Electrial! Please Help!

[Cb7Exr]

90 Cb7 4 door Ex-R 5 Speed.....Car ran fine ever sence i got it about 2 months ago, today I was driving and it starting cuting in and out almost as if I was turning the key too the off position and back to on quickly, and the car had no loss of power when it wasent cutting in and out. Also i could hear an instense clicking sound from the main relay at very fast random paceses. So i changed the Main relay which is known to go in the Cb7's, but same problem.

Aventually the "click" stopped happening...so now I have no clicking sound and the car wont start/run at all due to no power to the ecu as well as the fuel pump...I tried different relays, different ecu....could it be a bad ground? or a short in the harness?....any help would be very appreciated. Thanks

[CB7lx91]

When it cuts in and out, is it actually losing power, or is just your tach, speedometer, and such shutting off? A while back my negative battery terminal was shot, and when I was driving, I'd hit a bump and the gauges would shut off, and sometimes the car wouldn't start. Check your terminal, maybe it's loose, maybe it's old and shityy

[Cb7Exr]

well when the cut out happens its shutting down the ecu so i would have a dead spot for a very quick second and come right back. Checked terminals there still good. And yes i think i was loosing my gauges but everything else was fine, all kinds of battery power to run stereo, lights heat, everything.

[jaysteven]

sounds like the ignition switch

[CB7lx91]

yeah, I don't know much at all about electrical systems. But the ignition switch is known to go as well as the main relay.

[Cb7Exr]

can it be ignition when all 4 settings of the key work fine? everything powers up fine except for the ecu. Start position works fine also......I have another one maybe Ill have to try it because im running out of options, had ignition troubles in my old EG but that would only quit when i would release the key from the start position and my cb dosent.. even with the key on the "on" position and the car not running the main relay is clicking on/off...on/off continously....and then sometimes it goes away completly and thats when the car wont start. Ill take a look at it see if i can figure anything out with that.

[jaysteven]

now that you describe it again it does sound like a grounding problem
check the main ground from the batt to the tranny

[jaykilla116]

check ditributor

need to tell me more symptoms

[Cb7Exr]

pretty sure the main ground is ok.....I took a set of jumper cables, hooked one of the negatives to the battery and the other neg to a few different spots on the motor, still the same thing..For more symptoms im not sure, car will somtimes run but is just cuttin the ecu in and out, which gives me no fuel. Car will run for a little while then quit completly, and wont start back up for a while (simmilar to main relay problems)....after letting it sit it usally starts again. Also when it wont start there is no clicking sound, and no power to the ecu..... It seems like the problem is befor the main relay, where ive tried another one and the ecu. When i dissconect the main relay this "clicking" sound stops. Should I try a volt meter on the plug to see if im getting steady power to there? I checked the ground in the plug just not the hot because i wasent sure which one it was.

[HondaFan81]

90 Cb7 4 door Ex-R 5 Speed.....Car ran fine ever sence i got it about 2 months ago, today I was driving and it starting cuting in and out almost as if I was turning the key too the off position and back to on quickly, and the car had no loss of power when it wasent cutting in and out. Also i could hear an instense clicking sound from the main relay at very fast random paceses. So i changed the Main relay which is known to go in the Cb7's, but same problem.

Aventually the "click" stopped happening...so now I have no clicking sound and the car wont start/run at all due to no power to the ecu as well as the fuel pump...I tried different relays, different ecu....could it be a bad ground? or a short in the harness?....any help would be very appreciated. Thanks

Check your ignition switch harness, I bet the problem lies in there. That gives power to the main relay (which then goes to fuel pump), power to ECU and everything else. When it completely goes bad, it will cause a no start issue.

Anyhow, I would get a new one from Honda and replace it yourself, it's easy. Get a Haynes manual to describe how to, but it should take you 30 minutes, maybe 1 hour tops if you're not very mechanically inclined.

I feel very confident this is your problem. Good description, most don't and that's why I can help you better.

[HondaFan81]

About $48 new OEM from Honda online site:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...INATION+SWITCH

It is part # 10 in the diagram. I suggest new because this is a common problem on our cars with higher mileage and if you get a good used I consider it a temporary fix because it WILL happen again. With a new unit you have will get more life out of your fix. It's up to you, either way will work.

[Cb7Exr]

Thats excatly what I needed to know, I couldnt figure out where the main relay was getting powerd from, so I'm pretty confident your right too, thanks on the description! Im glad somone understood it.
I have a used harness I will try first befor I go spending any money, I don't think it will be too much work to change. I will try that tomorrow and hope for the best, and post up the outcome.....Apperciate the help.

[Cb7Exr]

ok so I tried changing the ignition harness and still got nowheres but befor I changed the harness I turned the key to see if i had the click still and i didnt. everything was powering up like normal so i changed the harness anyways. car started first try and ran for about 10 mins perfectly, then started acting up again. I changed the harness from the back of the ignition to the fuse pannel is this right? Is there any other harness I should change? Thanks

[HondaFan81]

ok so I tried changing the ignition harness and still got nowheres but befor I changed the harness I turned the key to see if i had the click still and i didnt. everything was powering up like normal so i changed the harness anyways. car started first try and ran for about 10 mins perfectly, then started acting up again. I changed the harness from the back of the ignition to the fuse pannel is this right? Is there any other harness I should change? Thanks

That is correct what you replaced. However, is the ignition harness you replaced it with a known good unit? If not, I would try another.

However, the fact it started and ran for 10 minutes and started acting up, tell me that it is a combination of problems. I think you had more than one component being an issue. I think the ignition harness was part of the problem and another component may be bad.

Please describe in detail your NEW problems.

[Cb7Exr]

Yeah it's a good harness. Problems are still the same as always. Just seems like the car was running fine untill it warmed up and thats when it started acting up again. The last day I worked on the car I turned the key just befor I left it alone for a day or so and it was cuttin the ecu in and out like usal. Never touched the car untill a day or so later and when I got in first thing I done was turn the key on to no clicking, and I had continous power to the ecu untill I let the car warm up after changing the ingniton harness. My car also used to be Automatic, I done the 5 speed swap and everything myself, is it possible there might be something grounding out in the old auto shifter plug? I had to do some wiring there to enable the car to start, but never had any problems with it befor.