thoughts on 88 civic problem?

Hi folks...

I posted here a couple months ago I believe with a question about a no-start
problem with the 88 civic i had just purchased. The issue was and is that
the car occasionally won't start immediately after running. Typically,
waiting 5-10 minutes will allow the car to start again. Kinda frustrating
though when you're teaching a new driver who stalls occasionally and then
you're stuck somewhere on the road....... otherwise, just a nuisance.

At that time, some suggested it might be the fuel pump relay, and i've seen
other posts on the same issue all saying to replace the fuel pump relay and
the problem will be gone... so what i did with my father (who is a retired
licensed mechanic) was to take out the relay, and instead of replacing it
right away, we ran some tests on it, and it performed flawlessly on the same
test 50 times consecutively, leading us to believe that the problem was not
with the relay. So we stuck it back in, and it ran fine for a couple weeks.
Now it only pulls the no-start thing once every couple weeks, instead of the
startling regularity of when i first purchased the car (once every day or so
back then).

Other symptoms of the problem: occasionally i don't hear the fuel pump
priming before starting... sometimes there's just no sound at all, sometimes
a fairly quiet and low-pitched wirring that just doesn't stop (the fuel pump
of course will prime for about 2 seconds and then stop) until i turn the key
off. generally when this happens, the car won't start, although occasionally
it still will.

also, after it fails to start, the computer flashes a code 16: fuel
injector.

soo... any thoughts? does this still sound like it's the fuel pump relay, or
something else perhaps?

i'm a college student, so funds are a bit of an issue, and i don't want to
go out and buy a new fuel pump relay ($90 canadian or more) and then find
out 2 weeks later that the problem still exists. of course, it's difficult
to find the exact problem since every time we try to diagnose, the car won't
reproduce the problem. figures...

anyway, thanks in advance for the help, sorry if you've answered this same
question a million times over, but i took a while to browse google and
didn't find too much info, so... yeah.

peace......jer

 

Two things I can think of:
1) Low fuel pressure
2) EFI main relay.

 

I agree, if the pump acts weirdly periodically, it cant possibly be faulty.
Those things either work or they dont, if it was damaged you wouldnt be
supplied with enough fuel and you'd surely notice. So it must be the fuel
delivery system..... check the pressure in it, it's always kept under
pressure - if u disconnect ANY fuel hose, u'll get fuel coming out
(normally). I dont know if a clogged fuel filter could cause this, but in my
mind it's a possibility - when did u last have it changed? If you just
bought the car, its a good idea to harass the previous owner for a
maintenance report. Even if he did shit-all in terms of repairs, it'll give
you an idea of what may go wrong and you will not buy the wrong components.

 

It still is the relay! Take it out again and with a jeweller's eyeglass
examine the soldered joints on the PCB. Look for a very thin line
which goes all round the joint on a pin - that is where the joint has
broken due to vibration and magnetic/thermal effects on the post.

Resolder it/them after cleaning with a penknife to get the post
bright and shiny. Re-install and test. [Wish my 'engine won't start'
problem was that easy! - changed the coil today and the still got
the problem.]

HTH

 

Sounds like the main relay. I had a problem with one too that tested OK
but didnt work. I did take it apart and soldered it back together and
then it worked with no problems.

-SP

 

Cool, thanks all for the advice... I picked up a new relay this afternoon
and stuck it in. So far so good, but like I say, the problem only poked its
head up every few weeks or so, so it's hard to say for sure whether the
problem is solved...

But my god... could they have made it much more difficult to get at that
relay? the whole job of replacing a little box held in by a single bolt took
me upwards of 2 hours... crazy. Nice to have it done, hope I never have to
do it again.

Jer

 

...They never intended for it to fail.
Some folks have found it easier to pry the case and remove
the relay guts, leaving the case bolted in place. Then
you just put the new relay guts into the old case.

That said, I did it the hard way, and it only took me about a
half hour, but I have a nice little metric socket wrench...

--Gene