88 Civic, replaced starter, won't fire, maybe blew ECU?

So we replaced the starter, Car started, ran out of gas during test,
didn't think to check gas as it sat there for 2 months! We decided to
fill up with gas and take the new "used" starter out to clean it up,
put it back in, CAR won't fire????

Checked Spark- good
Checked fuel pump- good
Checked Fuel injection points- they read accurately on the meter- good
It turns over-good
Fires- not good

We think we might have blown the ecu when we reinstalled the battery!
Is this possible? Would this be a symptom? Wouldn't there be other
symptoms? Would I notice the others if the car won't start?

How do I find the ecu? Read other posts but all I got was that it might
be on passenger under carpet, might be on driver! I don't really want
to rip up the carpet to find this damn thing. Or is it under the seats?
Is it in a box, what am I looking for?

Any help would be great, Grandpa is so proud to work on this with me,
but alas his knowledge is limited and so is mine!
Thanks

 

Hi Michael

I am not sure if you'd want to start looking at the ECU. It could be
'it' but perhaps look at some other things first. If you have spark and
gas, the ECU is most likely ok.

In my (perhaps limited) Honda experience, it seems that Hondas are hard
to start after they've had a problem for some reason. Some other people
say this is not needed, but I've had good experience getting a car
started by spraying five seconds of ether in the air intake before
starting it -- take the intake hose off and spray it right in. Perhaps
just try that first to see if it coughs back to life.

Since you ran out of gas, maybe you sucked some gas tank sludge into
the injectors or carb. Get some gas system cleaner (not dry gas, but
the stuff that proports to clean your injectors/carb) and follow
directions as to how much to fill the car up. Some cleaners work best
on a near empty tank.

It could also be that, while you took the starter out, you yanked a
wire loose. On our integra, there are several quick disconnect bundle
connectors that are right above the starter -- one does go to the
distributor. I'd check those connectors and spray some contact cleaner
(Radio Shack) in them -- can't hurt.

Perhaps you are getting gas, but the pressure is wrong. I don't quite
get how that would happen after running out of gas but could happen at
any time, so perhaps is just a coincidence that it happened when it
did. In that case, it could be your fuel pressure regulator.

I am sure other people here will have a several more good suggestions
for you to try.
Regards,
Remco

 

I think your ECM has 4 LEDs that light up to display problems.

carpet up against the firewall on the passenger side. 4 10mm
hold it on. There is a plastic window so you can see the LED.
It is plenty bright, but in direct sunshine it may be hard to see.
When you turn the ignition on, the LED should light up for
a second or so. IF it doesn't light up, then the ECM is either
bad, or it is getting no power.
If it flashes after the initial pulse, then you have something else
wrong.
You realy need a manual to even strt debugging this.
If you post the number of flashes, and you can had more then one set of
flashes. I will tell you what my books say it COULD be. Think simple.
Most problems are not complex, they just apear that way.
When I worked on a 1990 Civic the ECM showed three errors,
after I replaced a bunch of defective parts. Repair of an ECM is not
a real option, evn for a skilled tech. I got it "working", but it still
shows
an AT lock up error(19 flashes). In a MT Civic.
As Honda has very robust ECMs I doubt that is the problem.
My friends ECM had been wet, very wet. The corrosion ate away
some of the leads for the various electronic parts. While Honda ECMs
do fail, it takes a lot to kill them. Cehck your fuses. ALL of them.
Under the dash and under the hood.
Disconnect the battery, and remove the 4 nuts that hold the cover
and disconnect the ECM, install and remove the connector several
times to clean them.
A rebuilt ECM will run you around $200. I don;t have the name and
adress of the company we dealt with, but I will dig it out. Avoid
AutoZone, Advanced, and NAPA. A lot more expensive, with a worse
warrenty.
I wold do a net search on Civic PRM-FI relays. They fail most often
in the heat of summer, but can die anytime. Do another search for
Civic Ignitors (or Igniters). They can fail at anytime and will stop
you dead in your tracks.
Again, think simple, check the fuses, does the car crank OK, is the
battery
pretty strong? Cehck your spark plugs, a coworker had her Accord die
at work, Cranked but no go. Pulled the plugs and they were all fouled
with carbon. The car had 100K and she didn't know when the plugs had
been changed. We cleaned the plugs and the car ran a little rough, but
she was able to get past Advanced Auto and get new plugs. We installed
them over lunch the next day and her car ran GREAT. She is convinced
that
we are all very good mechanics. To check for spark I advise the use of
a 8$ tool from advanced auto with a calibrated arc gap. Great little
tool. A system
may produce enough spark on a plug outside the engine, and not have
enough juice to work under compression.
Terry

 

In case I am not around for a few days, the company I bought
the ECM/ECU (both are the same thing) from:
Foreign Auto Computer
1-800-241-6689
They may be able to test yours.
But again check everything else first.
$200 is a lot of money if it doesn't cure the problem.
Terry

 

If you store your car a lot with a low fuel level in it, more condensation
will get in there. If you have spark and injection points on the meter then
ECU is fine. Changing the battery shouldn't blow the fuse. It's probably
a pick up problem when the tank gets low.

Wear your goggles, starter fluid is useful but dangerous on throttle body.

 

Thanks guys for all your advice I really appreciate it!

We are gonna wait till after christmas to look at it again!
Thanks again