Need Some Serious Help

[howndamane]

I am having some trouble with the Accord. It had been acting up alot, not starting easily and what not. What was happening was that when I went to start the car, i would have to grind and grind and grind and keep the key in starting pos. until it finally fired. I know, what a stupid thing to do...but it was the only way to get my car to start. The problem was getting worse and worse so finally we took it to our mechanic, which left me stuck without a car for about a week. Well today we called the mechanic up and to my disappointment he has not been able to fix it because he doesnt know how! He thinks it is either the distributer or the computer, but he cant tell for sure...so now i have my car back and i have to "drive it until it breaks." well it has already broken and had me stranded out in the middle of nowhere plenty of times already and i dont know what to do. My mechanic is not "honda-inclined" so i think that some of you guys could help me alot more than him. PLEASE help me AS SOOON AS POSSIBLE this is a verrrry big problem for me and cant afford to be stuck out somewhere with my car not starting! THANKS!

[A20A1]

Sounds electrical... unless it's the fuel pump...

Relays?
Some odd things to check would be the ignition key switch...

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

You mean when you hit the key to start it, it makes a real loud grinding noise and doesn't turn the motor over?? Cuz if that's it, then it's one of two things: the starter isn't engaging all the way, or you have broken/stripped teeth on your flywheel/flexplate. Pop the starter off and look at the teeth on the flywheel through the starter hole. Use a socket to turn the crank pulley slowly a little bit at a time and look at the condition of the teeth all around the flywheel. If you see any that are missing or damaged, there's your problem

[A20A1]

Does it die on you or is it just a starting problem

[howndamane]

its just a starting problem. Its not a grinding sound its just the sound of the car starting before it fires, except that it never fires.

[Mac]

First determine if it is elcetrical or fuel problem. See if you are getting a spark at the spark plugs. Then see if the fuel pump is working. Once it is narrowed down we can go from there.

[racerx]

1.Easiest way to check if you're getting spark or not:

Take a timing light, and while the car is running, place the hook thing over each plug wire and test.

No light=no spark.

Of course, your plugs could be bad, but this will help eliminate some things.

2. How's your air filter? If the intake is totally clogged with leaves and junk, yeah, that would prevent your car from turning over.

3. Look into your carb while someone else turns the key to the "Run" position. You should see a stream of gas squirt into the carb. If you don't, you've got fuel supply problems.

start with that

[howndamane]

im thinkin it might be my plugs. it was what i thought to begin with but my dad and our mechanic instisted to me that it wasnt. it cant be my intake...i run a short ram and everythings fine...but i dont know. i have used starting fluid in my air filter on numerous occasions to see if it was a spark problem or what, but it didnt seem to help. could it still be a spark plug problem even if the starting fluid didnt work?

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Uhhh...how can a grinding starter be caused by fuel or spark, or anything else? If the starter is grinding when you turn the key, it's either the starter or the flywheel

[Neuspeed87lx]

he said that the car turns over normally but just dosent fire .... sounds electrical .... are you getting any codes? it could be alot of things.... if your thinkin that your plugs are the suspect take them out and look at them ! .... if your mechanic siad its not the plugs then i would prob believe him because im sure he checked them ... but take a look at them anyway......does it happen all the time or is it an intermediate problem ? if you wernt getting spark then i would lean twards the distributor .... or it could be a problem with the computer

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Ahhh.... now I see... nice edited post. At first he said it was exactly like I described above, a loud grinding sound when you turn the key to start it.

[howndamane]

ok...lol i dont think i described the problem right so i will do it again...

Usually in the morning when the car hasnt run in a while it starts up perfectly fine. I go to school and park and when i get out of school it cranks fine... but say i park at mcdonalds and turn my car off and go inside, when i come back out i try and start it and it wont start. usually it only starts if it sits for at least 30 minutes.

When I try and start it when it doesn't start like it should...i turn the key all the way to start it and instead of it starting it just struggles to start. its not a grinding really, just sounds like its trying to start but cant. the mechanic didnt say anything about the spark plugs that was my dad. The mechanic seems to think that it is the distributer or the computer...which will both put me out alot of $$$ if thats the case, but the mechanic isnt sure so he wont fix it yet. neuspeed i think you are on the right track, just like the mechanic...im sure he did check the plugs because he has had the car for almost a week. i was hoping someone might have had this problem before and have had it fixed before. any help will be greatly appreciated!!!


lol and yes, i did edit it when i first posted...thanks for being on top of this for me tho man

[BlueBead]

This sounds like something is heating up, expanding, and possibly causing your starting problem. You've pretty much eliminated everything besides the electrical, so thats the place to check. First thing you should check is your ECU itself for codes. It might be throwing a code that'll tell you exactly what is going on (if you are lucky). You can also check for spark by pulling the wires off one at a time and grounding them on the block with a spark plug (any spark plug) just watch the plug for a spark when you turn the engine over- If you get spark then thats not the problem. You should do these checks when its not starting to make sure you identify the real problem.
It could be a problem with your cap & rotor;If the cap is messed up you won't get spark in certain situations. They're cheap and easy to do.. They also need periodic replacing, so you might want to think about doing you cap/rotor, plugs, and wires all at once.
According to my Haynes manual these should be 'checked and replaced every 15,000mi or 12 months.
I don't know if you have a manual already, but either download Pauls manual or buy a haynes... they are so damned useful!
Good luck man- Hope you get this thing licked!

