The fire and the problems afterwards
 

Ok. So recently my car caught fire due to an amp wire that shorted out and melted all the way through the car. The only damage however was to the passenger side floorbord wich also just so happens to be where the computer is located. I wasnt aware that the previous owener of the car had ran the amp wire through the firewall on the passenger side and the amp wire rand acrossed the wiring harness...:(. There was no real damage to the wiring but some of the coating on the wires had melted. After the fire i notieced that my vtec wasnt engaging, so i took a look tonight. Three wires were bare and touching. so i wrapped them up in E-tape and then wrapped the entire wiring harness up to an extent. but now when i bring the idle up to 1000 rmp it acts as if its hitting the rev limmit.. the car still runs and drives just fine but right at the 1000rpm mark it has that issue. Any ideas on how to fix this? im planing a rebulid on my H22A soon so id like to get this problem fixed as soon as possible.

please i need ideas soon.

-Rob

It sucks but a new wiring harness might be the best idea, sounds like this is going to give you nothing but problems in the future.

So the problem only came after you taped the wires up? Any check engine lights? Does the car actually not rev above 1000rpms, or it just sort of sputters then continues

My CEL is always on. The area i live in its very hard to find a code reader for and engine and ecu of this kind. It will go past 1000rpm no problem but if i try to slowly bring it up i just kinda goes " bawah bawah bawah" as if its hitting a rev limiter. As far as a wiring harness goes where would i even find one?

Also i fixed the VTEC problem when i taped the wires up.

**Just now i went out to start it up and check the status on the problem, and it was acting like it was gonna die on me. it was idling at 500 rpm so i gave a gentle push on the wiring harness and the idle came back up . The 1000 rpm problem still stands.

Your car is OBD1, just jump the 2 pin blue connector under the glove box and watch the CEL flash the code. See if you have any new ones other than whatever else is always on.

A junkyard or ebay would be where I would start.

I know this is gonna sound really dumb but im new to the Honda owership world.. and i have no idea what an obd1 is.

And could you go into more detail with the 2pin blue thing.

1) this is why a fuse must be placed next to the battery for any wires that are added to the car.
2) do you live in an area that does not have any auto parts stores? What part of IL do you live in? Any Autozone, Advance Auto, ect will read the codes for free for you.
3) How do you know you have an H22a and not a F22a?

i live in a small town called Olney, and ive been to various auto parts stores and they say the dont have the right code reader.
Also because the block has H22A stamped into it. i bought it from this guy in Kentucky so its a backwood swap.

There is a two wire blue connector under the glove box. Take a paper clip, bend it into a U-shape, shove it in both sides of the connector. Watch the CEL flash.

Compare the flashes to this list of codes:
Check Engine Light Codes: Honda 1990-1995 obd1 code retrieval

ok.
Look under the glovebox you will see a little connector that goes nowhere.
Take a paperclip (or whatever) and connect the 2 pins of the connector together.

Turn the key to the 2nd position

the check engine light will flash

long flashed = 10
short flashes = 1

report back what you find.

Live2rice I guess we were responding at the same time

Glad I'm not the only one that gets up early!

ok well i used a saftey pin that i cut to bridge them but nothing happend i dont have a light persay i have this little square.and thats it. so it did nothing.

The check engine light in the middle of the cluster right? Was the car running? Sure you got a good connection with the safety pin?

Thats my cluster i even jumped it with a wire and still got nothing out of it. and the idle problem seems to have fixed its self some how.

I didn't realize till just now that i even had a check engine light. i just assumed that thats what the little square was. my check engine light never comes on for any reason. im not surprised that i cant even force it on.

Does your check engine light turn on when you turn the key to the II position? Its the light to the left of the 40mph mark.

I still would consider replacing the wiring harness, as it seems like its very finicky and is only going to cause problems.

It sounds like the previous owner removed the bulb because of some problem that caused the check engine light to be on and they didn't want to fix it.

If it were my car I would put a bulb in and see what codes you have.

The red "maintenance required" indicator can be reset by pressing your key into the little slot on the cluster. Its just set to turn to red every 3000 miles or so to remind you to do an oil change.

nope it never lights up.

Yeah then the bulb was removed. The check engine light should come on for a few seconds every time you start your car. You have to take the cluster out to replace it.

ok thanks.

and im looking into the wiring harness found some places that i had to email.

Google Honda Ownerlink
Create an account with your VIN number
After you do there should be a link to eStore

This is a great resource to use for parts. I then search for better deals on the web but sometimes it is worth a few extra dollars to get the part directly from Honda. Check several dealership around your state because they all dont charge the same price for parts. I use a dealership 50 miles from my house because the close one to me charges twice as much for the same part. You can also get the parts shipped directly to your door.