Hey guys. Ok so I looked around before posting, but nothing seems to be the same problem as this.

The car, '89 Accord 2 door, 4 cyl, fuel injected, 5spd, air con., 400k KMs..

The problem. When I drive for say 30mins, the car will be nice and warm by this point, get to the destination(say gas station or beer store, when the car is only turned off for a few minutes), then when you go to leave, the car doesnt want to start sometimes. It turns over, lots of battery, all accessories work. It wants to start. You hear it fire for a brief second. Revs come up to around 1500-1800rpm for that brief second, then it seems to bog down. Give it a little gas when it does this and nothing happens. Then when you go to start it again, the starter just turns over, and over.... Let the car sit for 10-15mins after all this, then it will usually start right up, like nothing happened, or it will run kinda ruff for a few seconds wanting to die, but a little gas will keep it from stalling. When the car is running, it runs like nothing is wrong. When leaving the house, when the car is has been sitting and is cold, it never does this! Only after the car is been run for a while.

The car has been in the girl friends family since new. So as far as I know nothing funny or sketchy has been done to the car. It is in good shape besides the problem. Oil is always changed within 20k KMs. Air filter looked fine. I was goin to run a bottle of TKO fuel system cleaner, but havent yet.

Is it a fuel delivery problem? The fuel pressure/pump shouldnt just fade over time. The pump will just quit one day? Electrical problem? If there is a short somewhere in the system the battery would be draining wouldnt it?

Anyhoo, Im stumped. Any help would be great. Any questions lemme know.


Thanks for any help!
-Anthony

 

Fuel injector leaking down?

When you turn off the engine, all the residual pressure in the fuel system leaks through an injector & makes a big puddle of fuel in the intake manifold.

When you try to start, it's flooded so it may or may not cough & sputter a few times, then just cranks. Do you smell gas during this?

Leave it for 10 more minutes & it evaporates. Then it starts. Or OTOH if you park it for say 2 hours, it's already evaporated so it starts right up.

Next time, completely floor the gas pedal before you try to do a warm-start. That signals the injectors to NOT fire at all. Does that help?

 

That helps for sure. Though there is never a smell of gas, from sitting in the car. I have never looked under the hood when it does this. I will try the gas pedal thing next time for sure.

One other thing that I thought of is, I have never changed out the dizz cap/rotor or leads since we have owned the car. I bet those are more than a couple years old.


Thanks for the help Jimbo!



Anymore thoughts?

 

Another forum said that it is the fuel pump, and that its a common problem for that car/year.

Having said that, has anyone heard of this common problem here?

And having said that, is the fuel pump for this car crazy expensive? And you can access everything to remove the pump from the trunk?

 

Since it sounds like its been a while, I would first do a tune-up to eliminate those items as the problem (spark plugs, distributor cap, rotor, and air filter). Inspect the spark plug wires to see if the rubber is cracked and replace if they are worn out.

I would get the NGK V-power spark plugs, NGK part number BPR5EY-11 is what is OEM for your car and highly recommend that you get those.

As for the spark plug wires the dealership ones last for a long time, or NGK wires (I think they are the OEM manufacturer as well).

 

Bad fuel pump shouldn't have anything to do with parking for 10 minutes vs. 10 hours. It would screw up the same percentage of times whatever you do.

Keep a broom handle in the car. When it doesn't start, beat on the bottom of the fuel tank. If that suddenly makes it start, THEN you can suspect the fuel pump. And then maybe do some tests for the pump.

Taking care of all the normal tune=up stuff is a good idea too.

 

Thanks for all the help so far!

 

Well I just thought I might mention to turn on the key and wait for the CEL to go off and then crank the engine.
This allows a better 'full pressure' spray from the injectors.
The description sure sounds like a warm start flood condition.
And as above mentioned stepping on the gas pedal to the floor shuts off the injectors and also brings in a larger volume of air to clear out the cylinders.
The Temp sensor for the ECU might be mis-reading ? ??
The ECU is under the driver seat, you have to stand on your head behind the seat, then with the key on open the little plastic door and watch for flash codes.
The dist rotor on that car was a common problem, TEK brand......... would short to ground when hot.

 

Awesome. Thanks again Dude!