Big trouble starting...please help.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: Maryland
Big trouble starting...please help.
Okay...a little about the car...
'92 integra GS w/ a frankenmotor (b16 head on non-vtec b18 block, stock cable tranny for the block, custom mapped computer, etc.)
The problem...
BTW, this isn't my car, but a friend's car that I am obligated to help him fix since I owe him a favor.
So...about a week ago, we were tearing ass around town, the car was running great, we stopped at a friend's house, partied all night and tried to start the car the next day.
The car would just keep cranking and cranking, sounding normal, but wouldn't start. One of three things could be wrong we thought...no air (not likely), no fuel, or no spark.
We checked out everything we could think of...let me think...
-fuel pump runs for 2-3 sec. after ignition is turned on before the car is cranked
-strong smell of unburned gas in the exhaust
-took cap and rotor off and cleaned up the contacts a bit
-checked all the plugs for signs of abnormality of which there are none
-cleaned positive and negative battery terminals
-checked for spark from each of the plug wires, which was there
-tried flashing error codes out of the ECU, of which there were none
-checked all fuses (everything was good)
-tried kick starting it with no luck
-kicked the car a couple of times really really hard for breaking down on us
So...the car was running perfect the night before, there wasn't any rain or strange weather that night, we parked it, came out the next day, and the thing would turn over but not start.
The only things I can think of are bad fuel pressure, giving enough fuel to smell it but not enough to start. Unfortunately I only have one fuel pressure gauge and its permanently installed under the hood of my 951, so I couldn't test fuel rail pressure.
Anybody else have any ideas what could be wrong? Any help is much appreciated as my buddy needs his car to run and he keeps bugging me about it. Thnx...
'92 integra GS w/ a frankenmotor (b16 head on non-vtec b18 block, stock cable tranny for the block, custom mapped computer, etc.)
The problem...
BTW, this isn't my car, but a friend's car that I am obligated to help him fix since I owe him a favor.
So...about a week ago, we were tearing ass around town, the car was running great, we stopped at a friend's house, partied all night and tried to start the car the next day.
The car would just keep cranking and cranking, sounding normal, but wouldn't start. One of three things could be wrong we thought...no air (not likely), no fuel, or no spark.
We checked out everything we could think of...let me think...
-fuel pump runs for 2-3 sec. after ignition is turned on before the car is cranked
-strong smell of unburned gas in the exhaust
-took cap and rotor off and cleaned up the contacts a bit
-checked all the plugs for signs of abnormality of which there are none
-cleaned positive and negative battery terminals
-checked for spark from each of the plug wires, which was there
-tried flashing error codes out of the ECU, of which there were none
-checked all fuses (everything was good)
-tried kick starting it with no luck
-kicked the car a couple of times really really hard for breaking down on us
So...the car was running perfect the night before, there wasn't any rain or strange weather that night, we parked it, came out the next day, and the thing would turn over but not start.
The only things I can think of are bad fuel pressure, giving enough fuel to smell it but not enough to start. Unfortunately I only have one fuel pressure gauge and its permanently installed under the hood of my 951, so I couldn't test fuel rail pressure.
Anybody else have any ideas what could be wrong? Any help is much appreciated as my buddy needs his car to run and he keeps bugging me about it. Thnx...
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 382
Likes: 0
From: York, Pa
Same thing happened to me when my ignitor went out. It defenitely sounds like your not getting any spark or not enough. I would take a volt meter to the coil and ignitor to see if functioning properly.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: Maryland
Thanks for the suggestions guys. We replaced the ignitor and the rotor (we broke the old one when trying to get it off...whoops)...and...nothing. We are getting really good spark though.
Something that happened before when we would actually smell gas was that we would hear weird burbling and detonating from the exhaust like it was about to fire, but nothing happened.
So...we checked the fuel pump...and...every 4 or 5 times we turned the car into the on position the fuel pump would whir, but the rest of the time it would do nothing.
I believe we are having an intermittent problem with the fuel pump. Does anybody know a good way to test if the fuel pump is bad or a connection to it is bad? Is there a fuel pump relay on these cars? Thanks guys...
Something that happened before when we would actually smell gas was that we would hear weird burbling and detonating from the exhaust like it was about to fire, but nothing happened.
So...we checked the fuel pump...and...every 4 or 5 times we turned the car into the on position the fuel pump would whir, but the rest of the time it would do nothing.
I believe we are having an intermittent problem with the fuel pump. Does anybody know a good way to test if the fuel pump is bad or a connection to it is bad? Is there a fuel pump relay on these cars? Thanks guys...