[vega]

hey guys, its been a long while since ive been on here, and of course, i come back with questions. ok i recently swapped my second gen hf motor for a d16a6. in the swap we used the hf harness (im still cant remember why we didnt use the si harness). but anyway, the car hasnt ever really ran just right, the idle would throb, and sometimes even die, until it warmed up. and it would throw two 02 sensor errors and an electrical load error. it would seem the timing was off, but adjusting it didnt really help, replaced the spark plugs and wires, and the fuel pump. well a few days ago i was on my way home from out of town, i let my brother drive. he rev'd a little high without letting off the clutch :roll: . and ever since then, the car wont rev over about 3300rpm and seems to choke down when you apply gas. we took it to a shop, and he seems to think theres a problem with the wiring on the intake mani. i am not positive the vacuum lines are attatched just right, as the hf had 4, where the d16 has 2, so theres 2 vacuum lines we plugged. i looked through some repair manuals and such, but couldnt find a good picture of where these lines go, as theres a black box covering everything on the hf. theres also a strong gas smell on take off, so its running rich.

ive tried to explain what i can, im just getting sick of the car :x . if anyone has any idea where to start to identify the electrical load problem, or any of these symptoms i would greatly appriciate it.

the d16 is in good shape to say the least.
hf harness(which means we are missing one of the sensors on the back of the intake mani.)
new plugs/wires/fuel filter/distro. cap
stock internals

edit: also im wondering if the hf fuel pump is different from the si. and what about throttle position sensor, could that have something to do with my rich problems? theres a cap on top of the fuel filter, can that be adjusted? we just tightened it down, but it look to be adjustable in some way.

-beau

 

[bobski]

What codes are you getting exactly? It sounds like you have the MAP sensor disconnected.
Take the HF's black box off the firewall and examine it's contents. The Si version of that assembly has either two or three devices in it, depending on year. One solenoid valve to control purging the charcoal canister (all years have it), another solenoid valve on early model years to control idle speed in extreme cold temperatures and the MAP sensor (it's labeled). The MAP sensor (manifold absolute pressure sensor) is the ECU's primary method of determining engine load and how much fuel to inject. Without it the ECU can't function properly, so it goes into a sort of limp mode designed to keep the car running well enough to reach a shop. In the limp mode, you can think of the ECU as making an educated guess as to what the MAP reading should be based on the other sensor signals it has available. Since it's running on a guess, it also limits engine speed to around 3,000 rpm to prevent possibly damaging the engine.
Anyway, you should have a vacuum hose from the back of the manifold plenum to the purge solenoid valve and from a port on the valve to the top most port on the charcoal canister. The charcoal canister should have a solid red hose coming from the top center of the canister to a hard line going through the firewall on the opposite side of the fuel filter. The remaining port on the canister (below the purge solenoid connection) should have a braided red hose going to a large port on top of the throttle body.
The MAP sensor should have a vacuum line more or less directly from it's port to a smaller port on top of the throttle body - it's smaller than the charcoal canister port.

 

[vega]

the exact codes i am getting is the o2 sensor, i believe it was code 1, and i forget what the number was on the other one, but i remember looking it up as an electrical load error, that i understand could be just about anything.

thank you for the quick response, ill be able to look over the vacuum lines later, when i get the car back to the house.

-beau
edit: the guy at the shop recommened swapping the intake mani for the one off another engine i have at the house.

i also forgot to list the years of the cars/motors i have

the hf is an '89, the motor we swapped into it was a '90 i believe, and the motor i have for parts is an '89 d16a6.

 

[bobski]

The electrical load error code is for the electrical load detector - it's basicly an electrical current flow sensor built into the under-hood fuse box. Since the ELD doesn't have any moving parts or current switching functions, it rarely wears out or otherwise fails. On the other hand, ECUs with grounding issues have been known to throw an ELD code among other things. Check that the ground point on the thermostat housing is clean and tight; Most of the engine management stuff, including the ECU grounds there. Also check the transmission to frame rail to negative battery terminal ground cable. It wouldn't supprise me if the drivability issues you're having turn out to be a grounding issue... I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me in the first place.

 

[Stavros]

i have the same code for o2 sensor and im running lean. if you smell gas, its because your fuel mixture is too rich, maybe try checking on your gas lines to make sure you dont have a leak? also try checking your fuel pressure. if a fuel filter is plugged, you could have low pressure, or if your pump isnt throwing enough pressure to your injectors, that could be the reason for the code also.

sorry if this advice sounds simple, i just want to make sure every angle of this problem is covered. check your grounding first, then check the fuel system. I had trouble with my idle when i switched from a DX DPFI to an SI MPFI system in my old car, and my idle was all strange too. never got around to fixing it because some jerk wrote that car off, so i have no answers from that experience

hope my .2 helps

 

[vega]

turns out the little widget thats attatched to a spring inside the distro cap had broken off and wiggled its way into the gear and destroyed most all of the teeth on it

-beau