89 accord lxi warm starting problem

[storozuk60]

i have a 1989 honda accord lxi, when cold everything runs fine, but once warm the car stutters when you press the gas and kinda jerks, also once you turn it off you cant restart it for about 10 min- 1 hour. it will crank but not fire. cold it fires right up. also while driving the temp gauge will spike all the way up after a few minutes it will drop to normal, dont know if this is part of the starting and stuttering problem. once warm and sitting still if i press the gas lightly it sounds like it will die out but then comes back. i have re soliderd the main relay and problem is still there. the car while sitting still and warm idles fine but when gas pedal is pressed the rpm's drop car almost dies then they come right back up again. im lost!!!!!

[lackej1971]

Mine did this for a while and it was a vaccum line that had come off. Not sure if thats your prob, but check there for now.

James

[storozuk60]

i have checked all lines and everything seems to be fine. dont see any cracked or missing. i checked my temp sensor and that is fine. im lost and getting very mad at the car. great car when the engine is cold.

[storozuk60]

also i have to fans on the raditor when looking at the car the one on the right comes on every now and then when the car is turned off, the other the left one i havent seen on at all, could this be part of my problem?

[storozuk60]

i would like to add that after driving the car today hard on the road i found that it only stutters at 3000 rpm's exactly in any gear. under 3000 it jerks if i accelerate hard in any gear. once over 3000 no jerk and no stutter. dont know if this will help anyone to help me, i appreicate any ideas as im in the army and in germany, so i need to test everything cause i just cant go down the road and buy a part. thanks

[Deadhead]

There are a few things that come to mind when I read this.

A few questions real quick. Are you getting any trouble codes?

When you crank the engine and it won't start, does it smell like unburnt gasoline?

I'm thinking this could be your engine coolant temperature sensor. I think it's stuck on a cold setting. It will run fine when cold, but when it warms up, the sensor still reads as cold, therefore giving the engine more fuel than it should. This could explain why when you press on the gas, that it wants to die. It is giving the engine to much fuel and nearly flooding the engine.

Another thing that it could be, is that your timing jumped a tooth. But seeing as your car runs fine when it's cold, I doubt that this could be the problem.

When your car doesn't start, unplug the green plug on the thermostat housing, then try and start it. I remember when my car had this problem, when i unplugged it, it started, but it started very rough.

Good luck man!

[Deadhead]

also i have to fans on the raditor when looking at the car the one on the right comes on every now and then when the car is turned off, the other the left one i havent seen on at all, could this be part of my problem?

With my car, when the engine is off, only one fan comes on if the car is way way way too hot.

When the engine is on, both fans turn on at once.

[Deadhead]

i have checked all lines and everything seems to be fine. dont see any cracked or missing. i checked my temp sensor and that is fine. im lost and getting very mad at the car. great car when the engine is cold.

What exactly did you do when you checked your temp sensor? Which one did you test? The temperature sending unit? or the TW sensor?

[storozuk60]

i checked the sending unit i think. im new at this and found the manual online and did the test in there. by unpluging it and connecting the connecter to a ground then you turn the car to on and the temp guage should spike up to H. but next time it doesnt start( i say next time because i havent been driving it) i will try and disconnect the green connector and see what happens there. would the temp guage cause it to stutter at 3000 rpms?

[storozuk60]

sorry no trouble codes yet that i can tell the check engine light isnt on. when i crank it yes you can smell gas and hear the injectors pumping also hear the fuel pump pump as well. there is gas and it cranks just seems like it isnt lighting from the spark

[storozuk60]

i unpluged the green one and nothing happened still no start. it started a couple of times but i unpluged the white one also. but then other times it wouldnt start with either unpluged im still lost. any other ideas would be great

[shepherd79]

i have the same problem. So far i have replaced fuel filter (helped a little), cleaned PCV valve (didn't do a shit). replaced distributor vacuum advance(mine wasn't holding the vacuum and i thought it wasn't advancing all the way. didn't help much), replaced with good working fuel pump (helped for a while but i am back where i was), oh and my car did give the temp sensor code (replaced that, helped a little).

My next move would be to replace spark plugs and wires, new distr. cap and rotor and replace TB with a clean one.

[storozuk60]

could the problem be that my cooling fan does not turn on? if i jump the sensor the fan runs so the fan works but the thermo sensor doesnt tell it to turn on. does anyone know if this could be causeing my problem?

