my EJ Build: Take 2

[fionntan]

My ecu came in today.. I have been putting everything back together today, filling all the fluids, etc. I plan on trying to start it up tomorrow. I have taken a few pics and I will upload them tonight or tomorrow. Dinner time right now then back to work.

Just curious about something. There is a vacuum connection on the top of the IM that is not being used. It use to go to the evap sensor. Should I just close that off?

 

[fionntan]

Ok so I finished the swap tonight. I am ready to start the car tomorrow. I am a little nervous since this is the first time I will be starting a newly rebuilt engine. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I jumped the ecu plug to check for any cel codes and it just stayed lit which I am pretty sure means that nothing is wrong. While doing this fuel started leaking out of the fuel pressure regulator. It is an aftermarket adjustable one. So I put the oem one back on and no leaks. I think it might be the gasket, but I dont really need an adjustable regulator so I think I will just keep the oem one on. Other than that everything seems good, so wish me luck.

 

[fionntan]

I tried to start the car today and now I have no power to anything. I pulled the spark plugs so that I could crank the engine and build oil pressure, but when I did it just went dead. I had power before I tried to crank it. I have checked all the fuses under the hood and they all seem ok. I checked to see if there was power getting to the alternator and there is. I am stumped.

I went through and sanded all the ground spots and connectors and ran a tap through the bolt holes and it works fine now. Lets start her up!

 

[fionntan]

Started it up and it cranked over on the first try. Sounds pretty good, it is a little rough but not too bad. I noticed an oil leak from behind the cam gears (or so I think). I never removed the cam gears when I took the engine apart the first time. Can I change the oil seals there without removing the entire head? How hard is it to remove the cam gears? Other than that there are no leaks, but that one seems pretty bad. It was throwing oil all over the timing belt side of the engine.

 

[GlassHeadlights]

If its just the cam seals then you just have to take the valve cover off then take the cams out. Eazy!

 

[fionntan]

Its the seals behind the cam gears, not the ones by the dizzy. I replaced the ones by the dizzy when I did the rebuild. The cam gears were fairly new so I thought the seal were good, but I guess not.

 

[fionntan]

I got the leak fixed I think. There is no more oil coming from behind the cam gears. I saw some drips on the driveway, but I dont know if they are just left over from the leak, so I will just wait and see. I took a video of the engine running. At the end it starts to idle a little funny. I turned the car off for a few minutes and started it back up and it idled ok after that. Not sure why, but for now I think it is good. Here is the crappy video. Enjoy.

[URL=http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll179/wikedeye/swap/?action=view&current=P4240052.mp4]
[/URL]

 

[fionntan]

Just drove my car around for an hour working on the break in. There are no more leaks and the car drives like a champ. :driver2::w00t:
I can officially say that I am no longer a swap or build virgin. It took three years and a whole lot of headaches, but I have done it. I am going to get it tuned next week and then I will be a happy mofo.

Thanx Hondaswap.

Next the body and paint.

 

[GlassHeadlights]

Sounds like a diesel tractor! Adjust the valves and clean the IACV.

Otherwise nice work.

 

[eg6sir]

yea.. noisy little bitch.. lol

 

[fionntan]

I did a valve adjustment a couple of weeks ago, but I will check them again. I will clean the iacv and see what happens. I am just happy that it runs. the next few days will be making it run smoothly.

 

[Magana559]

sounds like you might have a vac leak. spray starter fluid arround the intake mani and TB gaskets. Also the injector O-rings.

Check your valve lash, might be why its a lil noisy. Looks good and sounds good. Make sure you drain your oil before the first 20 miles. I changed it after start up and idle of 10 min. then again at 20 miles and then again at 200, again at 500, again at 1000. and again at what ever you normally change it. lol

 

[GlassHeadlights]

sounds like you might have a vac leak. spray starter fluid arround the intake mani and TB gaskets. Also the injector O-rings.

My car sounded exactly like his and I could never find a vaccum leak. Take the intake off then look inside the throttle body, you'll see two holes. Try plugging each one with a finger. If the idle goes down then thers you're probelm.

 

[fionntan]

The idle issue is sporadic. I drove it around for a while and afterwards it idled better, still not great, but better. I took off the iacv and cleaned it. It was pretty dirty. After I reinstalled it I tried to start it again and see if that fixed the problem, but now the car wont start. The battery light on the dash came on, so I started checking things out and the alt seemed bad so I pulled it and had it tested, and it was bad. Put a new alt on and still no start. The engine turns over like it is going to start, but nothing happens. I have new plugs and wires. I checked the dizzy and it failed one of the icm tests. I have a working ls dizzy so I swapped the icm from that and still nothing. I checked all the fuses and they are good. The fuel pump hums when I turn the ignition to the on position. I am pretty sure the starter works because it cranks the engine when I try to start it, but maybe its bad too. I am going to do some more test in the morning, but to be honest I dont really know what is wrong. I have another video of what it sounds like. It is dark so you cant really see anything, but it is more for sound. If anyone has suggestions it would really help me out.

Side note the vss is not working. It didnt work for a while before I did the swap and I was hoping the one on the new tranny would fix the problem, but it did not. I dont know if it would have anything to do with the starting problem. I was throwing a code for it before, but since this started the cel is just solid when I jump the plug.

 

[fionntan]

So after a few more tests I am thinking the starter has gone bad. I came out this morning and started testing the fuel system. Main relay is good and the fuel pump is working. I rechecked all the fuses under the hood (good) under the dash (good with one exception). The number 18 fuse (pgm fi) does not show voltage. I pulled the fuse and checked it and it is good. I dont know if it only shows voltage when the car is running or not. Anyway after performing a bunch of tests I decided to try it again and the car started and ran pretty smooth. So I shut it off and tried again. This time the starter just clicked, no cranking. Tried a couple more times and the same thing happened. I then used a jumper wire from the positive battery terminal to the starter to bypass the ignition switch and it just clicked. I noticed that when the car was running that the battery light was dimly lit. I have tested the battery and it has roughly 12 and a half volts. I am going to replace the starter tomorrow and see if that takes care of the problems.

 

[94civicturbo]

sounds like the starter to me

 

[fionntan]

I had a little time before I went to work tonight so I took the starter in and had it tested and guess what, it was good. At this point I am down to the battery and battery wires. I havent tested the ignition switch yet, but I dont think that is the problem. I am running out of options here. Any suggestions?

 

[fionntan]

Could a low battery cause the battery light to come on, or does that only indicate that the alternator is going bad? Also I went and checked for any codes again last night just to see whats going on. I was throwing code 17 (vss) before, now there are no codes. Intermittent problem maybe. I will check that out and see if any of the wires come up bad, or the sensor. I know the vss not working will keep vtec from engaging. I was looking at the helms and it shows that the vss is ground to one of the pgm-fi grounds. When I test the fuse under dash for pgm-fi I get no voltage, but the fuse is good. Could this be part of the vss problem?

I know no one likes to talk tech on here anymore, but I could really use some help.

 

[nofxSOHCcrx]

Okay....might sound stupid, but check, re check, and triple check ALL your grounds. I had a wierd ass idle problem one time, whole thing ended up being a ground. Mine was a ground right below the thermostat housing where I couldn't see it until i got under the car. I spent about $1500 before I looked at that ground. Just a suggestion though.

 

[fionntan]

Thats my plan for tomorrow. I am going to get a new battery and wires including a new starter wire. Then I am going to pull all the grounds off and sand the connections and the points where they connect to the car to make sure there is good contact. I think I will add an extra ground to the battery and one to the valve cover also.