91 Accord starts; won't stay running.

Reliable car developed this problem today:

Hadn't been used in a couple of days. It started - twice - but only ran
for about a second & shut off. Third time was the charm. Went to the
bank, shut it off, came out, started & ran fine. (It always STARTED
fine. Turns out it just wouldn't stay running.)

Did second errand - everything OK.

Next stop misbehaved once, ran on second try.

Went to gas station, put air in tire, ran on first try. Moved to pump
and it will not stay running after multiple attempts;
wearing-down-the-battery multiple attempts. Won't run for more than
maybe a second, but it IS running after the key is released. Pumping
the gas coaxes perhaps another second out of it.

Whether it runs or not, it catches immediately every time, just like it
ever was.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Thought about disconnecting the battery for a few hours / overnight to
reset the box. Other than that I have no ideas.

TIA for any help.

 

I had this problem with a 1984 Accord before, and in that case, the fuel
pump was going bad. The only other thing that you may check is the main
relay. If your main relay is going bad, it can cause this behavior. The
main relay controls the fuel pump on start, so it sounds like you're getting
fuel initially, but it's not continuing to pump after ignition is achieved.
So, in short, I'd say either main relay or fuel pump. May want to have a
dealer or qualified mechanic to check it out.

Jonathan

P.S. Another big difference between your 1991 and my 1984 Accord is that
mine had a carburetor, and yours is fuel injection.

 

It might be electrical like a bad ignition switch or the main relay (powers
the fuel pump), but since it runs for a little bit, I'm thinking maybe a
clogged fuel filter or crud in the gas tank.

 

If it runs for as long as you keep the key in the "Start" position, and
stops as soon as you release the key, it would be the ignition switch.
Common problem on many cars, regardless of make and model. Later Accords
had a recall for this, 1991 was not part of the recall.

 

The main relay would also have the same symptoms and it's fairly
common on the '91 year. The relay is a double relay. The first relay
supply's a only couple of seconds of power to the fuel pump to get the
engine started. After it starts a second relay feed power to the fuel
pump. I believe it was done this way for safety reasons. If the
engine stops the second relay is not energized, no power to the fuel
pump.

A more definitive symptom for the relay would be that the problem
occurs mostly during very warm (sitting in the sun for a while) or
very cold days. The temperature swing causes one or more bad solder
joints in the relay to open a little, breaking contact. It seems that
many people actually have the problem while refueling at the gas
station. The car was fine when they pulled in but started and died
when trying to leave. After a couple of minutes (maybe a little
longer) it will usually start and run fine as the relay has cooled off
a little.

The relay can be replaced or the soldier joints can be re-soldered
to correct the problem.

Here's a link to a great site to identify and fix the main relay
problem. It helped me tremendously when I had the problem with
my '91 Accord. The cracked soldier joint was very hard to spot. Even
knowing exactly what to look for. Mine was just a little mark on one
post (didn't even look like a crack). When un-soldiering this joint
the soldier melted differently than the other joints.

http://www.markl.f9.co.uk/howto/electrical/main-relay/main-relay.htm

 

Took it to the shop (not a dealer). Replaced the ignition switch so I
guess it was not running as long as I thought after releasing the key.

Thanks for the inputs.