‘89 CRX won’t start - frustration

All good in theory. I'm not sure the differences are all
that significant for the tests about which we are talking in
this particular troubleshooting scenario.

 

I work in a similar discipline and find that it is often easier to not
think about certain problems in the same terms you would at work - it
tends to over complicate things.
That's actually the reason why I enjoy working on cars - it takes
totally different skill set, other than of course some decent trouble
shooting skills.

I strongly suspect your problem is a sensor someplace that the ECU
mal-adjusts for.
We'll all be very curious to see what it ends up being.

Good luck!
Remco

 

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Flooded doesn't mean WET. It just means there's WAY more fuel than there
is supposed to be for the amount of available air. If your engine had
enough fuel in it to wet the spark plugs, you'd crack a piston head when
you spun the engine over. Gas (or water) don't compress well, so
something else has to 'give'. :-(

Even if your dribbling injector only leaked three ounces of fuel into
the engine overnight, you'll need to add 45 ounces (by weight) of air to
obtain a correct fuel/air mixture that will ignite cleanly. Hollywood
pyro effects people create huge explosions with just a few gallons of
gasoline mixed with a huge amount of air. . . . One pound of gas, 15
pounds of air. (air doesn't weigh much)

When you hold the pedal to the floor on a (non-running) Honda, the
computer TURNS OFF the injectors completely, to allow fresh air to be
mixed with the excess fuel. The owner's manual is quite specific about
how to start a flooded Honda. Hondas also shut off the injectors while
coasting, at least on many of the automatic models. My CR-V does it and
it's weird to watch the tach drop near the stalling point before
snapping back up.

'Curly'

 

When you hold the pedal to the floor on a (non-running) Honda, the
computer may turn off the injectors on some car but not on others. I'd
discovered that a 92 Civic or older models won't shut off the fuel injectors
if you press the accelerator pedal all the way down and hold it there while
cranking it for up to 18 seconds. You can try this while having someone listen
to the clicks on the fuel injectors. The flooded 92 Civic can be cleared
manually using a mechanics' trick, took less time and it started right up.

Here's a quote from the 96 Civic owners manual: "If the engine fails to
start, press the accelerator pedal all the way down and hold it there
while starting to clear flooding. Return to step 5 if the engine does not
start." Step 5 is nothing but "hold the pedal halfway."

This trick is probably nothing more than mixing more air into the cylinders,
a slow way of dealing with a flood, unless someone can confirm it by
listening to the clicks on the fuel injectors at WOT.

 

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Didn't we solve this one a few days ago? If it's injected, hold the
pedal to the floor and crank it for up to 15 seconds at a time.
Dribbling injector bleeds all pressure from fuel rail and floods engine
overnight and it needs lots of air to start. It's in the owner's manual
(for injected Hondas). Use injector cleaner or gasohol to cure injector
problem.

SEARCH would find this one, but you'd need the clue 'flooded'.

'Curly'