Ok, I've been dealing with this problem and trying to research it on my own for awhile now, and last night was thrown a monkey wrench into what I was thinking was going on...
I have a '93 EX sedan, boosted JDM H22. custom downpipe and exhaust set up. I'm not telling you this to brag, just give you a slight idea of what I'm looking at. A couple months ago, one of the welds in my downpipe started splitting. At the time, I didn't have a back up car or enough money to get it fixed, so I kept driving it and tried to baby it along. Well, apparently my babying it wasn't good enough, because the split turned up into outright broken. My exhaust pipe was literally resting on the sub-frame, and all the fumes were floating around under the hood, getting sucked back into the intake on the turbo. As a result of this, the car started running like shit, bogging down periodically. Only when the car was at running temp. Didn't matter if I was at a stoplight, or doing 80 on the freeway, it would still do it. I would simply push in the clutch, rev the engine a few times, and it would seem to clear up.
Finally, I got the downpipe welded back up and put it back in my car. I was thinking now that the exhaust fumes were going where they were supposed to go, rather than swirling around under the hood, everything would be just dandy. Oh how wrong I was. It ran like a dream the first day. But the second day, it started doing it again. Now remember, I didn't have a back up car at the time, so I had no choice but to keep driving it. After a few days of this, it turned into not just bogging down, but now outright stalling. I'd just push in the clutch and restart it, and keep going on down the road. Annoying, but I can deal with it until I get a chance to research it, check it out, etc. Finally, it got to the point where it was hard to start and sputtered for a few seconds after starting. Also, when it stalled on the freeway, I'd have to pull over, let it set a minute, and it would crank right up. Now I'm aggravated as hell, so I picked up a second car ('92 EX CB9...score!!) and parked the sedan.
Well, the CB9 busted a trans cooler line yesterday, so I didn't have much choice but to take the sedan to work. It did its usual sputter when starting, then ran fine most of the way to work. Finally stalled out on my close to work, but I just pulled over, let it set, then started it up and finished my commute.
Now remember, up until now, all these issues have been with the engine at running temp, nice and warm.
I work nights, so I get out of work when most of you are still sleeping or just waking up. At 5a.m., it's dark and cold outside, I clock out, head to the ol' sedan to go home, and it won't start. It'll crank, the fuel pump is cycling (I've already ruled out the main relay), it even sounds like it's catching for a brief second. Fires a couple times, and then stalls. After 5 minutes of trying to cajole, beg, curse and yell, I give up trying to start the car. I get out and have a smoke to calm my nerves. I decide, as a last ditch effort, to disconnect the battery to 30 seconds and plug it back in. The car starts right away, without sputtering. I'm like WTF!?!? Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I promptly drive home and park in the garage. The drive went perfect. No stalling, no bogging, even with the engine at operating temp, everything was fine. After I get home and shut the car off, I decide to try to start it again and see what happens. It fires right up perfectly. No sputter or anything. Odd.
At first, with the problem being at operating temp, I'm thinking the ignitor in the distributor. I've read that with too much heat, they can fry, similar to how the main relay can do. The plan was to purchase a dizzy today, replace it, and hope that works. But this morning's no start while cold, has me thrown for a loop. I don't know what to think anymore.
Anyone happen to have any ideas or directions I can troubleshoot in? I love driving my CB7 and hate watching it sit there in the garage collecting dust. Sorry this is so long winded, I wanted to try to be thorough in my description of symptoms. Thanks for any and all help and advise. There's already been countless issues I've solved from using the ol search button, or asking around. You guys rule!
I have a '93 EX sedan, boosted JDM H22. custom downpipe and exhaust set up. I'm not telling you this to brag, just give you a slight idea of what I'm looking at. A couple months ago, one of the welds in my downpipe started splitting. At the time, I didn't have a back up car or enough money to get it fixed, so I kept driving it and tried to baby it along. Well, apparently my babying it wasn't good enough, because the split turned up into outright broken. My exhaust pipe was literally resting on the sub-frame, and all the fumes were floating around under the hood, getting sucked back into the intake on the turbo. As a result of this, the car started running like shit, bogging down periodically. Only when the car was at running temp. Didn't matter if I was at a stoplight, or doing 80 on the freeway, it would still do it. I would simply push in the clutch, rev the engine a few times, and it would seem to clear up.
Finally, I got the downpipe welded back up and put it back in my car. I was thinking now that the exhaust fumes were going where they were supposed to go, rather than swirling around under the hood, everything would be just dandy. Oh how wrong I was. It ran like a dream the first day. But the second day, it started doing it again. Now remember, I didn't have a back up car at the time, so I had no choice but to keep driving it. After a few days of this, it turned into not just bogging down, but now outright stalling. I'd just push in the clutch and restart it, and keep going on down the road. Annoying, but I can deal with it until I get a chance to research it, check it out, etc. Finally, it got to the point where it was hard to start and sputtered for a few seconds after starting. Also, when it stalled on the freeway, I'd have to pull over, let it set a minute, and it would crank right up. Now I'm aggravated as hell, so I picked up a second car ('92 EX CB9...score!!) and parked the sedan.
Well, the CB9 busted a trans cooler line yesterday, so I didn't have much choice but to take the sedan to work. It did its usual sputter when starting, then ran fine most of the way to work. Finally stalled out on my close to work, but I just pulled over, let it set, then started it up and finished my commute.
Now remember, up until now, all these issues have been with the engine at running temp, nice and warm.
I work nights, so I get out of work when most of you are still sleeping or just waking up. At 5a.m., it's dark and cold outside, I clock out, head to the ol' sedan to go home, and it won't start. It'll crank, the fuel pump is cycling (I've already ruled out the main relay), it even sounds like it's catching for a brief second. Fires a couple times, and then stalls. After 5 minutes of trying to cajole, beg, curse and yell, I give up trying to start the car. I get out and have a smoke to calm my nerves. I decide, as a last ditch effort, to disconnect the battery to 30 seconds and plug it back in. The car starts right away, without sputtering. I'm like WTF!?!? Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I promptly drive home and park in the garage. The drive went perfect. No stalling, no bogging, even with the engine at operating temp, everything was fine. After I get home and shut the car off, I decide to try to start it again and see what happens. It fires right up perfectly. No sputter or anything. Odd.
At first, with the problem being at operating temp, I'm thinking the ignitor in the distributor. I've read that with too much heat, they can fry, similar to how the main relay can do. The plan was to purchase a dizzy today, replace it, and hope that works. But this morning's no start while cold, has me thrown for a loop. I don't know what to think anymore.
Anyone happen to have any ideas or directions I can troubleshoot in? I love driving my CB7 and hate watching it sit there in the garage collecting dust. Sorry this is so long winded, I wanted to try to be thorough in my description of symptoms. Thanks for any and all help and advise. There's already been countless issues I've solved from using the ol search button, or asking around. You guys rule!
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