Civic Si wont start...

[blustreek99]

I have a '99 Civic Si with 85,000 miles... ITR Cams, I/H/E, VTEC Controller (Field). Replaced Cap, Rotor, Fuel Filter, Plugs, Oil, Oil Filter, Timing Belt, Cam Seals... Anyway... My car was bogging frequently on Full Load and idle... Just little pops speratically and if I floored it... It stuttered until 5-6000 and then ran fine... Half Throttle and it ran perfect across the board. I figured it was my O2... since I have a gutted cat... The SFC was set to rich 8 for every RPM Setting... One night... it started fine... sputtered twice... and died... Towed it home... cant get it to start... Jumped and cranks forever... wont start... I had the same issue before... threw in some Fuel Additive cause I thought I had crappy fuel... started up... Now it wont... Spark plugs are blackened, wet with fuel. I tested all of them, and they spark... even replaced them. Fuel Filter replaced 3000 miles ago... I thought it was an injectore... but the plugs get wet... Im lost and poor. I dont know if its the Sensor on the back of the intake... or low Fuel Pressure... I removed the inpection cover for the cams... they line up. I havent checked with the crankshaft notch yet... but I though I skipped a tooth on the belt maybe. I can check that... All I know is it ran crappy for 2 months... died a couple of times when I was at a light... but restarted luckly... Bogged badly and popped at idle. What can I check? Any help would be great...

I noticed it always smelled really rich... even when I leaned it out... I dont know if Im getting too much fuel... Since the plugs get so wet... or if the fuel pressure is so low it just leaks fuel out and wont start it... Im confused. Belt looks fine.. no wear. Cap is clean, rotor spins, I held the plugs to the block one by one and they spark... The engine cranks like it wants to start... just wont kick over... Bad fuel? I added Fuel Treatment... dont know... Sorry so much info... I just wanted to cover what I know. NO CEL Either... even did the lil jump trick to see any codes... Nothing... When it did have a code... It said on the reader... Lean Bank 2 and O2 issues I think... I can pull the info again. Its printed at home... Just said somethin about a bank being lean... The o2 is because of the cat... I know that... no codes now, tho... Thanks!

Stock injectors... Tuned back to stock... Which is 5 lean on all RPMs... It was running great before... Then just started to bog out and sputter under full load. Popped at idle...

When I pulled each plug to test them against the block for spark... I wiped them well and cleaned them up... They were pretty blackened and after a few cranks, once removed again... The were wet...

 

[Sm0ked0uTCiViC]

Dude! Sounds like a timing issue to me... If i were you since youve covered all the basics Spark/fuel/etc.... i would check the crank and make sure that the timing marks allign corectly with the cams, Check the tension on your belt to! If that is super loose that will throw your timing off as well, Also that engine has a Crank angle sensor mounted on the oil pump just behind the plastic guard behind the crank pully, When you check the timing marks give that a good look to! Make sure there is no debris blocking it from reading the position of the crank, And personally if it was me and i was gonna have the pully and the cover off already to check timing i would just replace it to be on the safe side! The car won't run properly or at all if that sensor is not working!

hope this helps
pat



P.S i don't think it is the TPS sensor because it would at least start and idle somewhat if it was, At least mine did when it went out!

 

[blustreek99]

The timing marks line up on the cams... I haven't checked on the crank... I'll check the sensor... How can I check timing on it without it starting? The belt is new... Tension is fine. I was also told about compression... But no fuel in the oil pan and no weird smoke... Just rich smell when it ran. Oil is at the right level... Not low... And its been fine for 3000 miles.

 

[blustreek99]

Stock ECU... Never really tuned... I haven't checked compression... The car had the cams running great for 6 months just fine... On the richer setting... Only started bogging after I fueled with Sinclar 93 octane... So I added the fuel treatment after it died the next morning and it started 2 months ago... Not anymore tho. I tried leaning it and increasing the mix... Still nothing. Ill check compression... Might be that, seeing how intermittenly it would pop... Might have just given up.

No oil coming from the headgasket area... Or any residue from anything else... Timing likes up fine as far as the cams go... Could the distributor be off or something? Should I get a timing light... That might explain the poor full throttle... The distributor isn't advancing or retarding the timing... I don't know... I work on diesels! Had basic auto classes for a month... I will check compression and timing with a light... How can I check the timing if the car isn't running? Should I just move the distributor around, loosen the bolt on it and see if it starts? Why all of the sudden out? Can I get a comp tester ar Schucks... Is it a special kind... Seeing is how it is so deep in the head. V8 are easy, since its spark plugs are on the sides. Sorry for all the questions...

Wouldn't a head gasket or Piston rings issue show up in my oil or in the exhaust... Like blue smoke or fuel in the oil tank? If I'm losing compression... Then the fuel and air have to be going somewhere else... I don't know... I wasn't seeing any smoke at any time... Just a really rich smell... You can even smell it now when I crank it... The exhaust smells like fuel... Granted its not sparking now... But still... The oil looks fine... Not leaking or low... Same level since changed... Just trying to be specific... Sorry for the excessive detail! I don't want to tow it to a shop until I have to! Anything I can do or check I want to! How do I check compression, what tools, I.e. Honda specific... And timing without it running? Thanks!

 

[Sm0ked0uTCiViC]

Check your intake mani gasket, Make sure there are no leaks in it, If you look back there and see signs of RTV gasket maker i would replace it with a OEM honda gasket, also if your piston rings were bad it would show in a compression test, make sure when you do the comp test you undo the plugs to the dizzy and the injectors (fuel will give you a inaccurate reading) and crank it for a good 10-15 seconds to get a good reading, also there wouldn't be any oil around the head gasket area because the engine is a open deck engine and the combustion chamber is surrounded by coolant, Best thing to do is to get a clean oil catch and drain your oil, If it looks like biskquick or has streaks of coolant in it most likely you have a bad head gasket..

hope this helps


pat



P.S im not sure exactly what the comp readings should be but im sure they can found on google