean the cables and the metal they're attached to get good connection. Taking some baking soda/water and a brush to the battery contacts never hurt either.

If the battery was sitting right on the concrete, it might be dead, it can ground itself out that way. Also put it up on a shelf or on a couple pieces of wood while it's out. Hopefully that's the only issue (sounds like it).

Well I found the problem....the starter doesn't work. I pulled the starter out of the transmission and bench tested it....nothing. The gear didn't extend or spin, so off to the parts shop tomorrow...again!

Why didn't the guy who sold me the engine tell me it wasn't working....oh well whatever. I'm just happy I found the problem.

Another thing when I tried to start the car there was fuel coming out of the fuel filter banjo bolt....I thought that thing was tight on. I don't think I can tighten it anymore. Anyone else have this problem when changing the fuel filter?

Huh, damn starter. I probably should have thought of that. Good grounds are import too though, so consider cleaning them up.

Did you replace the crushable washers when you tightened down the banjo bolt? I replaced mine with an OE Honda unit and it came with the replacement washers. You have to put them above and below the banjo and make sure you pull the old one's out.

I think there lies the problem. I'll get new ones asap.

BTW, when I turned my key in the ignition to turn on the engine...the engine didn't run, but my speedometer went way up to 120. What's up with that?

Huh? I'm not sure what the speedo issue is? Try it again with the battery and new starter and see if there is still a problem. Maybe a wire crossed somewhere?

Does anyone know why my speedometer would do something like that? It's really stressing me out. Could my ecu be fried?