b16a sputtering and backfiring

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b16acrxer

Junior Member
okay, from the beginning: (sorry for writing a book. i just want to explain as best i can.)

i have a 88 crx si w/b16a from an xsi. pr3 ecu

with that out of the way, i was driving one day, and my car was wanting to go very very slow. eventually there was so little power i couldnt drive up the slightest little hill.

the main symptom:

the engine would absolutely not rev over 4500.
if i floored it would eventually bog to an even lower rpm, until it almost died.

so i started looking for problems.

in the process of discovering that my cat was clogged, i had replaced the timing belt, fuel pump, fuel filter, & ignition control module. also during this painstaking process, i had accidently broken the two studs closest to the drivers side that hold the valve cover on. so there are leaks in that area until my new studs come tomorrow at honda. upon discovering that none of those other things were the problem, I took all of those parts back.

okay, i gutted the cat. everythings great again! for like an hour........

i was getting on it really hard, and at higher rpms the car sputters and jerks like crazy. its getting worse and happening more often and more throughout the rpm band. usually the check engine light will sputter on and off with the engine sputtering. it wont stay on & there is no code left on the ECU. one time when i was revving it up in neutral and had the hood popped, i even got a glimpse of sparks coming from near the distributor. i know that that is a VERY BAD SIGN. but this is the only car i have, and i work and go to school full time so i need this fixed ASAP.

someone please help me!!1 I AM BEGGING! also, i am looking for really good honda forums... if there are more please let me know! im not saying this one isnt good, this is the first time ive been here. but if there are other good ones, i need to know. i used to go to resource.crx.org but they never help anymore so im looking around.

thanks so much!
ronnie
 
sure you emptied out the cat completely? maybe when driving it in that hour a piece came out and clogged somewhere else in the exhaust? are the sparks coming out of the distributer itself? have you looked inside the dist. cap and check out the rotor?
 
im pretty sure the cat is cleaned out pretty well, A LOT of honey comb stuff shot out the exhaust when i had finished and revved it up for a few minutes. i have looked inside the distributor at everything...it seems fine.
 
if the honey comb was coming out your tailpipe, then i bet there is shit stuck in there. when gutting the cat you should have flushed it with water to get all that stuff out of there. try driving around with just open header and see if it goes away.
 
Sounds familier, pull your cap and rotor (assuming this is an sir1) on the left side of the dist shaft magnet (kinda looks like a star but more points) theres a sort of pick up there.... make sure its not TOO close/or touching the magnet.... this thing (sorry cant think of what its called) gives the ecu the rpm signal.... on my B16a the top bolt (which you can adjust) had rattled out and the pick up fell into the magnet... and it was doing much the same thing... idle would be ok but not normal, but when revved it would only go up so far and it would sputter and back fire the whole time.....


P.S. LOC-TITE everything in that bastard distrubutor, lots of vibration in there and things will come loose......
 
PUT THE CAT BACK ON YOU NEED IT FOR BACK PRESSURE. Are you thorwing any codes? Sorry to be so rude about the cat, but the car needs it. So put it back on. FI you have any codes check them and resond back. After the car cools down, take off the radiator cap and start the car if there are bubbles coming up the head gasket is blown which = BAD, fix it. IF you get a that is related to ignition output signal or somethign along the lines of that, check and change the distributor, mine went out and my car at mid-high R's cut out and surged and shit. There ya go hope I helped...

PUT THE CAT BACK ON
 
he didn't say it was off dude, read the post more carefully. i suggested for him to take it off and drive it around. this way you will be able to tell if the cat or exhaust system is causing the problem. i have driven around with no cat, it drives fine, just loud as all hell. but at least he will be able to rule the cat or exhaust out as an issue.

EDIT:
and to add to it, YOU DO NOT NEED A YOUR CAT FOR BACKPRESSURE it is soley there for smog reasons. why do you think people run straight pipes? sure they get like a 1hp increase, but you DO NOT NEED IT.
 
get a new o2 sensor,denso or ngk spark plugs,check your ground connections,check your timing,get a new fuel filter..and you need the cat if it has an o2 sensor on it...i have a straight through race cat on my b16 and it works fine so its not that,but try anything and everything...check all your wiring make sure everything is going to the right places,also check for vacum leaks and if that is setup correctly....good luck
 
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