[howndamane]

how would i go about checking my ECU for codes?! lol, im not to electronically inclined on ecu's and all of that so im not sure where to start. tomorrow im going to check the plugs and make sure everything is gravy with the ignition and if not then i guess it is gonna have to be the computer.

[mykwikcoupe]

check the FAQ. theres a how to or something. Basically the ecu under the driverrs seat (its covered with a carpet colored box and has an inspection port in it. try to start the car or turn it to on and see if it starts blinking. If it does count and check with the post.

[3gn86lxi]

how would i go about checking my ECU for codes?! lol, im not to electronically inclined on ecu's and all of that so im not sure where to start. tomorrow im going to check the plugs and make sure everything is gravy with the ignition and if not then i guess it is gonna have to be the computer.

Slide the drivers seat all the way forward, there is a black box under the seat. On the box there is a flap, pull the little flap down, this will reveal a little window kindof. Turn you ignition on, one click b4 starting, and look where the flap is.
If your ecu is throwing a code, it will flash a certain amount, then check in the efi tech for what the code means.
Good luck :alc:

[HondaBoy]

i'd think it could be an ignition type problem, and like some said a fuel problem. i'd say fuel delivery problem, my mom's neon does this type of thing. you have to keep it turning over for longer than you should regularly do. like what i've done is have it turn over, then try it again, then it usually starts right up. in the neons case, its some crap wrong with the fuel. possibley low fuel pressure? i dunno. so your mechanic is not Honda inclined? i've never met a real mechanic that didnt know hondas. lol. get a new mechanic, IMO.

[racerx]

i don't think it's a fuel problem since he's putting in starter fluid and it doesn't help at all.

sounds like ignition or computer. do you have a timing light?

[NashvilleLX-i]

ok to truly tell if it is fuel or not which i dont think it is turn the key to the click right before start. (like hondaboy said) let it sit for a second then try if it starts then then its fuel and you need to wait for fuel pressure to build up. if thats the problem it is a bad fuel pump or possibly fuel filter. but it doesnt sound like fuel. if you checked plugs, wires, distributor, and cap then could it possibly be a bad coil? it could be possible that the distributer isnt gettin electricity but hmm. yeah the ecu codes would help a bunch so get those asap

[howndamane]

alright...i checked the code and this is what i got...

6 ECT Sensor (Engine Coolant Temperature)
defective circuit or unplugged / defective sensor

what do i do now?!

[buzzbomber88lx]

1.Easiest way to check if you're getting spark or not:

Take a timing light, and while the car is running, place the hook thing over each plug wire and test.

No light=no spark.

Of course, your plugs could be bad, but this will help eliminate some things.

2. How's your air filter? If the intake is totally clogged with leaves and junk, yeah, that would prevent your car from turning over.

3. Look into your carb while someone else turns the key to the "Run" position. You should see a stream of gas squirt into the carb. If you don't, you've got fuel supply problems.

start with that

I know you already figured out whats wrong but I have to clear something up with how to see if your getting spark a little faster than what he said
heh....that would take forever just take one plug off with the wire and touch metal with the tip of the plug and have someone turn over the motor.....a lot faster

[racerx]

ok, i guess I was wrong, it's not the EASIEST way...

BUT it is the easiest way to do it RIGHT! I personally would not risk any kind of shorting or breaking of fuses, burning of wires, etc.
Seeing as how the battery is connected to the block, which is grounded to the chasis, I don't think it would be too good to connect positive power to a negatively charged vehicle, but, meh, that's just me. do it ghetto style if that's your style.

[racerx]

alright...i checked the code and this is what i got...

6 ECT Sensor (Engine Coolant Temperature)
defective circuit or unplugged / defective sensor

what do i do now?!

probably check and replace the coolant temperature sender. I believe it is located under the intake manifold.

but first, to make sure that's the problem, did you ever get weird readings on the temperature guage? did it stay down? or bounce around? If it works just fine (goes up slowly to about halfway, then stabilizes) then you might have a different problem.

[howndamane]

no...my temp gauge usually goes up about half way up or a bit more than half and stays there fine...i make sure to watch it now that i got the code but it doesnt seem to be going anything wrong. also, today when i was coming home...i took a little work to get my car to crank and when it did it wanted to shut off and had a lot of trouble staying on...i had to give it plenty of gas and idle it at about 2500 for a minute to get it to warm up, i was scared it was going to stall out on the road.

[racerx]

this sucks. sounds like you have more than one problem.

Have you gone ahead and sprayed all the vacuum hoses to check for leaks?

Actually, first I would check coolant level. I remember a few people having serious problems with this or that, and the source being low coolant.
Does the car run just fine when it's warmed up? Does it ever chug, or kick, or backfire, or anything? Do you have fuel in the tank? just kidding.

Has anyone (including you) worked on your car recently? If so, what did you have done? What might have been messed with?

Have you checked your spark yet? Don't assume the mechanic did anything to your car. For all you know, he turned it on and went, "Hmm, I dunno." and continued eating doughnuts.

Have you checked the coolant temperature sender yet?

Man, what HAVE you done?