Issues Starting Car After B18B1 Swap

[student302]

So I'm in a bit over my head. I recently purchased a 1995 Civic SI (Canadian, so it came with the D16Z6) as my very first car, and at the time I bought it there was a bit of rust work / a dent that needed to be done, the clutch was shot, and it was leaking quite a bit of oil.

I was going to try and fix the leak, and replace the clutch so I could actually start driving it, however my friend convinced m to do a B18B1 motor swap on the car.

I've swapped out the motor, and now tried to start up the car but it won't start. I'm thinking it could be a battery, or something to do with the immobilizer on it.

(I know next to nothing about cars), I've had a couple of friends help me this far with the entire swap and they're both out of town for the next few weeks and I'd like to get it running.

The dash lights were all extremely dim, and when I tried to start the car up it would make a rrrrrr-rrrr-rrrr sound (not technical I know), it sounds like it would turn over, just not actually start up?

My first thought was the battery, as all the dash lights were extremely dim so I borrowed a battery charger and left it at 2 amps overnight. I checked it again this morning, on the charger the battery was sitting at 13.20 volts, as soon as i unplugged the charger (before it was even plugged into the car), it had dropped to 12.85. I checked it just before I started it, and it was sitting at 12.60, when I tried to start it up all of the dash lights were brighter but the motor still made the exact same sound when turning over and didn't start.

So I guess my questions are.

Does it sound like the battery is shot since the voltage is dropping?
and
I know there's probably a million possibilities, but is there anything else obvious I can check which would lead to a car not starting yet still "turning over" slowly.

First post here, so thanks for any advice

 

[StilAHondaFreak]

Welcome to the site, and kudos for good spelling and doing a little diag on your own

Have you tried starting it with the charger still hooked up?

Sounds like you're on the right track, but have a few more things to check.
Is the timing set correctly? Are you getting fuel? How did you do the wiring? What ecu are you running? There's probably 50 more questions, but those are the obvious ones that need answered first.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

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[student302]

Thanks

Thanks for the welcome

I have not tried starting it with the charger still hooked up as the charger does not reach from the wall to the battery and I do not have an extension cord. .

The ECU is from a 1994 Acura Integra (not sure what kind it is). I think it is getting fuel, as when you try and start it up you can smell a little bit of gas . The wiring for the most part seemed to be plug / play from the harnesses (also from the integra), except the immobilizer which we aren't sure of, trying to find a wiring diagram for it or something to help us wire that up.

My friend bolted on the distributor and I believe he did the timings but I'm not sure if they are correct or not, and I don't know how to test that out.

My friend who was helping me with the swap also said the compression sounded weak, but he said it sounded like the injectors were firing. (Which is all completely over my head). I'm hoping the charged battery fixes this problem but we'll see what happens.

 

[K-N-2-EK]

You CAN NOT use integra engine harness with a civic. Sorry thats your problem
Integra has 2 piece wiring harness as the civic uses a 1 piece. You need to reuse the civic harness. Wiring is gonna suck but i assure you it can be done

 

[student302]

Thanks for letting me know about the wiring.

We found out one of the main problems today. It looks like my distributor may be bad.

Since I don't know the technical terms for this here is my problem the best I can describe it. When I try and start the car (the exhaust manifold isn't installed yet), you end up getting a bit of exhaust coming out of the left most and right most holes but there is nothing coming out of the middle two on the motor. I was explaining this to a friend of mine and his words were "There is no spark, which means you have a bad distributor".

I checked out a few junkyards this afternoon, only one had a distributor and they wanted 400$ for it, which is a bit more then I'm willing to spend at a junkyard.

Is there anyway for me to upload pictures here? or do they have to be linked to from a photo hosting service.

 

[StilAHondaFreak]

You CAN NOT use integra engine harness with a civic. Sorry thats your problem<br />
Integra has 2 piece wiring harness as the civic uses a 1 piece. You need to reuse the civic harness. Wiring is gonna suck but i assure you it can be done

This.

But, you should also check the timing. Your buddy doesn't make sense, exhaust us coming out 4 and 1, but not 3 and 2? That had nothing to do with spark, and sounds more like a head gasket issue to me... Have you tried doing a legit compression test? Get an extension cord or something, disable the fuel pump, and let us know what the numbers are. While you're doing that, you can check for spark, the right way.

Good luck

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[student302]

*Noob Question*

Stupid question, how do I go about testing the compression.

Timing belt was my next guess, but I don't have a timing light or anyway to check that either.

 

[StilAHondaFreak]

Check the mechanical timing first, if that's off, which I suspect, your ignition timing won't matter cause you'll never get it right anyway.

To check compression, the right way, our at least the way we did it at the Honda dealer I used to work at, is like this:
Remove the main relay (just unhook it)
Remove all 4 plug wires (leave them hooked to the distributor cap, and remove it as well.)
Remove all 4 plugs
Hook up a battery charger (to maintain steady voltage, our else your numbers might gradually drop)
Now, you can either find a helper, or, figure out a way to prop up your compression gauge so you'll see it from inside the car.
Place the compression gauge in a cylinder, prop it up, our have a buddy hold it.
Get in the car, PUT THE GAS PEDAL TO THE FLOOR (this is often over looked for some reason)
Turn the key, and hold it for about 5 seconds.
Repeat for remaining 3 cylinders, come back here with your results, and we'll take it from there



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[student302]

Thanks for the step by step guide. I haven't tried compression yet, but I did replace the dizzy and at least now it seems a lot better.

Still doesn't start, but I pulled the valve cover over and checked the timing and it is way off. So I'm off to do a bit of reading and figure out how to redo the timing, and then I'll let you know how it goes.

This place is extremely friendly . Thanks again for all the help.

 

[StilAHondaFreak]

No problem, good luck, let me (us lol) know how it goes. There are multiple marks for timing, your search should yield sufficient pics to get you through it

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[ReedMann]

I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure you can use a DC harness in an EG...

Make sure you are getting spark. To do this, pull a plug wire and plug. Hold the plug tip close to the valve cover and have someone turn over the car. You should see a whit spark.

Make sure you are getting fuel. Turn the key to II on the column (not the whole way on) and you should hear the fuel pump priming.

Good luck with getting it in time. Hopefully that is the issue.

This may help:

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1992733

 

[K-N-2-EK]

I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure you can use a DC harness in an EG...

Make sure you are getting spark. To do this, pull a plug wire and plug. Hold the plug tip close to the valve cover and have someone turn over the car. You should see a whit spark.

Make sure you are getting fuel. Turn the key to II on the column (not the whole way on) and you should hear the fuel pump priming.

Good luck with getting it in time. Hopefully that is the issue.

This may help:

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1992733

Incorrect, ALL civics use a ONE piece harness, integra uses a 2 TWO piece harness, a significant amount of modifications would need to be done in order to use it correctly.

 

[student302]

She runs!

I switched the harness back to the one from the D16Z6 and that seemed to take care of a few problems.

I think I may have an issue with grounding somewhere because even when the key isn't in the ignition my e-brake light is on as well as my seatbelt light. I read that a short / grounded battery can cause that.

So, I redid the timing, although the rear cam is still off by 1 tooth, so I need to jump that over.

Turned the key, honestly not expecting much after all the other problems, and she starts! Idling around 2800RPM right now, however the alternator isn't connected, there's no coolant, no intake, and header isn't installed, so I'm hoping those account for at least some of the high RPM.