[nswst8]

Sounds like you have a series of problems.

1st change the temp sensor, its bad.

Left side fan is engine cooling fan, right side is A/C fan comes on when you engage the A/C. Some people like to run a bypass on the A/C fan to keep it on all the time or flip it on by a toggle switch.

Need more info on the history of your engine maint,

Another culprit to no starts is the Main Fuel Relay, but if you hear the fuel pump your getting fuel.

[storozuk60]

i have to say it is getting harder and harder to start this thing now. today it died while driving i press the gas nothing i floor it nothing. pop the clutch it would start back up but press the gas it did nothing. had to push it home need help badly.

[storozuk60]

the temp sensor was changed and didnt help any other ideas

[Deadhead]

Did you check your cap/rotor/plugs/wires? I'm sure with how your car is running the plugs are fouled.

What about your timing? it's obviousely running very rich. Maybe your fuel pressure is to an extreme level?

ignition timing also.... but clean out everything you can like your TB with carb cleaner.

When the car is running (if you can get it to start) spray carb cleaner on all of your gaskets and vacuum lines. If you hear a change in idle when you spray a vacuum line or a gasket, then change the line/gasket.

[storozuk60]

well i have a guy working on it. not paying him it is the guy i bought the car from. big honda guy im new at this. he seems to think it is something on the exhaust side of the system? could this be? thanks for all the help when i hear back from him on what is was ill let everyone know.

[storozuk60]

got the car working again it runs fine now and starts everytime. the guy i took it to changed the temp sensor like you said also the o2 sensor and two more not sure what ones but it is running fine now. it like to overheat from time to time but that is another problem. thanks for all the help

[shepherd79]

i am glad it is fixed. I fixed my problem by replacing worn out spark plugs.
You may want to ask that guy what exactly he did and tell us. That may help other people with their problems.

[Tecknixia]

The overheating could be caused by air in the coolant. I know preludes have bleeder valves for the coolant system.

Also, another prelude I had got a bad O2 sensor and the car would get really really sluggish, I could floor the pedal and the car would barely move. I don't think O2 sensors affect starting though.

There also might be a coolant temp sensor that tells the ECU if the engine is warm or not. When the sensor detects that the coolant isn't warm, the ECU causes the car to run rich until warm. Maybe yours was reading incorrectly?

Exhaust leaks can also slow a car down as the exhaust heats up... I highly doubt exhaust would affect starting though.

Since those sensors and such are going, if you haven't recently, it wouldn't hurt to change the fuel filter too, it might help even more.

[Dow]

I was doing a google search and found a old thread from here that discussed the TW sensor, the one closest to the valve cover. They said it should have a White connector and the sensor to the left of that should have the GREEN connector on it.
The colors on my car are the reverse. The TW sensor, which is the variable resistance one has a GREEN connector on it. My car exibited all the symptoms mentioned for a quick run to the store turn it off and then come out and would not start. I didn't have the bucks to buy a new one, so since the book said the resistance goes DOWN as the water heats up, and I verified this with a ohm meter, I just put a bobby pin on the GREEN connector, and no more starting problems.
The down side of bypassing it in this way is that the computer sees 0volts, instead of a very low voltage, since the resistance is not suppose to go to zero, but down to 100 ohms or so. Therefore as soon as I turn the key I get a six blink on the ECU, and I think the computer is going into a "default" pulse width on the injectors, instead of the value it should be for a HOT engine. I think this DEFAULT value is still too rich, as my acceleration is bumby between 2000 and 3000 rpm but high rpm acceleration is fine.
I am going to go out and buy a small variable resistor that is way cheaper at radio shack than a THIRTY SEVEN DOLLAR sensor that I could buy a new master cylinder for.
But for now the bobby pin works great. If you do this remember to take a knife and scrape the coating off the bobby pin so you get bare metal. Remember that when the engine is cold it will be harder to start as the computer THINKS the engine is HOT, but the good news is that it WILL START. You could always just take the pin out too, but that is a pain. I might even wire this connector back to the varible resistor and mount it on the dash so I will have a "Electronic Manual Choke", for about 5 bucks.

[Deadhead]

Well, i went to the junkyard, spend $2 on the sensor, and never had a problem after that :P

but that's some good info, definatly usefull if you don't have those resources at the moment. Thanks.

[Dow]

put a 220 ohm resistor in the connector and now the light stays off.