Got a 2000 EX with 180K. Engine still runs great, but over the last few weeks the car has stalled a couple of times on start.

On both occasions, the car is already warm, but was parked for no more than 20 minutes. When starting it idles very rough and sputters as you press the gas. Once the gas is released the idle drops and the car stalls. The car will start immediately, but again it will be rough. But if I keep the gas on, it will eventually clear and the car will idle fine and the car drives normal. Almost like the car needs to clear its throat.

I assume this is a fuel delivery problem, like a fuel pump or relay. Any suggestions.

 

How old (& what brand) are the normal tune-up things like sparkplugs?

 

Plugs are only about 5 months old and are NGK's.

 

Normally a bad main-fuel relay would result in not starting at all.

4-cyl or V-6?

Smell fuel? (running rich?)
Pull off vacuum hose from FPR. There should not be fuel inside that hose.

Check electrical connections at water-temperature sensor. Maybe on hot-start the temperature isn't measured correctly & ECU assumes it's cold. But I guess that would throw a CEL...?

Do you have a gauge to measure fuel pressure?

 

One thing you can do is to stop by an autozone and have them scan for code(s). If a sensor is flaky enough to stall the car, the engine computer should store a code to help narrow it down.

Have you replace the distributor cap/rotor? Is the air filter clean?

 

It's a V6.

I'll check sensors and look for any leaks. It does smell like fuel on start, when cold. Don't have a fuel pressure gauge.

No distributor/rotor on this car and the air filter is clean.

I've got a code reader, but I haven't used it as the CEL has not appeared.

When I googled for this issue, there were several threads talking about the fuel pump or relay, but the threads were not from any accord forums, just other accord owners with a similar issue. Several have said the relay solved the problem.

 

Yes stop by your local AutoZone and you can rent that tester and when your done with it you get your Dollars back from them...

Stop By :

 

Well, that's what we are too - just a bunch of people who own Accords. Or used to own them. Or used to work on them...

 

Connected by OBD reader and it shows a P1399 01/01 code. I think that's a random misfire code. Haven't erased it yet, wonder if there's a vacuum leak somewhere.

 

That is a pretty generic code. You may want to run some fuel injector cleaner through the gas tank.

The one item I can think of is to clean the EGR ports. Yours may be partially clogged. Copy and paste the link I have below so you can look at the TSB.

driveaccord.net/PDF/egr_port_clogging.pdf

I helped my friend with his 99 V6 and cleaned EGR port. It wasn't too bad. I just removed the intake manifold. I used an 8mm drill bit and turned by hand to get most of the buildup out of there. Then I used a pipe cleaner and some TB cleaner to clear out as much as possible. Replaced the TB gasket and the metal gasket on the intake manifold. Put everything back together.

I skipped steps 5 and 8-10 in the TSB, because the intake wasn't very dirty. If figured the kit didn't need to be installed, because it took ~10 years to clog up the EGR port, so this fix would last at least 5 years.