1991 Accura Integra Dies While Driving

For starter you need to tell me what a racing engine is in your situation. Is it injected, who's fuel system and ignition? There are several things it can be, but more information is needed to allow me to make useful comments. Here is my Email if you would like to contact me for further assistance. johnd7618@cox.net

I have over 35 years experience as an automotive engineer and an the Jaguar Club's technical support expert. I also operate a shop that does full line automotive repair.

don't rule out fuel problems. seems like you've covered the electrical side. the injectors also run on electricity so the difference in voltage strength from the old battery to the new one is small but could make a difference.

is the car on a custom race tune?

has the car ran awesome before on the race engine? and what engine is it?

who did the swap?

are you running aggressive cams? sometimes with a long duration race cams one must use the throttle to keep the car running.

is this race engine running high compression? forced induction? how many litres? what size injectors?

there's so many unknowns, we need more info!!

Sound like a charging problem. Perhaps your alternator is on its way out. It could be producing just enough juice to keep the battery at a tolerable level but not enough under heavier loads such as using directionals head lamps etc.. This could explain the dying while driving, difficulty restarting and the previously junk battery. Also most fuel pumps these days are electrical. If you have fuel injection ( since it is a 91 integra it is safe to assume that you do. ) then you could have a multiple stage pump supplying more than one pressure range and a portion of your pump may be on it's way out, or in the case of a bad alternator you may not be supplying enough juice to your pump to keep it going. I've seen both of these many times. Also recheck your wiring changes to make sure you do not have anything shorting out to ground. ( constant or intermittent ) I doubt that the battery size would be that serious an issue. If it were a serious racing engine you would not be running a stock starter, ( Most starters I've used were high torque units or high RPM with gear reduction.) and a stock battery should handle a stock starter even with a mildly hopped up mill.

Hope this helps & Best of luck.

I agree with crimich Advanced Auto does free battery checks and can run a diagnostic check of the alternator and starter if you want to do it yourself you need the specs for your car and test at idle and at 2000rpm then do a starting test the bear tester averages around $5000 and works awesome snap-on and Mac both carry the bear charging system tester. after ruling out the alternator then test the fuel pump and filter

Sounds like a fuel pump issue to me. Maybe a clogged fuel filter. Race engines require a lot of fuel. If the engine starves for fuel whilst running, you could easily burn a piston. The usual solution is to install a high-capacity Walbro. If you find a clever mechanic, you can pull the fuel line at the motor and direct wire your current pump to see if you are getting enough flow. If it's not strong and steady, you have a fuel issue.