Engine cutting in/out, car not starting

[wisp]

[quote="fiestycolumbian"]
When the car sits for a while, the engine starts, but as soon as I hit the throttle, it dies.

The only other thing I can throw at it is a new battery.

[/quote]

Doesn't sound at all like a battery problem.  ???

[DarthChicken]

Starting to sound like a really clogged fuel filter or a really bad tank of gas.

[Monza]

you can try/check these things :
. disconnect battery during 5 min and reconnect : try to start
. disconnect the lamda sensor on the exhaust : try to start
. is there any MIL light on the ECU and is it green ?
. are you sure that there are sparks ? have you checked it ?
. does it smell petrol at the end of the exhaust after pushing the start buton ? ... just to be sure that injectors are pushing petrol.
. did this happen first time after a long immobilisation period or not ?
. disconnect/reconnect all sensor you can in engine area
. check the mass (generally a wire in the middle of the engine, just up the fuel tank, going to the chassis)

[positron]

[quote="John Scherrer"]
Sounds like fuel starvation .. fuel pump?
[/quote]

[quote="DarthChicken"]
Starting to sound like a really clogged fuel filter or a really bad tank of gas.
[/quote]

Fuel restriction/delivery of some sort.

It's got spark otherwise it wouldn't start at all. With a restriction/weak pump it will slowly build enough pressure to light off but not enough to maintain work..

Fuel pressure gauge is in order. Does the Honda's have the same fuel bucket set up? You may want to pull and check for gasket failure it'll all go to the bucket with only a little migrating around.

[Karl]

[quote="Positron"]
[quote="John Scherrer"]
Sounds like fuel starvation .. fuel pump?
[/quote]

[quote="DarthChicken"]
Starting to sound like a really clogged fuel filter or a really bad tank of gas.
[/quote]

Fuel restriction/delivery of some sort.

It's got spark otherwise it wouldn't start at all. With a restriction/weak pump it will slowly build enough pressure to light off but not enough to maintain work..

Fuel pressure gauge is in order. Does the Honda's have the same fuel bucket set up? You may want to pull and check for gasket failure it'll all go to the bucket with only a little migrating around.
[/quote]

Hondas have the same configuration as the GMs from bucket to pump to the output of the fuel filter. But Feisty says his gaskets are good? Feisty, can you re-confirm that you've checked the sock on the bottom of the fuel pump bucket for clogging?

[silver]

[quote="fiestycolumbian"]
New MAP sensor did not fix the issue. The sensors do not seem like the problem. When the car sits for a while, the engine starts, but as soon as I hit the throttle, it dies. And then the engine cannot start anymore.

The only other thing I can throw at it is a new battery. The current battery is reading 12.5V, and about 10V on engine crank start attempt.

After that I am clueless. Pretty depressing really. 

fiesty
[/quote]

this is exactly what mine did but I can't find the thread.

I had 2 issues, My car would idle and if I hit the gas it would die, however, if I let it idle for 2 or 3 minutes then stab the gas, it would eventually kick out a lot of black smoke and belch but it got back to normal......cause was bad gas from sitting around not being driven for 2 months.

other thing that happened is my car wouldn't start and it was all acting funky, I can't find the thread where we discussed this but it was something to do with the factory security system and after about 2 days and after I removed the dash and move the wire bundles around a bit, it started right up and has been normal ever since.

lastly was my throttle body plug came out, that killed it on the highway but the symptom for that is that it starts just fine but there was NO throttle pedal input, so that's not your problem.

[wisp]

[quote="Positron"]
It's got spark otherwise it wouldn't start at all. With a restriction/weak pump it will slowly build enough pressure to light off but not enough to maintain work..

[/quote]

You can lose spark after start up due to a loose connection. Like I said, it happened to me.

But it does sound like there's more of a likelihood the problem is gas. Monza's suggestion of seeing if petrol can be smelt after cranking the car over, when it won't start, is a good simple test.

[positron]

Fuel pressure gauge > inducing hydrocarbons into ones lungs.

