D15, D16, D17 and Mini-Me swaps
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By CamperCarl
#347747 Long story but Ill try to keep it short.
I haven't seen any forum post on any forum about the problem I have.

Story time:

Last week Friday (Aug, 1st 2014) my alternator fried while I was driving. Made a loud click, followed by the belt squealing and burning smell. After parking it, making sure nothing was on fire I started it back up, obviously the battery light was on, but it wasn't making noise. Alternator fried only 5 miles from home. Before I went home I stopped at AAP and had everything tested. Obviously alternator was dead, Starter was perfect and Battery was perfect. Then I drove it home and had it parked until I could work on it, which was yesterday (Aug, 7th 2014).

Install and Start:

I purchased a new alternator and installed it yesterday. Jumped into the car and turned the key to on, let the fuel pump prime and then turned it to start... Turns over, turns over, turns over, on and on and on. You get the point.

Keep in mind I left my car parked for 6 days without starting it. I have a YELLOWTOP OPTIMA battery. Sucker holds a charge and Cranks like a boss.

Time to go down the check list of potential problems.

-Checked Fuses. Crossed my fingers that a fuse blew, but nope!
-Checked Grounds. Cleaned up the Battery and Thermostat Grounds.
-Checked Spark. All 4 cylinders are getting a Healthy spark.
-Checked Timing. Timing Belt and Distributor are both in the right spot. Installed a New timing belt back in November with spot on timing.

Last thing to check:
-Fuel... The fuel pump primes. Emitting that classic humming sound coming from the back seat when the key is put into the on position. I turn the key to Start but all it does is turn over. I held the key in the Start position for 20 seconds to see if anything happened, maybe a sputter or a sign from the gods. Oh it did something alright! At 10 seconds of continuous starting it sped up. Sped up as in it made that sound right before the motor catches and starts up. I held it for 10 seconds, thinking maybe it will catch. Nope.

Question Time!

-Are there any grounds other than the thermostat and battery that could hinder the motor from starting?
-Is it possible that the ECU took a poop?
-Are there any relays that I could be a problem?
-Is it possible that the Main Relay failed but only in such a way that it either doesn't supply power to the ECU/Injectors or Primes the Pump but doesn't allow it to run after that?
-Could the Fuel pump fail in such a way that it works only when being primed, but refuses to pump after that? Maybe it cant support enough pressure to run the car. but it can make sound?


Brief History of the car.
-1995 LX Sedan
-5-Speed manual
-D15B7 ate a piston ring and valve last summer
-Swapped in a free freshly rebuilt D16Y7, running on the ECU from the D15B7. It runs flawlessly, getting 40mpg. Plan on doing a mini swap, in the future.
-2nd alternator in 2 years
-Yellowtop Optima battery
-New dizzy 1 years ago. Also replaced the ignition switch and Main Relay at the same time




Is there something I possibly overlooked?

Please help, I am pulling my hair out!
User avatar
By VtecReddy
#347749 Hey CamperCarl. It does sound like you are having problems with your starter and your fuel pump. Have you checked the ground to your starter? That's where I would start. Next I would check my fuel pump relay and fuel pressure regulator. Best of luck!
User avatar
By suspendedHatch
#347760 Not to slam you but that is exactly the wrong answer. The starter cranks and the fuel pump primes. Those two things are good.

It sounds like your alternator pulley seized. At this point there's no reason to think that anything fried. Did you disconnect the battery when changing the alternator?

To answer the OPs questions, no. If the pump primes, you can assume the ecu, main relay and fuel pump are good until you have a reason to suspect otherwise. Yes, the transmission to the frame rail and the valve cover to the radiator support are grounds that need to be connected for the car to start.

Check for fuel in the cylinders.
Make sure you plugged back in everything that you may have unhooked.
By MG6
#347778 agree with SH point if view. It can be your grounds are loose.

also, dud you flood your cylinder with gas? If you did, you will surely have a hard time turning it over to start as your chambers are flooded with gas and it needs to be evaporate.
User avatar
By teal_dx
#347781 Back in the day, I had a 96 hx that would sit most of the summer. Similar situation, I didn't do anything to the car but it wouldn't start, just crank until the battery started to get weak. But it did start to sputter a little like it wanted to start. I checked spark, timing, fuel... All good. I'd let it sit for a long time then try again, same thing. I ended up hooking jumper cables from a running car and having to hold the key fwd to crank the ignition for probably 45 seconds and it slowly cranked faster and sputtered more like you started to describe. Finally it came to life and ran fine and never did it again. I know that was probably hard on the starter but for some reason, that was the only way to get it started that one time. It was one of the stranger things I've experienced with a Honda.
Sounds like you were getting there, just needed to try a little longer.
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By baconsauce
#347837 it happened to my car. for that, all I can say is to swap the ecu and see if its working.