weird problem

Hondata installation questions / answers / issues.
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blackcat
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 7:06 pm
Location: Tampa Fl

weird problem

Post by blackcat »

Built a motor three months ago. Lot more displacement than the ecu was tuned for. Increased the fuel pressure to compensate until I could save the money for a new tune. Just out of the blue the car became indcreasingly rich to the point where it did not want to idle. Changed both the map sensor and the 02 sensor already. Kept turnng the fuel pressure down in 2 pound incraments to just drive the car without it idling down and then shutting off. Already did a leak down test an all is well with the integraty of the motor. It 's definately something with engine control but what. I did notice by datalogging that my injector pulse is now longer at idle than it used to be. Something is telling the ecu to enrich or I just have a bad ecu. Doubt it's the ecu though. Any ideas
RMS
Posts: 212
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 12:35 am
Location: Visalia, CA

Post by RMS »

what's the ect saying? this time of the year a faulty ect or bad (stuck open) thermostat can have a huge effect on the fuel curve. for sure i recommend aftermarket 180F thermostats to all our customers since honda no longer offers them. anything under 180F gets warm up enrichment going. even at 175F the difference is big. check out the sticky at the top of this index.

are you runninga kitty converter? a plugged one can have a similar effect though power should be waaaay down if that were the case.

how much vaccuum does the engine pull at idle according to the datalogging?
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blackcat
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 7:06 pm
Location: Tampa Fl

Post by blackcat »

No cat. Turbo car. I did wonder about the temp think though. I did notice that right before this problem started my temp went up to 198 for the first time since the motor was built. My temp does fluctuate quite a bit especaially when I'm on the freeway. I thought that it was a combination of not using the rubber on the front part of the underside of the hood, my huge Koyo radiator, or just the cool weather. The temp goes all the way down to 178 while I'm on the freeway and immediately goes back up to 195 ish, 198ish when I get off and stop. What do you think?
RMS
Posts: 212
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 12:35 am
Location: Visalia, CA

Post by RMS »

are you having to add to the radiator coolant?
does sound strange...
RaVer Motorsports (559) 733-4711
ravermotorsports@earthlink.net
blackcat
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 7:06 pm
Location: Tampa Fl

Post by blackcat »

Yeah. I add coolant about once every 3 weeks top the overflow bottle. Not to the radiator. When the motor was new I had a small external leak because of the sleeves but as far as the head gasket goes it's good. Before I could see small deposits of dried up coolant on the top of the block and it doesn't do that anymore.
RMS
Posts: 212
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 12:35 am
Location: Visalia, CA

Post by RMS »

yea, it dosen't sound like a headgasket problem, but if you are continuing to add coolant it is going somewhere :)

hmmmm. if it idles in the vaccuum area that you tuned it in then i would rule out bent vavles or damaged rings/pistons (plus you said the leak down was good...under 8%?). i'm stumpped, sorry.
RaVer Motorsports (559) 733-4711
ravermotorsports@earthlink.net
blackcat
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 7:06 pm
Location: Tampa Fl

Post by blackcat »

It's funny that you mention that. It doesn't idle at the same vacum level because I increased the idle value so that changed. You think that could be causing the problem? It was fine for a few weeks after I increased the idle then it gradually started gettimg bad. I'm going to try an ignition tune up tomorrow to see if that could be contributing. It's overdue anyhow.
RMS
Posts: 212
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 12:35 am
Location: Visalia, CA

Post by RMS »

regardless of the idle level (excluding itbs) the vaccuum should not vary more than one column.
RaVer Motorsports (559) 733-4711
ravermotorsports@earthlink.net
blackcat
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 7:06 pm
Location: Tampa Fl

Post by blackcat »

Not sure what you mean by one column but instead of reading 20 inches it now reads 19 inches of vacum at idle. According to hondalogger. I'll check it out again and see what I come up with. I have some recordings from when the car was running properly so I'll compare those values to the ones I'm getting now.
whiteEg
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:49 pm

Post by whiteEg »

dud my car was doing that same thing with the coolant and it was idleing funny and then the other day i was on the freeway and it just started losing power until i just died i was throwing the problem code 92 so i changed out the purge seleniod and nothing happend i dont know what else to do?
blackcat
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 7:06 pm
Location: Tampa Fl

Post by blackcat »

What exactly is the car doing? Are you sure that you're fuel pump isn't dead. Do you have a way to measure your fuel pressure? And that is an emissions code. I don't think that would cause you problems other than an orange light in you cluster. Pull the plugs and check the color. If the car won't start make sure the plugs aren't wet right after try to start it. That may be the first sign of no spark.
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