Ignition problems

[WilliamW]

Hi, I just had the engine out of my 1991 Honda Accord LX and I put an exhaust header on along with a new water pump and relocated the battery to the trunk. Anyway, I was unsure of the order of the spark plugs at first and we got cyl. 1 and 4 on and went to try cranking it over to make sure it was working. Well it was working and sounded quite loud since i didnt have the flex pipe on. I turned off the car and hooked up the rest of the wires. Turned the car over and NOTHING! We went through the shop manual for it and went through all the checks. Every check is good. I really dont want to have to get a new computer. Has anyone out there had this happen before and if so how can I fix it. Please help!!! Thanks.

[Caution]

what do u mean nothing? little more info, u mean no battery power, no spark, or wat? little info more please so i can help!

[HF22T]

i think your just dumb

[WilliamW]

When I mean nothing. I am refering to the spark. I get no spark. On 2 cyl it ran and thus I had spark. When I hooked up the other two spark plug wires I had no spark. I tested the coil the way the manual told me to. I checked the modual the way the manual told me to. I also did a continuity test between the distributor and the main wiring harness. I didnt do a continuity test between the main harness connncetor inside the engine bay to the computer yet. The coil is "good" the ignitor is "good" and the ECU says it's fine. I hope this helps clarify some thing.

[Caution]

is ur main relay working? usually honda has it so that the main relay sends power to both the fuel pump and distributor....if that dont working then u wont get power to spark plugs....also check ur fuses to see if they are blown...especially the ones for the ignition!

[Thomas_LX]

Did you check your fuses, and grounds?
And, incidentally, how do you know you are not getting spark? I mean, I could just take your word for it, but that can be a pretty big assumption.

[WilliamW]

ok, heres an update. What we did was we took a multimeter and checked the voltage on the coil. 12V. Then we did the resistance check between the connectors to make sure the TDC sensor and the other two sensors are working ok. The resistance came back normal. We then took the coil off and hooked up our own ground to it and we discharged it ourselves and the coil made spark. We then found a break in a wire. It was a white with blue stripe wire. We looked at the break and it was grounded so we looked through the wiring diagram and found out that it was just the door jam light sensor wire.

So this is what I've got so far. All the sensors in the distributor assembly are working correct. We checked continuity between the wiring harness going to the distributor assembly and the ECU harness itself. Those tests came back ok. Which means all the wires are ok. This leaves me with the suspicion that my computer is bad. But this is what I dont understand. Why would my computer all of a sudden go bad after making spark when running only 2 cyl? There had to be a reason my computer went out if it is the computer. I'm going to check that main relay tommrow sometime.

If anyone knows anything I'm over looking please let me konw.

[Caution]

pull out the spark plug wire, and spark plugs.....1 by 1....stick the spark plug in the spark plug wire and have the plug touching somthing on the motor so that it is grounded.....then crank it over and have somone look at the spark plug and see if u got sparks flying between the gaps of the electrode and tip....member u need the spark plugs to be grounded....i suggest just layin the thread of the plugs on a bolt that is on the motor...try this for all the spark plug wires.....if u dont get any spark on any and if u do it correctly then dont forget to check ur spark wires, cap, and rotor inside the dizzy....try that out if u havnt! That will show if u gettin any spark to the plugs.....could be a bad rotor or busted angle sensor in the dizzy....chekem out!

[lucid]

i think your just dumb

I know you either can't type or can't spell.
Regardless of whether or not both of you are idiots, this guy's new here and having a problem with his car. Why are you here? I could understand being an ass while you are actually trying to help, but damn!
You don't even have 2 cents to contribute.

Good luck with your ride, William.
Most of us are actually cool, later.

[WilliamW]

Hey, thanks! The guys here are out of this world. But yeah, I expected someone to not understand my problem. Heres an update. I purchased an ECU off ebay and installed it. I turned the key to the accesory position and I have a solid CEL. This isnt good. So then I try and start the car. No spark just like before. I then check the codes stored in the ECU and get another Code 0.

Now I'm starting to think and see if something else would cause a code 0 other than an ECU error. The symptoms are exactly the same from ECU to ECU. I'm starting to think if it's not something simple and small.

I'm going to be taking the engine back out of the car and going over timing and all wiring components. If anyone has anything in mind that could be the reason I get a solid CEL and no start, drop a post

[lucid]

I had the CEL come on and stay lit,along with some other lights like the battery/ oil etc., the lights were kind of dim, and even stayed on without the key in the ignition. The starter would click but the motor wouldn't even turn.
It ended up being the short ground wire from the negative battery post to the chassis. I would clean and reconnect at least the two ground wires there and at the thermostat housing where the injectors and I think the ECU itself grounds before I pulled the motor back out.
I cleaned the grounds and switched starters just in case, and she started right up.