94 Civic - New engine but no spark or injector pulse.
11-06-2007 | 06:01 AM
#1
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Joined: Mar 2004
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94 Civic - New engine but no spark or injector pulse.
Back in July (Friday the 13th to be exact) my civic's tach and speedo started jumping around like crazy on the way home from work. It got me home but then wouldn't stay running after that. I putz'd with it a while and it would crank over, but ran rough and would immediately cut off.
I did some searching here and saw were the likely culprit was the ignition switch. I got a new switch and installed it and the car never would even crank over after that. It would just spin and spin. I determined that I had no spark so I checked all of the fuses and all were good. I finally gave up and had it towed to a local shop.
After waiting a few weeks, they called me one day with the bad news that it had jumped time when it was running so rough and would need a new engine.
I didn't want to put the $2K into it but I had a friend that would do an engine swap for about $1200. He got a 95 engine with 71K miles and put it in place and got it all hooked up. He isn't getting spark or injector pulse and we can't seem to figure out why.
Has anyone had any experience with this issue in the past, and if so, what was the fix?
I'm ready to get the gray ghost back on the streets. Gas for my 2007 Wrangler 4-door is eating me alive. I figure I can pay for the repairs on the civic in about a year's time by not driving the Jeep.
Thanks,
Britt
I did some searching here and saw were the likely culprit was the ignition switch. I got a new switch and installed it and the car never would even crank over after that. It would just spin and spin. I determined that I had no spark so I checked all of the fuses and all were good. I finally gave up and had it towed to a local shop.
After waiting a few weeks, they called me one day with the bad news that it had jumped time when it was running so rough and would need a new engine.
I didn't want to put the $2K into it but I had a friend that would do an engine swap for about $1200. He got a 95 engine with 71K miles and put it in place and got it all hooked up. He isn't getting spark or injector pulse and we can't seem to figure out why.
Has anyone had any experience with this issue in the past, and if so, what was the fix?
I'm ready to get the gray ghost back on the streets. Gas for my 2007 Wrangler 4-door is eating me alive. I figure I can pay for the repairs on the civic in about a year's time by not driving the Jeep.
Thanks,
Britt
11-06-2007 | 10:51 AM
#2
Automotive Technician
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 56
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I'm a little suspicious of the motor having "jumped time". While that is possible, it is unlikely. Did you have your mechanic-friend verify that the timing belt slipped? If the first symptom was the gauges acting weird, as you described, and then later the car began to run poorly and not at all, I suspect an electrical issue with the original engine. Perhaps the ECM controlling your original motor took a dump and there was nothing wrong with the motor at all.
While not common, I have replaced a burned up ECM for the symptom you are describing.
Are we still using the original ECM or did your friend swap that too? It's the same ECM for both year-models, try to get a hold of a known-good ECM for that motor and plug it in, see if that works.
The ECM looks for signals from the cam and or crank sensor to know when, or in this case, whether or not to fire the ignition/injectors. Both of those sensors are located in the distributer. Did you use the old distributer or the new one? I would do is check the wiring, make sure the distributer is wired correctly, then swap the distributer for a known good and see if that fixes it.
In summary, this problem is electrical. Since that car had an electrical problem before (wacked out gauges) I would first suspect that the old ECM is still in the car, caused the failure on the first motor, and is preventing the new one from running. My second suspect is the distributer. Swap both for a known good, ECM first, then distributer. Not both at once!
I'll look for your update this afternoon or tomorrow.
Good Luck,
Russell
While not common, I have replaced a burned up ECM for the symptom you are describing.
Are we still using the original ECM or did your friend swap that too? It's the same ECM for both year-models, try to get a hold of a known-good ECM for that motor and plug it in, see if that works.
The ECM looks for signals from the cam and or crank sensor to know when, or in this case, whether or not to fire the ignition/injectors. Both of those sensors are located in the distributer. Did you use the old distributer or the new one? I would do is check the wiring, make sure the distributer is wired correctly, then swap the distributer for a known good and see if that fixes it.
In summary, this problem is electrical. Since that car had an electrical problem before (wacked out gauges) I would first suspect that the old ECM is still in the car, caused the failure on the first motor, and is preventing the new one from running. My second suspect is the distributer. Swap both for a known good, ECM first, then distributer. Not both at once!
I'll look for your update this afternoon or tomorrow.
Good Luck,
Russell
11-06-2007 | 06:24 PM
#5
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 28,282
Likes: 0
From: michigan
I'm a little suspicious of the motor having "jumped time". While that is possible, it is unlikely. Did you have your mechanic-friend verify that the timing belt slipped? If the first symptom was the gauges acting weird, as you described, and then later the car began to run poorly and not at all, I suspect an electrical issue with the original engine. Perhaps the ECM controlling your original motor took a dump and there was nothing wrong with the motor at all.
While not common, I have replaced a burned up ECM for the symptom you are describing.
Are we still using the original ECM or did your friend swap that too? It's the same ECM for both year-models, try to get a hold of a known-good ECM for that motor and plug it in, see if that works.
The ECM looks for signals from the cam and or crank sensor to know when, or in this case, whether or not to fire the ignition/injectors. Both of those sensors are located in the distributer. Did you use the old distributer or the new one? I would do is check the wiring, make sure the distributer is wired correctly, then swap the distributer for a known good and see if that fixes it.
In summary, this problem is electrical. Since that car had an electrical problem before (wacked out gauges) I would first suspect that the old ECM is still in the car, caused the failure on the first motor, and is preventing the new one from running. My second suspect is the distributer. Swap both for a known good, ECM first, then distributer. Not both at once!
I'll look for your update this afternoon or tomorrow.
Good Luck,
Russell
While not common, I have replaced a burned up ECM for the symptom you are describing.
Are we still using the original ECM or did your friend swap that too? It's the same ECM for both year-models, try to get a hold of a known-good ECM for that motor and plug it in, see if that works.
The ECM looks for signals from the cam and or crank sensor to know when, or in this case, whether or not to fire the ignition/injectors. Both of those sensors are located in the distributer. Did you use the old distributer or the new one? I would do is check the wiring, make sure the distributer is wired correctly, then swap the distributer for a known good and see if that fixes it.
In summary, this problem is electrical. Since that car had an electrical problem before (wacked out gauges) I would first suspect that the old ECM is still in the car, caused the failure on the first motor, and is preventing the new one from running. My second suspect is the distributer. Swap both for a known good, ECM first, then distributer. Not both at once!
I'll look for your update this afternoon or tomorrow.
Good Luck,
Russell