I have an automatic 1995 V-Tec Honda Accord EX with 212,xxx miles on it. Within the past couple of months, the Honda has been experiencing rough starts when it is stone cold. Once it starts and gets past the rough idle, it runs smoothly as if nothing ever happened. Gas mileage is normal and all is well. The rough start is at it's worst when the vehicle is stone cold. Occasionally the start is a little rough when the engine is warm. Typically (when the engine is cold) it will sputter for approximately 5-10 seconds. Once the Honda starts and it is sputtering (to keep it from dying), I will feed it a little more throttle to force the engine to rev a little higher and and get it past the sputtering. If I don't feed it a little more throttle the engine will normally die. If it dies, it will sputter a little less on the second start and begin idling normally as if nothing every happened.


The car has been very well taken care of for years by our local Honda specific mechanic. He recently replaced the timing belt, water pump, distributor cap, plugs, plug wires as routine maintenance, fuel pump relay switch (this was replaced because of the sputtering problem). This past week I dropped the Honda off with my mechanic and according to him, he swapped out the fuel injectors, plug wires, and plugs in an effort to figure out the sputtering problem. He mentioned that the spark plugs were showing excessive wear for the low mileage on them. He also thought it was a leaky fuel injector but that wasn't the case. Personally, I have run two bottles of fuel system cleaner through the Honda the past two tanks and nothing has improved.

His final diagnosis was loss of compression in a cylinder. I disagree with his diagnosis because occasionally when the Honda is stone cold it will start fine. Other times it sputters for 5-ish seconds and once last week it wouldn't start at all.

Any thoughts?

 

Was the excessive wear the same on all cylinders?

Did he do a compression test on each cylinder? Did he test the fuel pressure?

 

He never mentioned that he did a compression test on each cylinder or tested the fuel pressure. My wife and I are planning to take the car to another mechanic for a second opinion. Is there anything else that could cause these symptoms?

 

I am going to go on the assumsion the compression is normal in all cyliders. With this said it sound like the throttle body is not allowing enough air in for one of several reasons, I would try a propane test. This can be done by inserting a 5mm hose attached to a small ( Handleable ) propane tank . Open the intake butterfly and insert hose from propane tank. Turn on tank to aprox. 3 to5 lbs pressure. You should hear it comming out but not blasting. Immediatly start car when cold and see if your problem gets better. Then get back to us as it could be a couple of different things. good luck. If you dont have propane. try a fine mist of some carb/choke cleaner. Its not as accurate , but shoud show sighns of improvement if its what I think it may be.

 

I think the mechanic you use should check the fuel pressure and fuel pressure regulator. Also need to check for possible codes. There are several items that can cause this problem. some will set a code, others will not. check all vacuum lines for cracks. check for vacuum leak etc.. etc.. Valves that are adjusted to tight could possible cause this problem. Let us know and good luck.

 

I have a similiar issue with my 97 2.2. It used to start fine but idle rough. Came on this site and found directions to clean AIV. Did this now car idles great, but it started immediately having problems starting when cold.

 

A few days ago someone reported a rough start and had head gasket problem. Leaking coolant temporarily fouls the plugs until water is blown away and engine clears. I had something similar on my 94Ex, but rough starts occurred w/ warm engine rather than cold.

A coolant system pressure test or chemical test should disclose if head gasket is leaking.

good luck