augy

Also, I tried a good ECU today and it didn't fix anything.
What else would cause flooding besides injectors, fuel pressure regulator, ECU, and injector resistor box?

augy

Yet another comment. With distributor all the way retarded and after about a minute and a half of constant cranking (and my foot at WOT the whole time), I could get my car to run self-supportedly, but very poorly, and with occasional loud popping noises. I have to support it every once in a while by pressing the throttle to keep it from dying, but it ran roughly from 1300-2000 RPMs for about 2 minutes before I turned it off. When I got out, my garage was thick with white smoke. Coolant? I thought black smoke meant fuel, white meant coolant, but I only see a compression drop (to 130, which isn't even that bad) in 1 cylinder, all the rest are 155 exactly, so it isn't a head gasket.

jaje

coolant is usually white smoke but it should smell sweet even burnt

unburnt fuel & hydrocarbons is a wet black looking cloud that will stain anything it touches

a compression test just measures the max compression you get at the pistons TDC (kinda like a spot checkup)...a leak down will give you a better measure of your engine's overall health...i don't think your prob revolves around the compression of your engine anyway

augy

The smoke doesn't smell sweet at all. Just burnt.

I agree that my problem is probably not compression related. I'm thinking this:
- I've got spark
- I've got compression
- I've definatley got fuel...

So, if timing is good, then the rough running can only be a by-product of too much fuel.

If there is proper fuel delivery, my timing is off. If my timing is off, then something is really ****ed up, because the T-belt is spot-on and the dizzy's entire range of motion has been modified.

I'm about one more weekend away from parting the car. It would suck to have to destroy a quasai-running car, but if this thing isn't working soon, I've gotta get it out of my garage and finish up my crx.

ChrisS

Try calling the service department at Capital Honda in San Jose. Their techs might be able to point you in the right direction.

dpkelly

I'd try the following things in this order;

1) Check and clean all engine grounds. Clean the connections on the engine and the connections on the other side of the wire. You may want to replace the negative battery cable which btw consists of 2 metals. You can always check the resistance of this.

2) Check resistance of spark plug wires or replace. You don't mention that these were replaced.

3) You may be getting spark but not enough spark. Try replacing the entire distributor assembly (which includes the distributor cap). The pickup coil and ignition control module is housed inside along with other sensors (TDC, etc) that control injector timing. They Hayne's manual (not the greatest i agree) has ways of checking the ICM and coil.

Your solution is certainly just around the corner and is probably something simple. If all else fails, I'm sure Honda could find it. An almost working car would be hard for me to through away. Good luck!

ED9man

Are you 100% sure your timing is correct? Also is your friend sure he knows what he's talking about with the timing gun?

augy

Yeah, he's been working on Hondas for about 3 years now. I trust him more than myself.

I'm gonna get the car taken down to a local shop. They'll charge me $90 for a diagnostic, then I'll probably fix whatever's wrong with it. I'll post back here and let you guys know what the problem is
This mystery will be solved.

RonRay

My son's CRX had the same symptoms, for which I suggested he check/replace the timing/distributor/igniter module. (which he did to no avail!)
We then pulled the PGM-FI Relay (Main Relay) from under the dash and I re-soldered a dry solder joint that I found.
We put the main relay back in and it fired right up!

From what I had read, this would have been one of the last things I would have tried (which eventually was.. duh!), but my point being that these things exhibit some strange and perplexing symptoms!

A good resource for Honda manuals is:
"Online Workshop Manuals"
http://www.honda.co.uk/owner/workshopmanuals2.html

dpkelly

If you read through to the beginning, his engine is flooded with gas, so most likely the poor solder joint is not the issue.