[McFred]

[quote="fiestycolumbian"]
When the car sits for a while, the engine starts, but as soon as I hit the throttle, it dies. And then the engine cannot start anymore.
[/quote]

Log this process, send me the file, and I can take a look at it.

[fiestycolumbian]

From my understanding, the fuel gasket issue/pump issue is something that happens over time, not instantly like my situation. Correct me if I am wrong about this. From a quick inspection, the gasket seemed fine and the tank very clean.

I disconnected the fuel lines from the fuel pump to the fuel filter, and fuel was flowing pretty quickly into a bucket as soon as I waved the wand. I did the same process all the way to the fuel rail and injectors, proper fuel flow. The fuel coming out was very clean. I havent measured with a fuel pressure guage, I will do this to confirm.

I can smell fuel coming out of the exhaust when the engine is trying to crank.

And, the battery seems okay with proper voltage.

It may be a problem with the MAP or throttle body wiring harness? I will try to splice the wires and hope to find a short somewhere.

Never thought about a bad tank of fuel. Does that really happen?

Also for some reason, the Hondata ECU is not registering any fault codes. If I am able to start the engine again, I will try to log the data.

fiesty

[silver]

[quote="fiestycolumbian"]
From my understanding, the fuel gasket issue/pump issue is something that happens over time, not instantly like my situation. Correct me if I am wrong about this. From a quick inspection, the gasket seemed fine and the tank very clean.

I disconnected the fuel lines from the fuel pump to the fuel filter, and fuel was flowing pretty quickly into a bucket as soon as I waved the wand. I did the same process all the way to the fuel rail and injectors, proper fuel flow. The fuel coming out was very clean. I havent measured with a fuel pressure guage, I will do this to confirm.

I can smell fuel coming out of the exhaust when the engine is trying to crank.

And, the battery seems okay with proper voltage.

It may be a problem with the MAP or throttle body wiring harness? I will try to splice the wires and hope to find a short somewhere.

Never thought about a bad tank of fuel. Does that really happen?

Also for some reason, the Hondata ECU is not registering any fault codes. If I am able to start the engine again, I will try to log the data.

fiesty
[/quote]

yes my fuel went bad,

my symptoms were it would barely start, it would idle fine but if you hit the accelerator it would stumble and die.  If you let it warm up for a minute or 2 it would choke and cough when you hit the accelerator but it would stay alive.

it would be easy enough to drain your tank with a siphon then refill it with new gas.

on the fuel tank gaskets you should have seen a time period where acceleration began to stumble as an indication that the fuel pump socks were getting clogged..however if you sucked up a big chunk of black goo then perhaps it's totally clogged.

did you remove the fuel filler neck to inspect the gasket fully, if you did not then you MUST remove the neck to know for sure.  If your gasket is still all there then  that's not the problem, the filler neck is the one that fails b/c the tank's hole is larger than the gasket therefore it droops into the fuel and deteriorates.

[silver]

update?  helllllooooooooooooooooooo

[fiestycolumbian]

sorry, have been swamped!

It turns out the main board on the Hondata ECU is broken. The processor sticks up about 1 inch and looks like there is something loose inside it. When I move the processor, ever so slightly, the engine cuts in an out. Everytime I would hit a bump or a take a corner the processor would move and the engine would cut out.

A bit frustrating as something like this rarely happens. And the Hondata ECU is not cheap 

Have sent in the ECU to Hondata headquarters in Torrance, CA. Hopefully know more early next week.

fiesty

[silver]

WOWOW no one saw that coming 

[benyeats]

[quote="fiestycolumbian"]

It turns out the main board on the Hondata ECU is broken. The processor sticks up about 1 inch and looks like there is something loose inside it. When I move the processor, ever so slightly, the engine cuts in an out. Everytime I would hit a bump or a take a corner the processor would move and the engine would cut out.

[/quote]

What do you mean by the processor ?  All the symptoms match a dry solder (soder as I think it is wrongly called in your country ) so should be easily repariable.

Ben