Engine Swap...Car Won't Start
#1
Lives in Boost
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Engine Swap...Car Won't Start
2003 Acura CL-S 6spd
So a couple of weeks ago I had my engine swapped with a lower mileage one. I had 116k on the original engine and it started running veryyy sluggish and throwing codes even during light acceleration. The car was barely driveable and felt like it had 100hp less than what it should. A year ago the stealership did some engine work to it (resurfacing heads, realigning valves etc) and they wanted to do it again when I brought my car in for the aforementioned problems. Needless to say I wasn't going to let them do it again since it obviously wasn't worth it.
Long story short, I got an engine with about 20k miles on it and had a performance shop install it. Everything went smoothly but when they went to start the car it wouldn't start. It has power and cranks normally like it's going to start but it doesn't. They replaced the Fuel Pump Relay fuse and still no dice. Tried hooking up some tool to it, and only got it to start when that tool was hooked up. It did something where it applied ground or something to the ecu. The car runs fine while it's running, you can even rev it and it sounds perfect. Got another ecu from a junkyard to see if that was the problem and no dice. Had it towed to the stealership and after two hours of diagnosis they still had no decisive cause to the problem. They put in an ecu they had lying around and no dice, but they were able to communicate with the ecu finally. Something about no signal from the alternator or something so they're going to try to replace the alternator and see if that's the problem. Any ideas? Seems like we've tried everything and the car still wont start normally. The shop that did my swap sounds pretty knowledgeable. They put in a new clutch set, had the flywheel resurfaced and put in the innovative mounts while the engine was out. I do have an aftermarket alarm (Compustar) w/ remote start, but they didn't have to remove any of that stuff during the engine swap. Any help you all could give would be veryyyy appreciated.
So a couple of weeks ago I had my engine swapped with a lower mileage one. I had 116k on the original engine and it started running veryyy sluggish and throwing codes even during light acceleration. The car was barely driveable and felt like it had 100hp less than what it should. A year ago the stealership did some engine work to it (resurfacing heads, realigning valves etc) and they wanted to do it again when I brought my car in for the aforementioned problems. Needless to say I wasn't going to let them do it again since it obviously wasn't worth it.
Long story short, I got an engine with about 20k miles on it and had a performance shop install it. Everything went smoothly but when they went to start the car it wouldn't start. It has power and cranks normally like it's going to start but it doesn't. They replaced the Fuel Pump Relay fuse and still no dice. Tried hooking up some tool to it, and only got it to start when that tool was hooked up. It did something where it applied ground or something to the ecu. The car runs fine while it's running, you can even rev it and it sounds perfect. Got another ecu from a junkyard to see if that was the problem and no dice. Had it towed to the stealership and after two hours of diagnosis they still had no decisive cause to the problem. They put in an ecu they had lying around and no dice, but they were able to communicate with the ecu finally. Something about no signal from the alternator or something so they're going to try to replace the alternator and see if that's the problem. Any ideas? Seems like we've tried everything and the car still wont start normally. The shop that did my swap sounds pretty knowledgeable. They put in a new clutch set, had the flywheel resurfaced and put in the innovative mounts while the engine was out. I do have an aftermarket alarm (Compustar) w/ remote start, but they didn't have to remove any of that stuff during the engine swap. Any help you all could give would be veryyyy appreciated.
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#2
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sounds like a nice bill from the stealership to come once its done. How much did the whole swap cost with labor? you should have invested in the 3.5 if that was in the budget.
#3
Lives in Boost
Thread Starter
Got the motor at a steal at about $1500 and the labor from the performance shop was only $1000. I strongly considered a 3.5 build and was going to go for it but I would've been doing so on an engine that only a year ago had valves aligned and heads resurfaced. I didn't think the motor was strong enough to invest $1500-2000 parts/labor into which is why I just got it swapped.
Any ideas on the starting problem, anyone?
Any ideas on the starting problem, anyone?
