Lean and Mean - 1998 Honda Civic HX Project Log

[cbaber]

Originally Posted by wolydotmatrix

Where is your battery grounded?? pic?

Battery is grounded to the rear shock tower. It's directly behind the carpet in this picture. It's bolted on one of the shock bolts.


I've got a few tests to do when I get home. First thing I am going to do is clean off the battery ground with a wire brush, on the battery post and the cable connectors. I'll do the same with the positive battery post. I'll see if that is the issue. If not I'm checking the starter solenoid signal wire and the starter power wire for voltage to make sure the starter is getting power and start signal.

If the starter is getting power and signal, and the grounds are good, the only thing left is the battery or wiring. The thing that baffled me was that after I tried to start it, voltage to the whole car would go away for awhile. The fuses didn't blow, and I never really figured out what I did to restore power each time. This is leading me to believe it is a ground issue.

[cbaber]

The culprit was a poor ground connection. After I cleaned off the battery posts, and sanded the area on the shock tower, the car starts fine now. I also swapped out the distribution box with just a bolt connecting all the positive leads together. It's mounted on a plastic tab, connected to the fuse box with industrial doubled sided tape.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but it shows the basic idea

[jedi_sol]

Originally Posted by cbaber

The culprit was a poor ground connection.

I called it!

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by cbaber

the car starts fine now.

[wolydotmatrix]

I run into this alot at work when the battery has been relocated. Glad you got it sorted out. They make Lugs to connect small gauge wire,Battery Lugs & Crimp Tools, for jobs like this.

[cbaber]

Originally Posted by 2000mc

A seven year old Walmart starter battery being used like a deep cycle... Have you had the battery tested?

I'm not running without the alternator yet. The battery relocation could be completed using the old battery so I decided to go ahead and do that while it's still warm outside. I'll be getting a deep cycle battery within a couple months regardless of whether the current battery dies or not. It's just a matter of spending the money.

I run into this alot at work when the battery has been relocated. Glad you got it sorted out. They make Lugs to connect small gauge wire,Battery Lugs & Crimp Tools, for jobs like this.

The picture is really blurry but I do have 4 gauge copper lugs and a 2 gauge copper lug bolted together onto a plastic tab.

[cbaber]

I've got some exciting news... I've found a nice used 1995 Civic CX transmission locally that I may be picking up this weekend. The 92-95 Civic CX transmission is the same as the 92-95 Civic VX. That means going from my current 3.722 final drive to a 3.250 final drive.

[pletby]

Originally Posted by cbaber

Are you sure that isn't a flux capacitor??


Looks good! Why did you make the change from the Distribution box?

[cbaber]

The distribution box worked fine, but I was experiencing some grounding issues and the car wouldn't start. In order to eliminate the possibility of that dist. box being defective, I decided to simplify the system for troubleshooting. Plus, the box that I bought held 2 ANL fuses. I didn't want to worry about 2 more fuses that are not necessary. Another reason is that I didn't like where I had to mount it. The size and orientation of the cables meant the only place I could mount it was the old battery tray.

Another option I thought about was to take off the fuse box and somehow mount everything to the bottom of it, so that all positive wires were hidden. It might be too close to metal though.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by cbaber

I've got some exciting news... I've found a nice used 1995 Civic CX transmission locally that I may be picking up this weekend. The 92-95 Civic CX transmission is the same as the 92-95 Civic VX. That means going from my current 3.722 final drive to a 3.250 final drive.

You'll have lean burn and VX gearing and the car starts to become a legend at freeway cruise.