2nd Follow-Up on Start Problem: Problem ID'd
03-01-2005, 11:49 AM
#21
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Well, it had the mechanics stumped at the shop for a couple days, but they've finally figured it out. We put a screwdriver in the #1 cylinder. We moved everything to TDC according to the cam sprocket and the crank pulley, but the piston itself wasn't at TDC, because if we rotated the engine backwards about 8 teeth (on the cam sprocket), the piston hit TDC. What this means is that somehow the crank pulley got out of alignment with the crankshaft itself. How the f*ck this happened I have no idea and neither did the guys at the shop. I think I'm going to get rid of it and just drive my crx.
Anybody interested in a soon-to-be-parted '90 civic Si? Runs perfect. :rick:
Anybody interested in a soon-to-be-parted '90 civic Si? Runs perfect. :rick:
03-01-2005, 01:51 PM
#22
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Did they pull both the cam sprocket and crank pulley and check/replace the key for each? (one of the keys must have sheared)
If not, eventually the cam sprocket or crank pulley will slip _again_ and you'll have the same problem.
If not, eventually the cam sprocket or crank pulley will slip _again_ and you'll have the same problem.
03-01-2005, 08:56 PM
#23
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Hey everybody, now I've got the REAL scoop.
When my car died on me that day, I now realize it was the distributor.
But you'll surely say, "wait augy, you told us the distributor wasn't the problem, that it was 'known-to-be-good'!" True enough, and you have an excellent memory. Once the good dizzy was on there, I was still having problems. But what I now know the real problem is is this: The first thing I did when I got the civic into my garage was check the timing belt. And no surprise, I noticed the timing belt was off by several teeth. So I loosened it up, aligned it, and tried to start her. No luck. I switched the distributor. No luck. After a couple more days of screwing around, I noticed that if I unplugged the injectors it would run. So, I assumed flooding was the problem, and consequently swapped fuel pressure regulators, injector resistor boxes, and checked the fuel pressure which was an ideal 37. Taking it to SpeeDee oil change, the guys were stumped on it for 2 days. Then Sergio (bless his soul) decided to stick a long-assed screwdriver down cylinder 1 and manually turned the crank. What he discovered was that when the crank pulley and cam sprocket both showed TDC (as they were aligned perfectly), the piston was about 7 or 8 cam teeth away from TDC. So, he thinks, something like what ChrisS suggested must have happened, causing the crank pulley and crankshaft to become unaligned.
While I was waiting for AAA today, the solution hit me like a ton of bricks. I readjusted the timing belt before swapping the dizzy. The timing was never the problem. It WAS the dizzy. Thing is, whoever worked on the engine last put the crank pulley on wrong, or there was a manufacturing error or SOMETHING, because when I checked the timing belt the very first time after the car died, it was off by the exact amount that the mechanic pointed out to me. The guy who put it on just ignored the timing marks, manually found TDC, and aligned the cam sprocket accordingly. The timing, when it was lined up with the pulley marks, was so far off that I was getting exhaust spitting out my intake as some cylinders were firing at the very end of their power stroke and sending the exhaust strait out of the cylinder, in some cases not igniting the fuel at all as by the time they tried to ignite the mixture, there was double the fuel/air ratio as is ideal by the second complete revolution of the engine. However, when we were using a timing light, it LOOKED like the timing was perfect because it lined up with the timing marks. But because the marks were totally non-representative of the crank's position, it didn't mean squat.
So basically, this explains everything.
Nevermind, this shit ain't for sale 
When my car died on me that day, I now realize it was the distributor.
But you'll surely say, "wait augy, you told us the distributor wasn't the problem, that it was 'known-to-be-good'!" True enough, and you have an excellent memory. Once the good dizzy was on there, I was still having problems. But what I now know the real problem is is this: The first thing I did when I got the civic into my garage was check the timing belt. And no surprise, I noticed the timing belt was off by several teeth. So I loosened it up, aligned it, and tried to start her. No luck. I switched the distributor. No luck. After a couple more days of screwing around, I noticed that if I unplugged the injectors it would run. So, I assumed flooding was the problem, and consequently swapped fuel pressure regulators, injector resistor boxes, and checked the fuel pressure which was an ideal 37. Taking it to SpeeDee oil change, the guys were stumped on it for 2 days. Then Sergio (bless his soul) decided to stick a long-assed screwdriver down cylinder 1 and manually turned the crank. What he discovered was that when the crank pulley and cam sprocket both showed TDC (as they were aligned perfectly), the piston was about 7 or 8 cam teeth away from TDC. So, he thinks, something like what ChrisS suggested must have happened, causing the crank pulley and crankshaft to become unaligned.
While I was waiting for AAA today, the solution hit me like a ton of bricks. I readjusted the timing belt before swapping the dizzy. The timing was never the problem. It WAS the dizzy. Thing is, whoever worked on the engine last put the crank pulley on wrong, or there was a manufacturing error or SOMETHING, because when I checked the timing belt the very first time after the car died, it was off by the exact amount that the mechanic pointed out to me. The guy who put it on just ignored the timing marks, manually found TDC, and aligned the cam sprocket accordingly. The timing, when it was lined up with the pulley marks, was so far off that I was getting exhaust spitting out my intake as some cylinders were firing at the very end of their power stroke and sending the exhaust strait out of the cylinder, in some cases not igniting the fuel at all as by the time they tried to ignite the mixture, there was double the fuel/air ratio as is ideal by the second complete revolution of the engine. However, when we were using a timing light, it LOOKED like the timing was perfect because it lined up with the timing marks. But because the marks were totally non-representative of the crank's position, it didn't mean squat.
So basically, this explains everything.
Originally Posted by augy
Anybody interested in a soon-to-be-parted '90 civic Si? Runs perfect. :rick:
03-02-2005, 11:13 AM
#25
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Originally Posted by jaje
what was killing me was that you retarded the timing and it fired up roughly...but it was certain that it was properly aligned of which even you didn't know
03-21-2006, 10:54 PM
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Hey, I jsut got my CRX fired up after a while of screwing with it. Seems that some of the dstributer wiring on the engine harness side needed to be moved around a little and re pin some of the things. Anywayz, It only runs on 2 cylinders now. I am getting fuel to the cylinders too, becuase I too kthe fuel rail off and held the injectors with my hands and watched them atomize and spray as my friend cranked the car, I put the dizzy on the right way, u think maybe it is on there wrong? I am almost postive it is on right cause it is offset. I am getting my new dizzy on thurs too. The real JDM B16a PR3 one. I want to get this car runnig on all 4 cylinders ASAP. Can anyone help me?
