My car was fine until it got flooded but now it seems....

[u5711]

Here is the deal.(BTW I have a 87 accord with about 275k miles) A couple of years my car was fine day-in, day-out. But, then there was a flood and the computer got all messed up and it had to be fixxed. Now it starts most of the time but if you've been driving long(like 45 minutes plus) it needs about a 2 hour cool-down for it to start back up. However, sometimes it doesn't even start at all and I think part of these times it's not getting gas, it seems like the engine starts and the car rumbles as if it started(the battery is good and works) and then it just won't start like the gas isn't kicking in or something. I think the cpu needs to be reconfigured but I don't really know jack. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as this is my only means of transportation.

[A20A1]

you need to tell us your model, LX or LX-i or SE-i
or just say if you are efi or carbed

[u5711]

Well Im not exactly sure what model, it's not the SE. Check out my sig for pictures if it helps. What is "efi or carbed"?

[89accordlxi]

EFI is Fuel injected and Carb means you are using a carburetor. Look at the back of your car at it should show you what model your car is. Or lift the hood and see if you have a silverish throttle body at the back of your engine(efi) or a big black pan type thing(carb) sitting on top of engine. About your problem....have no idea. Sorry.

peace out..

[u5711]

Ok, well I know my car is fuel injected

[ACCORD EX]

it could be the fuel main relay ! not sure !

MIKE

[88WhiteLX-i]

To be sure it's not your ECU goto the junkyard and rip one out of the same make year and model or your car. And see how she runs with that...

[u5711]

Originally posted by 88WhiteLX-i
To be sure it's not your ECU goto the junkyard and rip one out of the same make year and model or your car. And see how she runs with that...

Do you know about how much this will cost me?

[guaynabo89]

It will cost you nothing if you shove it down your pants. Not that I have ever done that or anything. U-pull its usually around 20 bucks.

I have a feeling its the main relay. Does it not want to start when its hot out? Will it turn on only when its been sitting for a while or its cool outside?

[u5711]

its sparatic when it turns on. It doesn't matter how the weather is but if the car has been running for 45 minutes or more approx then it won't start back up for about 2 hours.

[ACCORD EX]

running for 45 minutes means it's hot ! i guess !


MIKE

[shepherd79]

take a big dip tool box with as little tools as possible,
go to junk yard and rip the computer, putt that thing on the bottom of toolbox and take out something cheap to buy to get attention from your back.
that is how i used to do it untill i got spare parts car.

[88LXi/87CRXSi]

Originally posted by u5711
its sparatic when it turns on. It doesn't matter how the weather is but if the car has been running for 45 minutes or more approx then it won't start back up for about 2 hours.

Hmm, that sounds familiar! Had the same problem! Its your ect sensor failing, but not a open or short which causes an ecm code. this is from a web page that isn't up anymore, but will explain it better than me!

SYMPTOM
The symptom is hard to start when hot. This most often occurs right after a Honda has been driven to operating temp, parked, and restarted a short time later. This symptom may be intermittent and the car may fail to start until the car has cooled back down.

THE CAUSE
The problem most likely is a defective engine coolant temperature (ECT) sensor. The ECT sensor on Hondas will many times fail. The typical pattern is that they look fine at normal temperature, but go "cold" as the car approaches normal operating temperature. You can see this easily by monitoring the sensor voltage. It will start high and will be dropping towards .5 volt and then take off to a high voltage reading again. Some even will bounce around from high to low voltage. The screen capture to the left is a voltage waveform of a malfunctioning ECT sensor on a fully warmed Legend. The ECT voltage would jump from .6 to 4.5 volts.

So now the engine control module (ECM) thinks the car is cold again, when it is actually at normal operating temperature. This really does not create all that much of a problem while the car is running. The injector pulse width (PW) will only vary about .5ms from full hot to full cold.

The problem is when you cut the car off and do a restart. When the ECM "sees" a start signal and a cold signal at the same time it increases the injector PW from the normal running width of 2-3ms to as high as 100ms. A hot engine typically can not handle this much fuel, and the engine floods.

DIAGNOSING
Testing the ECT sensor is relatively easy. The best way is to test the reference voltage it produces when the car is running. When you check for voltage on the two wires that go to the sensor you will find one is 0 volts (a ground) and one will have voltage. The one with voltage is the reference voltage. The reference voltage starts out at close to 3-4 volts on a cold engine. As the engine warms up, the voltage will fall to about .5 volt. It is not uncommon to see a defective ECT that will go high voltage (cold signal) as the car approaches full operating temperature. Table 1 lists the voltage to temperature information.

A quick "low tech" way to check an ECT sensor is to temporarily substitute the ECT sensor with a 300 (approximate) ohm resistor. This will simulate a fully warmed engine and if the car now starts OK, you know the ECT sensor is defective.

THE FIX
If the problem has been diagnosed as a faulty ECT sensor, the sensor should be replaced. For sensor location see Table 2.


Does your car seem like it's flooding when you try to restart it, then replace your ect sensor!!
Hope this helps!

-Steve

[anchovies]

2 hours is too long imo to be an ECT problem
i think the easiest fix is to send it to the mechanic and see what they come up with, then fix it yourself..that'll be alot easier for this problem