I have a 98 accord ex 2.3L 4cyl

I bought it from auction a few weeks ago, thinking i got a good deal but i’ve been getting ****ed over with new fixes everyday…

I’ve had this issue where i start the car and very rarely it’ll turn back off,
tonight i took the car out for a late night drive, it started up no problem but turned off right as I turned the air on to unfog the windows, I started it up again without air on and drove off, took a quick pit stop and turned the car off for ab 10 minutes, I come back the start the car and it cranks but doesn’t start, I used some starting fluid and it started up and i was able to drive it back home, this leads me to the conclusion it’s not the fuel pump because if it was the car would’ve shutoff right after starting and i wouldn’t of been able to drive (correct me if i’m wrong)

I have P0401 code check engine light, i’ve cleared it before by cleaning the upper intake manifold and the egr valve, but i guess i might’ve not cleaned it enough… because it turned back on after 15 minutes and i’ve laid off cleaning it again for about 3 days. i’ve just been lazy…

What is the problem here?

Im suspecting egr valve sensor might be old or the egr valve is clogged up. maybe not enough air is coming through preventing the car from starting?
or maybe the fuel pump is bad…

Thanks, sorry if they’re silly questions i’m still trying to learn more and more.

 

When you cleaned the upper intake manifold, did you also clean the path from the manifold to the EGR valve?
There is a hole in the upper intake manifold that gets blocked with gunk that needs to be cleaned up really good.
This hole goes to the EGR valve.
To do a really good job, take the top of the intake manifold off and also the EGR valve. Clean the tube from the intake to the EGR really good.
Also look at the EGR valve to make sure it is REALLY clean.

As for the possible fuel pump issues. Try replacing the fuel pump relay.