Accord Starting Problem - again

95 Accord LX - 160,000 miles:

Last week I took my car to the shop for the starting problem. It had plenty
of fuel and the battery is fine. It would start only after I pushed in &
held the accelerator pedal. Once the car is started, there is no starting
problem the rest of the day.

At the shop they told me they couldn't diagnose the problem unless the car
wouldn't start when they had it there.

Yesterday it would not start at all. It had been 3 days since the car was
driven and it is cold/damp here. I tried 3 different times, about 3 hours
apart, with no luck.

Any suggestions as to what I can do other than having it towed to the shop
(45 miles from here).

Nancy in very rural N Texas

 

1. start as you would for a flooded engine.
2. run fuel injection cleaner through it for a couple of tanks.

sounds like you have a leaky injector - no need to replace, simply
dissolve the gunk out of it as above. don't use cheap gas any more.

 

The mechanic (where I took it last week) said they can't find out what is
wrong unless it won't start when the car is there.

I've already tried the fuel injector cleaner.

What is the procedure for # 1 - start as you would for a flooded engine.

Thanks,
Nancy

 

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From the owner's manual: Hold the gas pedal to the floor and turn the
key to position III for up to 15 seconds at a time.

Your owner's manual is here, if not in the glove box:
https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/RJAAI001_OMANUAL.asp

You probably have a leaky injector. That's why it floods overnight. You
need injector cleaner.

You can GOOGLE 'honda injector leaking' or similar.

'Curly'

 

Possibly a main relay with a bed solder joints...

 

That says leaky injectors.
They flood the motor overnight,leave a big puddle of raw gas in the
intakes.
It may take 3-4 tankfuls with an injector cleaner before you see
improvement.I suppose you could have the injectors removed and cleaned at a
shop.A dealer may not want to do that,wanting to sell you new injectors at
a nice high price,of course.

that would be BAD solder joints;see www,tegger.com,look for "main relay".
that problem is more of a "hot day" sort of failure,not first off in the
morning.Still not a bad idea to replace or resolder the relay,eliminate it
as a future trouble source.

cold/damp could mean bad plug wires.The car is old enough for that problem.
you could have somebody look while you crank the motor *before first light
so they can see any arcing*.(or in a closed,dark garage)

Use an OEM wire set,maybe a new distributor cap and rotor,too.(OEM)
you may be due(overdue?) for a new wire set,anyways,with that age of car.

 

indeed. and to the o.p., a new set of spark plugs, and as jim yanik
says, rotor, rotor cap and wires would do you good too.

 

Hi,
How cold? Tried a bottle of gas lineaniti-freeze to purge the moisture
from fuel tank and fuel line?

 

The low has been around 30 with lots of moisture, too - rain, a bit of
sleet, drizzle, fog. It doesn't warm up much during the day - high 30s or
lower 40s.

Nancy