car won't start after changing the exhaust


Goosse

Goosse

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Jun 16, 2012
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I know this is difficult without actually seeing the car, but here goes. I ran into some problems with my EK4 (B16A2) today. I'm detuning the car for the anual technical control here in Belgium, so I changed the exhaust from a JDM spec ITR header, JDM ITR cat and Fujisubo Legalis R cat-back, back to the stock EK4 system (including header). After the change the car started up fine on a cold engine, but once there was some heat in the engine and the rpm's dropped below 2000rpm, the engine just stalled and wouldn't start up again. I limped to the Honda dealer and with a quick check they couldn't find the problem. The checked timing, and this seemed to be fine. So options I'm thinking about is a blown head gasket, or a struggling engine because of the narrower exhaust? Anyway, the car is now at the Honda garage, so I hope they will find out what is wrong. I'm just breaking my head on looking for possibilities what the problem could be...
 
Certainly is a strange scenario, should be just fine after the swap.

Is your car running an oem ecu, or is it mapped on a standalone unit etc?
 
x2 swapping exhausts should not cause this problem unless when changing the manifold something nasty managed to find its way into the exhaust ports?

try doing an ECU reset if you run an OEM ECU that might clear things up

blown headgasket you will see out the exhaust and in the radiator...
 
Have they checked that your getting fuel and spark? compression tested the engine?
 
Ive never heard of a head gasket being blown from a narrower exhaust header, never. Way more pressure pre-ignition over an open exhaust valve dumping spent gasses.
Blown head gasket would show signs in your oil or coolant or both, without taking the head off.

Did the cat get hooked up correctly to the O2 sensor?
Or did you blow the coil in the dizzy?
 
Answering this in Dutch because that is easier for me :p

Heb je verder niks veranderd? Alleen uitlaat gewisseld?

Zit je lambda goed op z'n plek, en nog aan de stekker?

Lijkt me verder heel raar dat dit met je uilaat te maken heeft.
 
LeonL said:
Answering this in Dutch because that is easier for me :p

Heb je verder niks veranderd? Alleen uitlaat gewisseld?

Zit je lambda goed op z'n plek, en nog aan de stekker?

Lijkt me verder heel raar dat dit met je uilaat te maken heeft.
Click to expand...

Het beantwoorden van deze in het Nederlands, want dat is makkelijker voor mij

Have you nothing else changed? Only switched outlet?

Are you good lambda in place, and pull the plug?

Seems very odd that this further with you uilaat to do.

I tried!!! lw
 
Answering this in Dutch because that is easier for me :p

You didn't change anything else besides the exhaust?

Is your O2 sensor plugged in/fitted correctly?

This seems very odd, don't think it has anything to do with the exhaust.



Good try, doesn't look half bad, might be better then my English :p
 
LeonL said:
Answering this in Dutch because that is easier for me :p

You didn't change anything else besides the exhaust?

Is your O2 sensor plugged in/fitted correctly?

This seems very odd, don't think it has anything to do with the exhaust.



Good try, doesn't look half bad, might be better then my English :p
Click to expand...

:nice:
 
first to answer the questions, the O2 sensor was plugged in correctly. And indeed, no other signs of a blown head gasket in oil or coolant.

Anyway, I got a phonecall from the shop this morning that the car was fixed. They changed the delco-distributor cap and cleaned it out. After that the car fired up without any problems. I'm glad it is solved, but I still find it strange this happened right after changing the exhaust. The car works fine again, and I drove it straight from the shop to the technical control (what you would cal MoT) and it passed without problems.

I was talking to a friend of fine who drives a high tuned B18C ITR who sort of had the same problem after changing his exhaust to stock for the TC. When he went ik Vtec with the stock exhaust after the tune his engine would stall.

So anyway, thanks for the replies. timing, sparkplugs, compression and everything was checked by the shop, the car works again and I'll be changing back to the JDM exhaust next week...
 
oh, and Leon, enginewise nothing else was changed. En idd, soms is het Nederlands iets gemakkelijker.
 
Im thinking about changing my daily driver over to COP after reading this.
 
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