Honda Civic 97 model hardstart when cold

Hi Guys,

I hope somebody can help me figure out this terrible problem I have
with my Honda Civic.

Every morning for the past few weeks (3 weeks), the machine have
difficulty starting up. I hear the starter motor operating normally
but the engine just won't start-up today. The battery is good, i see
the lights when I open it and I remove the possibility of having the
battery as the problem. I always went to the basics of starting the
car through its manual. And when I encounter a hardstart the past few
days, I would press the gas pedal to eliminate flooding (if that would
have been the problem). It will start but i hear the engine start
terribly. Then it would run normally after a few seconds. But when its
up, the engine would just run fine especially when it's already hot. I
have not encountered hardstart when the engine is still hot only when
left overnight cold. Like when the car starts in the morning and I
start it again at noon, the engine would just start fine. Only when it
left overnight or when not used in around more than ten hours, or when
its cold already.
This morning was 'special'! Even if I press the gas pedal to the
floor, i just hear the starter motor but not the engine running. I
missed the office today so I am here online...

This also happened before, about 3 weeks ago, but the engine started
when repeatitively starting the car and pressing the gas pedal to the
floor. I consulted the mechanic and he had clean the fuel filter
believing that may have been the problem. He has also check the fuel
lines and pump and confirmed they are all okay. He also tightened the
valves to some degree as he heard it noisy and the clearance is
already large. In short, he already done the tune-up. Except that my
four starters are three months old already, around 7000kms used. But
the mechanic also check the starters and mentioned they're all still
ok. The engine oil has been changed last month and so far the oil
mileage is 2000kms only. I have my car changed oil every 5000kms as
the maintenance requires it. So doing the things described above by
the mechanic, the problem still persists.

I do not want to spend more for now when the problem will not just be
solved, only if a clear diagnosis has been done.

I have elaborated what have been done so far so I hope this gives you
a clear idea how my car is faring. Hope to hear from you soon. Thank
you.

regards,
Jeff Dellosa

Philippines

 

run some injector cleaner through it - sounds like they're leaking and
flooding the engine. hondas need this every few months for best operation.

 

Jim, Thanks for the reply. Will check on the injector but how? i am a
'rookie' on engines...
Thanks.

 

just put a bottle of injector cleaner into the gas tank and let the
solvents do their job. available any any motor parts store and many
supermarkets. you may need to do this for two tankfuls. if this
doesn't work, then look into other remedies, but it's the first thing to
check based on the symptoms you describe. do /not/ get talked into
injector replacement - it's /highly/ unlikely there's any permanent
injector problem - honda injectors last almost forever.

 

-----------------------------------

Your injector is sticking open and dribbling (pressurized) gas into the
engine overnight. Put injector cleaner into tank (3x per year) and just
drive it normally. As it uses the gas the injectors will clean
themselves. My '95 Odyssey did this to me and it was a great mystery. It
took me forever to read the manual and figure it out.

'Curly'

 

Hi Guys,

Thanks to you all. The car started yesterday already with your help.
Just want to make an update or share information on this if in case
another civic owner encounters the same problem.
What i did was clean the spark plugs first. I smell gas on the sparks
when i remove them from the engine so it made me think it is true that
the injectors are sticking open and leaving gas more than enough the
engine needed.
Holla, just after turning the keys to start, the Engine STARTED
nicely.

Then I added the injector cleaner as Jim and Curly mentioned here, and
the following morning - the engine started smoothly. Thanks to you
all.

regards,
Jeffrey