1989 accord dies and now wont start

[enigma2446]

Ok so I drive my car to work then came home woke up the next morning and no start. It: will turn over just fine but that's it. A few months ago I've been having issues with it starting it would run then I would stop to get gas or smokes walk out and it won't start try
Starting a few times and it would start sometimes I'd have to sit with the ignition off and wait 5 to 10 min then try to start and it usely does but now nothing at all. Now I havnt hered the fuel pump prime. Now I cracked the bolt loose on the outlet of the fuel filter then turned it over nothing came out. tightened it back up went to turn the ignition over to the on position to roll up my windows and I here it prime so I turned it over and it starts and runs for about 5 seconds then stumbles and dies.please help

[Dr_Snooz]

Two threads?

[Civic Accord Honda]

sounds like the classic main relay, do a search for it and your find out how to replace it. getting to it is kinda tricky but not that hard

[enigma2446]

Is there a way to trouble shoot this? The parts guy says its more likely the pump but if I get either part they are both unreturnable once they are plugged in so I prob will have to get both the pump and relay. Also I can't find the relay I pulled the fuse panel down and can't find it. Sorry about the double post I don't know how that happened I do everything on mobile.

[2oodoor]

Never completley depend on parts guys to diagnose your car. I don't think as many fuel pumps go than do main relay, on these generation Honda cars anyway.

[POS carb]

Sounds like the relay. I do not suspect pump or fuses due to the car wanting to start after a few minutes of sitting, but i'll give them to you anyway...
Here are the fuses required to power the circuit.
Dash fuse #1 15A
Dash fuse #10 7.5A (auto trans only)
Dash In-line fuse 7.5A (manual trans only), hangs on the bottom of fuse box
Underhood Fuse #1 10A
:blah:

You can jump the terminals of the fuel pump relay, essentially bypassing the relay for testing purposes

this electrical troubleshooting manual is very useful:
http://3geez.wiki-tv.com/manuals/1989%20Accord%20Electrical%20Troubleshooting%20Man ual.zip

is your's efi or carburetor?

I'm guessing efi, so wiring colors are for EFI

you can see a photo of the relay on page 279 of the file (page 258 of the manual)

The following instructions are for leaving the relay in there and adding a piggyback bypass. You will drive your car as normal and next time it fails you will use the bypass to try and start the car. You can also unplug the relay and use a single jumper wire between the correct input/output pins, however this bypass needs to be disconnected when the car is turned off or the pump will not stop.

BLK/YEL wire (black wire, yellow stripe) is constant power into the relay, this is what ends up feeding the pump when the relay gets power in the other pins.
YEL wire (yellow, no stripe) is the power output to the pump.
Right now we are only focusing on these two.
Beware of YEL/BLK, yellow wire with black stripe, we are not using this one

What you need is something to tap into the two wires, I use a pair of extra multimeter leads with sharp points.
Leave the relay plugged in. just jam them in there.

Put one lead into the BLK/YEL at the relay plug, make sure you see 12v constant here.
Put the other lead into the YELLOW where it enters the relay.
short your two multimeter wires together, you should hear the pump run. If not, recheck that your multimeter leads are making good contact in the relay.
If you have power at BLK/YEL and the pump does not run when YEL is connected pump is bad (assuming pump has good ground)

If pump runs then relay is defective or not getting the proper signals from the other wires. These relays are notorious for intermittent failure.

[Oldblueaccord]

sounds like the classic main relay, do a search for it and your find out how to replace it. getting to it is kinda tricky but not that hard

CAH? nice to see you back!

Main relay trouble shooting sticky is on the EFI main page.



wp

[enigma2446]

ok are we talking about the main relay or the fuel pump relay? Or is it called both these things

[ecogabriel]

If your car is EFI (LX-i, SE-i), the main relay commands the fuel pump, pressurizing the lines when ignition is ON (then turns off when ECU detects engine not turning) and re-energizes the pump once the engine is running.

If the car runs for like 5 seconds and then dies seems consistently with some kind of main relay failure.

[enigma2446]

Ok so it is the relay I hit with a torched and hers it click started right up and off I went but would this bad relay make my Bart die overnight every now and then. Thanks for all the guys I appreciate it very much

[enigma2446]

Also could I take a relay out of another year Honda and slap it in. Would it work?

[Oldblueaccord]

http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75242


I don't think there quite the same as the other Hondas. You can use Rockauto and see if it goes to other cars. theres a tab there that you can click to see what other cars a part fits.


wp

[Dr_Snooz]

I think it's a bad idea, generally, to use salvaged electronics. Buy a new relay once you've confirmed it. Heck, buy a new relay anyway. They are known to go bad on these cars with great frequency.

[enigma2446]

Ya I think I'll do that and keep a spare in glove compartment but now something keeps draining my batt ...any ideas u pull the relay out every time I park it I have a feeling its my CD player its acting funny

[POS carb]

stuck headlamp flip motor or bad alternator diodes are the most common.
As long as your lights on the cd player and amps turn off I wouldn't suspect them

[enigma2446]

Alternator has 8000 miles on it and my head lamps work fine? Would they work fine and be faulty

[enigma2446]

Ok well got my batt tested and alternator both are good....picking up a multimeter tomm and going to perform a parasitic draw test....first time doing this yay although I know how to do it just never physically done it.