Any car guys out there that can tell me what might be wrong with my car?

[luciusad2004]

First, I'm including a video but i'm not sure if this belonged in videos and links or not, If so I apologize.

When I start my car in the morning it stumbles for a minute or two and doesn't want to turn over properly. After a minute or two the idle smooths out and it runs like normal. If i give it some gas it smooths out quicker.

I only have a few current suspects and I don't know if I'm looking in the wrong places or not, The previous owner swapped the ECU from an OBD II ecu to an OBD I ecu. I have no clue what kind of tune is on the ecu. I suspect the car lot that I picked her up at was unaware of the swap.

My other consideration was that the IACV is bad. The IACV would have been swapped out with the OBD conversion though so I can't imagine it being in horrible shape unless the previous owner put on one that was already in bad shape. Anything is possible since most of the mod's I've discovered have been cheaply done mods.

I appreciate any input. : )

Video of the symptoms. Not the best quality but it gets the point across.
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[TLHarrell]

Check the condition and color of the spark plugs (they can tell you a lot about how the engine is running). Check the spark plug cables. Check the fuel injectors. Check the distributor and the condenser. Find somebody who has tools to talk to that engine and see what's up. It's not turning on the idiot light, so it's not throwing trouble codes. Start at the simple stuff and work your way down. Air cleaner ok? Air box leaking where it shouldn't? Check the timing on the distributor. Fuel, air and spark. That's the three things you need. One of them isn't getting there.

[xr4man]

first thing i would think of is a problem with the whole ecu setup. i would go and find the appropriate ecu for the car and put everything back to normal. i can't imagine why anyone would want to go from an obd2 to a obd1 ecu except to get rid of the catalytic converter, which is highly illegal to mess with emission controls.

so if you live in a state that does emissions testing, you will never ever be able to have the test done, because they will be looking for the obd2 port to plug into.

[Luke122]

Emissions changes are not illegal everywhere. ;)

Has this just started happening with cooler weather?

[luciusad2004]

This is actually more common in the warmer weather for me. It didn't do it nearly as much during the winter. The valve chatter was much louder but that quieted down now that it's warmer, and this started. It also does this every time I fill up the fuel tank even during the winter.

The ECU swap is definitely not legal in the majority of places. My state doesn't really do emissions testing yet except for Gas Cap tests. My biggest concern with it is that i don't know what is disabled as far as the emissions stuff goes. I have a cat but i know that the secondary O2 sensor get's ignored. It's a useful modification on a swapped and/or heavily modified motor as OBD 1 computers are easy to have re-flashed or tuned. However my car is not heavily modified so it's pretty much a pointless mod. I'd swap it back if it was easy to find my computer but apparently my engine combined with a 5-speed trans isn't that common, making my ECU harder to come by without dropping $700 on a new one.

The funny thing about the ECU swap... I bought this car, maybe half a year ago, so that I could get rid of my swapped civic. I wanted something stock that I could move to California in. A few weeks after buying it i discovered the ECU swap and my hopes were dashed. :(

[xr4man]

i really wish i could help you more, but i'm not good at troubleshooting many cars except the models i own. i can turn a wrench and fix stuff with ease though.

but really, why would you want to move to california anyway?

[luciusad2004]

...why would you want to move to california anyway?

My dad lives out there. I always loved being out there when i went to visit and I just really wanted to get out of Pennsylvania. It's probably to expensive for me though so idk what I want to do at this point.

Small update. It seems to have gotten worse. I went to start it up today and it didn't want to start at all. It tried to turn over once then immediately stalled. I had to give it some gas to get her to start up.

Anyone think it may be a fuel supply problem? The pump starts up and isn't making any strange noises. Maybe I'll check change the fuel filter this weekend.

[xr4man]

i was just being a smart ass about moving to cali.

[luciusad2004]

Oh lol. My bad.

On the positive side of things. If i get enough money for a car worth working with in PA it's easier to get away with a modified car.

[SXRguyinMA]

Check your fuel pump. Mine in my truck doesn't hold pressure after you shut it off. When you turn the key (but don't start it) the pump builds pressure and it'll start normally. Try turning the key (but not starting it) and cycle it a couple times then try starting it :)

[luciusad2004]

Check your fuel pump. Mine in my truck doesn't hold pressure after you shut it off. When you turn the key (but don't start it) the pump builds pressure and it'll start normally. Try turning the key (but not starting it) and cycle it a couple times then try starting it :)

Only tried this twice so far and it started up no problems both times. The weather's cooled down though So i'll see how this works over the next couple of days, especially in the morning when I leave for work.

[luciusad2004]

Cycling the fuel pump worked for a while but now it seems to not be effective. Car doesn't want to turn over at all unless I give it gas when i start it.