I've been having a lot of trouble lately starting up my 96 accord. I took it to autozone and the battery and alternator checked out fine. It has a very rough start with a squeeking sound (im guessing this comes from the starter rubbing on something) that sometimes takes 3 or 4 cranks to turn the car on. Also, my car has started to occassionally stall when I decelerate quickly or idle for long enough and the starting the car seems to be getting more and more difficult over the past couple weeks. I'm guessing it could be a bad distributor cap and/or the entire distributor (hopefully not). Any help would be appreciated.

 

Hard starts are usually ignition related. I would suggest starting w/ new spark plugs, distributor rotor and cap. Check spark plug wires at night by spraying w/ light mist of water w/ engine running. Any sparks indicate new spark plug wires are also needed. New air filter may help also.

Listen carefully when you turn keyswitch to ON in quiet car. You should hear two soft clicks from under dash, and fuel pump come on in fuel tank for 2-3 secs and go off. If you don't hear these sounds, you may have a main fuel relay or fuel pump problem.

Starter squeal as engine catches is caused by starter. I have this intermittently on my 94EX and have lived w/ it for a while. Sometimes will go weeks w/o and then happens several times in a row. I think it happens when bendix drive fails to release as engine catches. As long as engine turns over good, I wouldn't worry about it unless it gets worse.

good luck

 

Update. Just bought and installed a new starter and problem solved. The gears on the starter that go into the flywheel had worn down somehow to the point that only 2 of the 10 or so gear spokes were making contact with the flywheel. Thanks for your help, my car has no problem starting up now.