1990 Honda CRX no electrical power

Tiny
STEVEAL01
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  • 1990 HONDA CRX
Electrical problem
1990 Honda CRX Manual

My son bought this project car with no engine or trans. We installed motor, trans and correct ECU but for some reason there is no power to the lights or ignition. Checked fuses and connections but no juice. Battery was ok (used) but should have still should have showed some hope. Not sure if we have to pull the harness or are we missing something? You know how a big problem can be cause by something so little.
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 AT 1:15 PM

25 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Hi steveal01,

There should be 1 wire running from the battery to the underhood main fuse box.

Use a test lamp to test the main fuse.
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Thursday, February 18th, 2010 AT 11:40 AM
Tiny
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Ok, tested power and there is power traveling into the fuse box (under hood) through the other end through 3 terminals. Result is that there is an alarm in the vehicle and a door popper. When I plug in the battery, the door popper activates, the battery and engine lights lite up dim. No exterior and interior lights activate at all. When turn on the ignition, those same lights lite up like normal. Discovered the starter is possibly bad, pops out but does not engage (spin). Also noticed that the wires that plug from the other end of the ignition switch is not even plugged in and cannot find the home for those plugs. Are we over our heads?

VEHICLE decription: its a 90 honda crx HF shell, had no engine harness. He bought a full swap from a 88 honda civic dx (dpfi), came with engine harness engine, trans, ecu, axles.

ALSO ENGINE HARNESS DONT MATE ON DRIVER SIDE, BUT DOES ON PASSENGER SIDE!
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Saturday, February 20th, 2010 AT 8:37 PM
Tiny
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Intermarriages would always come up with many objections and opinions.

Was the CRX originally a fuel injected model? I would like to know the Vehicle Identification No to get the correct information.

Let me know as much as possible about the new engine. The engine code would make it easier to identify.

Hopefully the wire color codes matches up with minimal problem and you would have to perform a lot of wire reconnecting and relocations on the connectors.
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Monday, February 22nd, 2010 AT 8:51 AM
Tiny
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I am not sure the hystory of the car just that they has installed a b16 at one point then removed when my son bought. Model was a HF, possibly DPFI. Jhmed8367ls015935. The engine now installed was from a 88 civic, d15b1.
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Monday, February 22nd, 2010 AT 11:46 AM
Tiny
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The VIN indicates it is a 1991 model with either D15B2 ( TBI ) or D15B6 ( SFI ) system.

I will send two wiring diagrams for the fuel injection system to your email as the file is too large to show well in the post.
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 AT 9:22 AM
Tiny
STEVEAL01
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I had to update my e-mail sorry. Old one was bad. Thanks.
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 AT 10:01 AM
Tiny
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Resending the files to your new email.
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 AT 11:25 AM
Tiny
STEVEAL01
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Thanks for the diagrams and now I can see why nothing worked. Almost non of the wiring matched from each harness to the ECU. We will have to create a jumper so we don't have to cut the original harness. Already ran though and did the matches on the diagrams. Now will have to go to the junk yard and pick up some connections and new wiring and get to work. Thanks for all your help. Also, Would you happen to know where just I can just pick up some new ECU connectors, if possible? Because I will need the male and female connections. Thank You
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 AT 8:00 PM
Tiny
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You're welcomed.

The only place you are likely to be able to get the ECU connectors would be the junkyard.

Dealers would only be able to provide the complete harness and is going to be pricey.
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Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 AT 12:44 PM
Tiny
STEVEAL01
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Ok, so we got the electrical blocks from the junk yard, matched diagram and came out very nice, but when we connected back to vehicle the same problem occurred. Basically the problem has not changed. Did notice some cut wires as well. Would the best thing to do would be is get the hole new main harness for that motor and ecu? Would it work in this vehicle? Help
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Sunday, February 28th, 2010 AT 6:25 PM
Tiny
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Since everything is in a mess, I would suggest starting from zero.

As engine wireharness to the ECU etc are complete, you need not bother about them.

What you need to do is to check the fuse box power supply from the battery. The wiring diagram should give you an idea what to look for. Some wires might require splicing.

