ignition issues

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zackzerr

New Member
hey guys i just picked up a 91 hatch with a b18a1. this guy that had it blew a head gasket and replaced it. he did a wire tuck also. since then it will not start. it turns over but wont fire. and you cant remove the key untill you remove the negative cable from battery. then you can turn ignition back far enough to remove key. i need ideas. also the main relay acts like it is not working right. thanks
 
two ideas:

1 check out the ignition switch. both mechanical, You should not need to remove the battery cable to get the key out, and electrical portions. I have seen more than a few EF chassis civics burn out one of the contacts in the switch causing a cranking no start.

2 if no problems are found in the ignition switch area than my bet is the harness got screwed when the tuck was done.
 
two ideas:

1 check out the ignition switch. both mechanical, You should not need to remove the battery cable to get the key out, and electrical portions. I have seen more than a few EF chassis civics burn out one of the contacts in the switch causing a cranking no start.

2 if no problems are found in the ignition switch area than my bet is the harness got screwed when the tuck was done.

im in the process of pulling the engine harness out. im gonna check over his wiring. and undo his tuck. found a couple broken wires. i have a harness that i used on my old ef. im gonna put that in and see if it starts.

could he have something crossed during the tuck that is causing my ignition issue?
 
It is possible that he could have fried any number of fuses or components when he did the wire tuck if he connected the wrong wires together.

As far as the key not turning all the back to the lock position I would try getting some spray lube and go after the lock cylinder. it is amazing how much crud can build up in a lock cylinder...
 
ya im gonna undo the tuck and put my other harness on. ill spray it down and see. update soon
 
yes before he overheated it and did the tuck
Translation: Before he destroyed the engine and phuked up the wiring.

Best to do is what you are doing - undo the mess. I bought a 1991 hatchback that was someone else's mess - took me about 3 years to clean it up. Alarm wiring and stereo system wiring - what a mess.
 
ya he thinks he a wiring god cuz he can wrap wires in tubing and tape.

UPDATE: found broken wires at "A" clip and his mpfi conversion was wrong. fixing all that tonight if my kids decide to sleep
 
UPDATE
so i have fuel to rail and spark at each plug. no start. ecu light has one long blink pause long blink pause so that is code 10? iat? its hooked up and wires look fine.
 
two ideas:

1 check out the ignition switch. both mechanical, You should not need to remove the battery cable to get the key out, and electrical portions. I have seen more than a few EF chassis civics burn out one of the contacts in the switch causing a cranking no start.

2 if no problems are found in the ignition switch area than my bet is the harness got screwed when the tuck was done.
1) My EF had that problem, I jumped the ignition from the accessory buss to get it to run until I replaced the switch.

2) Agreed, I'm thinking one or more sensor wires from the distributor are phuked up - probably the sensor that triggers the injectors.
 
1) My EF had that problem, I jumped the ignition from the accessory buss to get it to run until I replaced the switch.

2) Agreed, I'm thinking one or more sensor wires from the distributor are phuked up - probably the sensor that triggers the injectors.

i have a different switch im gonna plug in. just to see. its a new dizzy and im getting spark so which wire from dizzy triggers inj? i could run a continuity test really quick
 
Not sure which wires it is. What OBD is this thing? Make & model of the donor the engine would have come from also. I may have a schematic for it. Different rotational sensor in the dizzy triggers the injectors as they are timed very differently from the spark. If the wires are reversed, it won't trigger the ECU correctly and as I recall doesn't show up on the CEL codes.
 
so i changed the ignition switch. and it still wont let me turn key back. attached to the switch is a small two wire plug that screws into bottom of ignition. when this is plugged up i cannot turn it back. but unplugged ignition feels and works fine. also when i hook up battery i hear a relay click.
 
so i changed the ignition switch. and it still wont let me turn key back. attached to the switch is a small two wire plug that screws into bottom of ignition. when this is plugged up i cannot turn it back. but unplugged ignition feels and works fine. also when i hook up battery i hear a relay click.
 
Have you pulled the wire tuck clusterphuk out?
 
well kinda. he hacked up the engine harness. so i used the one off old mini me. so the engine harness is fine. im gonna give everything a good look over. the more i look the more i find. just makes me wonder. would my ignition issue cause a no start situation?
 
Not sure which wires it is. What OBD is this thing? Make & model of the donor the engine would have come from also. I may have a schematic for it. Different rotational sensor in the dizzy triggers the injectors as they are timed very differently from the spark. If the wires are reversed, it won't trigger the ECU correctly and as I recall doesn't show up on the CEL codes.

its 90 hatch started life dpfi. its obd0 and i converted to mpfi. the engine came from a 90 teg. using a obd0 pr4

also both cars were automatic. now the hatch has been converted to 5 speed. which i did for the guy before i got the car
 
well kinda. he hacked up the engine harness. so i used the one off old mini me. so the engine harness is fine. im gonna give everything a good look over. the more i look the more i find. just makes me wonder. would my ignition issue cause a no start situation?
Yes absolutely. If the sensor wires are swapped on the sensor that triggers the injectors, they won't fire - no fuel, no start. There are three sensors in the dizzy, if it doesn't have a cam mounted or crank mounted rotational sensor. If they are all in the dizzy on your setup, there are three. You have two of three correct if it has spark.

Is the distributor the one for the engine? For the make & model car the engine came from? Then pull a wiring schematic for that vehicle.

Here's an EXAMPLE:

http://www.senorpanadero.net/uploader/userfiles/stevew/Honda%20SiR/Honda%20Civic%201991%20HELMS%20Wiring%20ED3%20ED4%20ED6%20ED7%20USDM.pdf

Look at page 11-19 - Cyl, TDC & Crank sensors. Seems like the Cyl is the one that triggers the injectors. The TDC is the one that sets up the ECU reference and the Crank triggers the ignition. That's going from memory - but, you can have ignition and no fuel, or fuel and no ignition conditions if wires are mixed up or an open in the circuit.
 
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awesome ill look into that. i seem to remember switching the white wires at dizzy when i was trying to get my mini me started back up
 
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