my '89 accord lx is carburated with an automatic transmition. it won't always start in the morning. it will just crank and crank. it has spark and i have to pour some gas into the carb to get it to start. then it runs fine. it began acting up a year ago and has gotten gradually worse. it is intermitent, so its been hard to trouble shoot. i started by changing the fuel filters. then a new fuel pump. after that i got a fuel pump relay, ignition switch, ignition module, ingition coil and a full tune-up. everytime i change something, it will work fine for a time and then start acting up again. why would the pump not run when the engine is turning over and then start pumping when i pour gas down the carb? is there a pressure switch that could be going bad or something like that? i am tired of throwing money at this thing. thanks for any advice you have.

 

OK - just some knowledge of carbed engines, but that's what it sounds like - carb problem.
Specifically sounds like the choke isn't engaging. The choke delivers extra rich mixture for startup.
Some cars you had to push the pedal to the floor and release to engage choke, then start; don't know if this is '89 Accord procedure or not.

 

Never hurt to press the pedal to the floor one time before trying to start on cold days on the ones I owned....but yes it sounds like a choke issue.

Does this only happen on somewhat cold am's?

 

actually, it happens every morning since the middle of summer. today i just poured some gas in the carb and it started right up. when it first began acting up last year, it would start right up like normal and then die after 10 or 20 seconds. there wouldn't be any fuel pumping. it would start back up after sitting for a half hour to an hour. to me it seems like a relay that is intermittant but i don't know where. if i didn't have to smog it, i would get a mallory unilite dizzy for it and a weber d.g.v. carb and tear all of the exteraneous stuff off of it. grumble grumble!

 

Do you know where the sight glass is on the side of the carb?

Know this, if the float level on the carb is set correctly the car can idle for ~3 minutes without the fuel pump running.

humor and old man.....what is the level in the bowl when the car is running, is it at the proper level?

What happens if you press the gas pedal one time to the floor before starting the car?

Before starting the car, what is the fuel level in the bowl of the carb if neither of the two above work.

Right now I'm guessing, replace nothing on a guess....that you have an issue with either the Pri Slow Mix solenoid or the Air Vent shut off valve.....but further tests are needed.

 

After two years of an intermittent problem with my car starting and then dying or just cranking and not starting, it finally got bad enough that it wouldn't start at all. I could trouble shoot it at last! It ended up being in the distributor. I have never had to just throw new parts at a problem before but until it stays broke, it's harder to test. Also, the carb engines don't have the main relay like the fuel injected ones. I had lots of guys saying to change the main relay because it controls the ignition and the fuel pump. I guess on the plus side, my car has tons of new parts now. Ha ha!