Stalls when cold - LXi

[danronian]

When my car is cold and it is cold outside I have a starting problem. It will start but then it shuts off. It has happened both 3 or 4 times in a row, and also has happened about a minute after starting the car while on the road. I have searched the tech. and efi sections and some say fuel pump but I dont think it would be that since it only does it when cold. I also dont think it is the main relay since most people say the symptom for one going bad is the car not starting when it is hot out. The car did the same thing to me last winter and didnt do it all summer until its cold again. Any suggestions would be great.

I forgot to mention: replaced plugs, wires, no ecu codes, coolant and bled out air, cleaned throttle body, new distributer + cap, clean air filter, new "looking" fuel filter, cleaned up grounds. These things smoothed out idle a bit but did nothing for this stalling problem.

[rdn]

that's wired...mine did the same when it was cold, but only because i had the heat on. that caused problems at hot start. it didn't shut off though. fixing the main relay solved the problem

[smufguy]

check to see if ur fast idle valve is operating good. It could also be that ur fuel has too much moisture content in it that it actually freezes up. This might be due to a leaky fuel tank or a leaky fuel filler neck. try using some fuel additive and see if it changes anything. Also check if ur fuel injectors and ur injector resistor box are operating proper. CHeck for leaks around the injectors (Moisture around them).

There is also a valve in the front of the intake manifold to which coolent hoses go to and an electrical connector is connected. Swap it out and see if its that. I dont remember the tech name of that control unit.

[Leviathant]

I am having a similar problem with my car. We just took it to the Honda dealership; the spark plug wires were rusted something fierce, so we had those replaced... but that didn't fix the problem. We've officially confused the service guy.

Witnessed it stalling at night for the first time. In my case, the revs just drop and the engine dies, but it's not like a normal stall. The electric stays on - but the headlights die. It's getting worse - happening more often, though I'm not sure if it's weather related.

Interestingly enough, when I put more gas in the car, it seems to run okay for a while.

The ignition is kind of touchy, and might be part of hte problem, as if you bump the key wrong, it drops back down to "II" and kills the motor. Having said that, I can drive over railroad tracks and the like (even at high speeds, heehee) without stalling.

I'm worried when my Honda service guys are getting confused looks on their faces. Has anyone else had this problem, and more importantly, fixed it? Thanks;

--Matt

[danronian]

I have used fuel additive often and I know that my tanks holds pressure so I doubt moisture in the fuel is the problem, also b/c it hasnt yet been below freezing here at my house. I believe the fast idle valve is that flat metal topped thing directly behind the tb, but how do you fix it?

When mine stalls the rpms just go down to zero and everything else stays the same. If I didnt mention mine is a manual.

I just looked at my injectors and saw zero moisture on them.

I'll have to look at that box some time this week though. Thanks everybody.

[Leviathant]

Dan,
Sounds like I've got pretty much the same problem, or a very related one. I'll keep you posted, if I come up with any solution, and hope you can do the same on your side.

I really hope someone here has run into this before and can help, because right now, my pal at the Honda Service desk and I are both kind of shooting in the dark.

Here's what hasn't worked:

1) Lots of carb cleaner. Well meant, probably a good idea, but didn't fix anything.
2) Fuel additive - again, thinking the carb neaded cleaning, we put some stuff in with the gas. Didn't help a bit.
3) Changing in new spark plug wires and new spark plugs. Didn't help at all.

Possibly related:
When I put new gas in the car, it seems to work okay for a little while afterwards. Doesn't have to be a full tank... one time I only put $5 in (Arr, I remember when that was half a tank) and the car worked fine for about a half hour.

We've put in an order for a new coil, we'll see if that has any effect.

[Justin86]

Yea I'm having tha same problem now that it is getting colder out side. I will try some fuel addative but my main guess is the fast idle. I'm going to swap my intake here soon so I will see if anything changes.

[Dibbs]

Originally posted by Justin86
Yea I'm having tha same problem now that it is getting colder out side. I will try some fuel addative but my main guess is the fast idle. I'm going to swap my intake here soon so I will see if anything changes.

Same here. I'm getting a new engine in a couple of months. This engine has seen better days.

[Justin86]

engine wise mine is pretty fresh except for the intake manifold and its parts where I'm %100 were the problem is.

[rdn]

since you are not having problems after you refuel the car...i was thinking.....could the problem be that after driving for a while you get vacum in the tank?...and the pump can not 'suck' any more?

[danronian]

I dont think that is it mainly b/c it doesnt do it after it warms up. Since it only does it before the engine is warm and never does it during my 40 minute drive to school while the engine is warm It would lead me to believe it is something else.

[Leviathant]

It seems I may have had two different problems and solved my first one, unknowingly...

My car still has problems starting up, but that is now a problem with the ignition switch, which I think received a brutal beating when the car was stalling before. I think my problem was fixed by cleaning the hell out of my carb, and getting new Honda spark plug wires & plugs.

I'll go do some research on my ignition problem now.

[Justin86]

Well at least you have time to fix crap. My to do list is huge and I'm way too busy to fix anything.