#5
Senior Moderator
iTrader: (2)
What ECU are you using? The 1 that came with the car or another one? You need to use a 03 6MT ECU. Anything else will not work.
What "tool" did you hook up?
If you have spark & fuel then it's going to be electrical. It may be the Transponder system(chip in key)
What year/model was the new engine from?
Are you sure the new engine was in running condition?
Is the shop sure they connected everything correctly? They need to double check all connections.
What "tool" did you hook up?
If you have spark & fuel then it's going to be electrical. It may be the Transponder system(chip in key)
What year/model was the new engine from?
Are you sure the new engine was in running condition?
Is the shop sure they connected everything correctly? They need to double check all connections.
#6
Lives in Boost
Thread Starter
What ECU are you using? The 1 that came with the car or another one? You need to use a 03 6MT ECU. Anything else will not work.
What "tool" did you hook up?
If you have spark & fuel then it's going to be electrical. It may be the Transponder system(chip in key)
What year/model was the new engine from?
Are you sure the new engine was in running condition?
Is the shop sure they connected everything correctly? They need to double check all connections.
What "tool" did you hook up?
If you have spark & fuel then it's going to be electrical. It may be the Transponder system(chip in key)
What year/model was the new engine from?
Are you sure the new engine was in running condition?
Is the shop sure they connected everything correctly? They need to double check all connections.
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#7
Senior Moderator
Now was the motor from a auto or manual? If its not from the manual you need a few different sensors.
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#8
Lives in Boost
Thread Starter
#9
Senior Moderator
Have you had the/A mechanic try swapping the crank position sensor?
#10
Lives in Boost
Thread Starter
fyi...it turned out to be the ECU. Not sure how or why it went bad but the car is starting fine now and I'm picking it up today. Fresh motor, new clutch, ecu and inno mounts. Ahhhh, I can't wait...
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#11
2600lb CL
iTrader: (2)
I was going to suggest the imobolizer, but it seems like you found the issue.
Which brings me to my question. If it was the ECU, how did the other 2 ecu's not work? Was it because they forgot to have the key programmed to the new ecu? (imobolizer is integrated to the ecu so there's no way around it but to program the key to the ecu)
Which brings me to my question. If it was the ECU, how did the other 2 ecu's not work? Was it because they forgot to have the key programmed to the new ecu? (imobolizer is integrated to the ecu so there's no way around it but to program the key to the ecu)
#12
Lives in Boost
Thread Starter
I was going to suggest the imobolizer, but it seems like you found the issue.
Which brings me to my question. If it was the ECU, how did the other 2 ecu's not work? Was it because they forgot to have the key programmed to the new ecu? (imobolizer is integrated to the ecu so there's no way around it but to program the key to the ecu)
Which brings me to my question. If it was the ECU, how did the other 2 ecu's not work? Was it because they forgot to have the key programmed to the new ecu? (imobolizer is integrated to the ecu so there's no way around it but to program the key to the ecu)
#14
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#15
Lives in Boost
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John,
btw, One 6 sucks. They had my car for 3 weeks and did very little and didn't seem very motivated to do anything anyway. I took it to Suja 1 out in Carol Stream and they were
btw, One 6 sucks. They had my car for 3 weeks and did very little and didn't seem very motivated to do anything anyway. I took it to Suja 1 out in Carol Stream and they were
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#16
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oh really...damm sorry to hear that..one6 use to be really good, guess the original techs left or something....you know any place that will tune and dyno...we gotta hookup soon Brian
#18
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#19
Lives in Boost
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Jason from Suja 1 can do dyno tuning. They'd have to schedule it with a dyno. Have you gotten a piggyback yet? I got dyno'd at P&L Motorsports in Franklin Park a while back. They said they could tune but it's a subaru/vw/audi shop. They seemed pretty competant though so they should be able to tune for you. I got the boomslang harness but haven't ordered the Neo yet.
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