Compare the 2 diagrams and understand what to splice to get the wiring complete.

Getting a new harness would work but would it be worth it?
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Monday, March 1st, 2010 AT 7:56 AM
Tiny
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Checked the power from the fuse box under hood and there is power flow throught the box. Just when reaches inside car, it's another story. Son found a whole block of wiring under dash (not stereo wiring because found that block also) that were all cut for some reason, and tried searching but no home for them. Right now, my son had gutted out the whole car because thats what he wanted to do, except the driver seat. Yesterday we decided to pull the dash for easier access to the wiring instead of crawling under dash. Alot easier to work with thats for sure. Looks like the last owner that had engine swapped messed up the wiring as there were slices and cuts which did not make sence. In that case, not even sure why they did what they did. Probably why they got rid of it because they screwed up the wiring. Funny is that we even found some (i think 10 ga.) Wiring respliced back together with speaker wire, oh boy. I think in this case, there would be too much time spent to figure what they did and to correct and don't want to make it worse, so since car is already gutted, would be worth while to just replace.
So, would it be fair to say I would replace with a harness from that vehicle the engine came from so the ecu and engine harness match?
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Monday, March 1st, 2010 AT 8:30 AM
Tiny
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Yes, if you are able to get the wireharness from the donor engine, that would solve the problem, but not completely as the wiring to the rear might need some attention.
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Monday, March 1st, 2010 AT 12:25 PM
Tiny
STEVEAL01
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I do have a question though, when we were putting the conversion wires together, I did notice that each wire slot on the plugs were numbered but did not match the diagram from the civic, still went by the diagram. I wondered since I went by the color codes, that since the numbers did not match is why the problem still excist? The diagram went as a1, a3, a5 and so on, then a2, a4, a6 and so on. This could also. Also the plugs were did not seem to match in the position on the diagram also. Something seems wrong or I did something wrong. The plugs are double row and teh diagram show as single.
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Monday, March 1st, 2010 AT 10:07 PM
Tiny
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The schematic are only for illustrating where each wire should be. You need to understand the connector layout to get the correct position.


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/192750_ECUTerminal88CivicFig04_1.jpg

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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 AT 1:49 PM
Tiny
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Ok, finally made time and we got everything hooked up. Then discovered that there was very little compression on the cylinders (60#'s or so) on about all. Was curious and asked son when installed head back if he installed correctly w/#1 at TDC. Was not sure so rechecked and was off, re-aligned and got the compression back now. Whew. Cranked her, wants to start but back fires (and flares) in throttle body (DPFI) when I put fuel directly in Throttle body because seems like no fuel traveling. Adjusted timing through the scale and same result. Could we be off a few teeth or somthing? Checked spark to plugs and all good.
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Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 AT 10:38 PM
Tiny
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Recheck the timing belt installation and retest the compression again.

Is the firing order correct?

When fuel was put directly into throttle body, it tried to start but without it it would not even try to fire up? If yes, check the fuel pressure. Test if the fuel pump is working.
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Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 AT 7:22 AM
Tiny
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Had time to work on it and fired up finally. Did not check compression, had no tester, just by feel of presure from spark plug location. No timing gun neither, just by sound and feel. Has fuel gage in engine comp and reads 40#'s. Fuel is flowing. Sounds rough because only have the manifold hooked, was too short to reach piping so have to get pipe added to connect. Took for test drive and would not stay on. Shuts off when release the clutch, could not stay on unless clutch is pressed. Adjusted timing accross the board but sme result and throttle backfire. Possible off a tooth in timing, not sure. Limited on tools on hand (of course).
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Thursday, March 25th, 2010 AT 2:08 PM
Tiny
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At least somethng is working and some tweaking around should have the problem fixed son.

Check the idling speed, if it is too low, increase it.
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Thursday, March 25th, 2010 AT 2:34 PM
Tiny
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Did that also but no change. Timing belt was not snug, slightly loose. Possible coulpret. Adjusted tensioner to tighten belt. Will test later today.
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Thursday, March 25th, 2010 AT 3:14 PM

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