Hey all, I recently picked up a 1992 Integra GS. I was told by the previous owner that it would not start due to a fuel pump issue. I replaced the pump, and i still couldn’t get it to start. I can’t hear the pump prime with the key on, so I’m thinking it may be a relay issue. I’m also not getting spark at the engine, and the cylinder one spark plug will not budge whatsoever and when I tried to remove it the porcelain broke off of it. If anyone has any suggestions or advice it would be greatly appreciated.
I guess try the main fuel relay first. I believe those are still available aftermarket. As for the broken spark plug… ah man I haven’t a clue how to pop that off. I assume there’s some tool to remove broken spark plugs…
Dang bro, sounds like they sold you a POS lol jk. I am no mechanic but I can at least point you in the right direction since I had the no fuel issue as well. So, with the fuel pump not priming, there’s a few things it can be.
I will start from the cheapest/easiest to the most expensive.
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First thing would be the main relay of course. I would imagine you checked the main relay prior to changing the fuel pump? I just changed my fuel pump too and that was no fun by myself LOL. If you want to make sure your relay is working, just take it out of that box that it’s housed in and let it kinda hang while still plugged in. Then hold the relay in your left hand and turn your key to the on position and you should feel it click once (turning on fuel injectors). At least if you feel one click then you know the relay is NOT the issue. Someone correct me if I am wrong but if your relay can click to turn on the fuel injectors then it is a functioning unit and something else is causing the fuel pump to not turn on.
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Once you have the relay troubleshot, you can move onto the wiring. The relay was a super simple check and if you aren’t getting any clicks with that at all, then it’s safe to assume that the relay is the single point of failure. If you are getting clicks, then you can start testing the wiring for the relay and moving onto checking the ECU wiring and wiring for the fuel pump. Obviously if one of those points aren’t receiving/sending power, it would be your issue. Unfortunately I don’t know which wires you need to be testing but you should be able to find that out online as well. If your wiring turns out to be good, you can move onto the next step.
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Check your ECU. These cars are 30+ years old now, the ECUs have been through some shit lol. If you have a friend with a OBD1 integra with the same specs, you can try to borrow their ECU and see if your fuel pump will prime with a known working one. I ended up just buying an ECU on ebay because I was fed up with it and this was the last thing left that I KNEW would fix the fuel pump issue. Obviously check your ECU fuse in the engine bay first to make that sure that thing isn’t blown before swapping the ECU out.
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Last step would be the Fuel Pump but you said you already did that so we don’t need to go into that.
Assuming your relay is clicking, I can 95% guarantee your issue is with the ECU lol. My car is also a 92 so it’s safe to say that our ECU’s reached their max life of 30 years and decided to give out. Electronics are the biggest failure point for most of these older vehicles anyways. I’ll tell you my exact steps I took (don’t throw money at it like I did).
Replaced fuel filter, replaced main relay, replaced fuel pump, replaced ECU. I could have saved on the fuel filter, main relay, and pump if I just tested the relay first (my old one worked just fine) then checked the ECU. The ECU, while the most expensive part, was the sole cause of this fuel pump no prime issue.
As for your spark issue, first off who tightened that spark plug so tight that you broke it while trying to remove it lmao. TBH I think you might be F****d with that. If a ratchet couldn’t remove it, you’d be struggling to get long pliers or whatever to twist that thing off. If you manage to get that thing out though, might as well run through a tune up and replace the spark plugs, wires, and distributor cap. Of course the issue might be the distributor as well so might be worth replacing if you can find one. I would do the wires and plugs first before doing that though.
Goodluck with your project bro!
So I figured I would update y’all on this. The spark plug snapped off in the head, so that now takes precedent over trying to start it. I’m pretty sure it’s the ECU now, based on the info you gave me. I still need to test the wires but I figured I’d cross that bridge once the spark plug debacle is resolved. With the ECU, would you have to program it or is it just a plug and play kind of thing? I’m trying to figure out what to do about the spark plugs because it’s looking more and more like the head has to come off, which I don’t really wanna do lol.
So luckily for us, we don’t need to reprogram the ECU as long as you get the ECU for your chassis. Just look at the ECU number you have and go online to eBay or maybe a junkyard and find one that is the same. Note that the last 3 digits should be the same(kinda). It’s kind of a weird thing but since you have a 92 (OBD1), I’m also assuming it’s a manual so your last 3 digits on your ECU should be somewhere along the lines of A11 or L11. The letter has something to do with like Japanese or Canadian or American ECU, it doesn’t matter but as long as you get the one that’s has the same last 2 digits, you should be good. Most automatic ECUs have the last 2 digits above like 50. So an auto ecu would be something like L57 or something like that. Also, since ours is OBD1, it’s gonna be 37820-PR4-_11. The OBD0 ones are pretty similar so be aware and don’t get an OBD0 one. The OBD0 one looks like: 37820-PR4-_02. Very similar and I honestly don’t know if they would work or not but better to just get the one made for our cars as to not waste time. Let me know if you have any questions. I would hate to be in your situation with the spark plug, that thing seems like it would be a huge pain. Goodluck as always.
If you can get the spark plug loose. A magnet will fish it out.