89 Accord starting problem when cold

It has 233000 miles,and runs fine,except for starting after sitting all
night.
The manual said to depress accelerator peddle to the floor,and slowly
release and turn on ignition.
It kicks right over,but dies.I repeat the procedure again,but the
engine cranks for a long while before it starts.Sometimes the battery
will begin to drain.
After running it around,there is no trouble starting it again. I get 30
mpg.
Any suggestions as to what causes this?
Thanks

 

ok, so are you trying to start with the pedal down or not? if the pedal
is down, it will be hard to start. unless flooded, always start the
engine with your foot completely off the gas.

check main relay, but that's usually a hot start problem, not cold.

it won't start within 10 seconds, stop cranking - it's not going to
start! wait a few minutes, then try again, but if it still won't start,
you need to look for the cause of the problem!

also check ignition switch. go to tegger.com and check out the section
on hard/no start conditions.

 

Jim,I only depress the pedal to the floor once,and release it. Then turn
key, and it kicks over. Then it dies
Is their a choke on this model? I thought that most cars had fuel
injection by then.
I was surprised that the manual gave instructions that it might take up
to 15 seconds to start when cold.

 

1989 Accord only LXi model is fuel injected, if I remember it right.

 

tegger.com for no-start conditions.

 

Been dealing with this for years in my own 88.

You have a lean misfire on cold start. Likely a vacuum leak from the
carb / intake manifold gasket. Pump the accelerator up to 3 three
times before turning the key, depending on ambient temperature. Never
when restarting a warm engine, or you'll flood it, and will need to
wait 5 minutes before re-trying.

The throttle is spring-loaded to stay open for starting, so you do not
need to depress the pedal while cranking. Once running, engine vacuum
defeats this and allows the throttle to close for normal idling.

Once it catches, pump the pedal, which squirts fuel into the carb, just
enough to keep the engine from stalling.