DannyBoy310

Hello, I Have a 1994 honda accord lx 5 speed and in the morning it take quite some time to start. Could this be that the spark plugs are going bad? I have a 2 month old battery so i doubt its the battery? What could this possibly be?

Mishako129

Could be a number of things. Start with the most economic things first. Could be corroded terminals, bad spark wires, plugs, cap/rotor, and the starter itself. I had my starter go bad on my accord when wouldn't start. im guessing its your starter. You can test it by having somebody outside physically hit it with the butt end of a screw driver while you try to start it, if it starts when he hits it then its your starter.

enriquez2000

Rough in the morning but fine after every other start? If so mine just started this and shortly after cel is on with a code 6.... Gonna replace that n see... Plugs and baterry r New and its only when car sits for a few hours that I have issue

Flagmichael

The classic cause is the main relay. It will help to know whether starting fluid makes it go right away, or whether it burns off starting fluid and still doesn't run, or ignores the starting fluid altogether.

enriquez2000

Would this cause only long sit hard starts?

Roader

A little more detail please: Does it just crank and crank when it's cold and then suddenly fire up? Or does it crank and try to start up but doesn't quite make it, like fewer than all cylinders are firing while you're cranking? Once it starts, does it run well or does it run raggedly for a few seconds or more?

enriquez2000

Well since I'm online.... Mine will start, run a lil rough for a second or 2 then ok rest of day....

Roader

Are you losing coolant? A head gasket with a small leak can allow coolant to seep into the cylinder(s) overnight, resulting a second or two of rough running after a cold start.

enriquez2000

No on the coolant... Does burn oil when cold....

DannyBoy310

I doubt its my starter because it does turn ever single time i start the car. I know what you mean though about hitting the starter. My car does not lose coolant or burn any oil. My terminals on the battery are perfectly fine because i replaced them 2 weeks ago which i did the same with the spark plug cables. I'm going to try replacing the cap and rotor because i think that might be the problem... just to clarify, the engine does turn over but it lags on turning on, it takes 6-10 seconds to actually start and after the first start of the morning, it perfectly fine throughout the day..

Thank you all for you input by the way.

enriquez2000

Let me know if that helps.... I did plugs but not cap n rotor.... Mine also smells like it runs a bit rich in the morning

Roader

DannyBoy310: I don't have any practical experience with diagnosing no-fire on cold start. Looking at the FSM, the first check it suggests is ohming-out the engine coolant temperature sensor. I did do this when chasing down a rich running condition; it's pretty easy to do. According to the FSM, it should be in the 200Ω to 400Ω range when hot and around 5KΩ @ 32F. There's a temperature/resistance chart in the FSM. I'd check the resistance when cold; perhaps the ECT can short to zero or low resistance which would tell the ECM that the engine was always hot, causing a lean cold start condition. The other two sensors it says to check - if the ECT is in spec - are the MAP sensor and TDC sensor. See the FSM.

enriquez2000

Could the ect be bad and only throw a code occasionally? Mine codes at random times

motegicivic

Did you track why it was running rich?

RICKSAUTOMOTIVE

a no start when cold only but the starter turns every time??? well the starter is fine. next could be the main relay or corosion on the terminals, worn plugs, wires distributer cap and rotor, or a bad ignition control module. but have you checked the timing yet? maybe the timing belt is stretched? or the timing is off slightly. have you checked the timing yet?

hope that helps

RICKSAUTOMOTIVE

not necessarily. long sit hard stars are more associated with head gasket problems. if the head gasket has a small leak, it can let water seep into the cylinders closest to the gasket problem area and they will fill with water as it sits. when you start your car after a while of sitting, the engine hits a load as it tries to compress water (which cannot be compressed) which is forced out the small openings of the valves as they open. after enough water is cleared to allow proper compression and a spark, the engine starts and sputters (depending how bad the leak is) and runs smoothly after that.

if the leak is severe, you will overheat quickly and the car wont make it very far.

motegicivic

I've had a hard "cold only like overnight" start for years on my civic, I assume if it was head gasket I would of known by now?

I did do a block test a few weeks ago, and it came out ok.

RICKSAUTOMOTIVE

yeah you would have not passed a block test if it was bad that long. have you checked the timing yet?

motegicivic

Just had timing belt done a month ago. Seemed a hair better, but if the temperature is like below 40 degrees seems hard starting, don't get me wrong it starts on the first crank, just seems to take a little longer than it should. After the morning it starts fine all day.

I have done recent wires, plugs, o2 sensor.

Cap and rotor was done maybe 2 years ago, but still had the hard start then too.

No codes.

Roader

Yes it was the oxygen sensor. It was running very rich: ten times what the State of CO allowed. I didn't think an O2 sensor could make the mixture that rich but I was wrong. Great post by Filthy Focker! on diagnosing fuel mixture problems: fuel too rich??

Roader

I don't know. What code is it throwing intermittently? I think your problem is different than the OP's, if I'm reading both correctly. The OP's car just takes a long time to start when it's cold. Yours starts right away when cold but runs rough for a few seconds (and emits a cloud of blue smoke?...my assumption when you said it burns oil when cold.) Blue smoke when cold is a classic bad valve seals symptom. IDK if the valves seals were leaking enough they could cause the plugs to foul at a cold start, and then the plugs clear themselves after a few seconds.

RICKSAUTOMOTIVE

you should do the cap, rotor, wires and plugs now that you have a new timing belt. those are standard parts in a timing belt service here in my shop. make sure the plugs are the OEM specific plug and that they are gapped correctly. sometimes the idiots at the parts stores drop the boxes or use them to wedge under doors to hold them open. crap like that can change the spark plug gap a thousandth of an inch or so.

nus_dogg

Rough start can be caused by a bad fuel pressure regulator. Pull the vacuum line off the FPR, there shouldn't be any fuel present. If there is, thats your issue right there. It'll cause rough start.

motegicivic

Interesting, did you get a check engine light?

I was running rich too, first I did my plugs, made a big difference, and then did the o2, was never done, seems better. Originally my back bumper was black.

motegicivic

Where is that located on the engine? Which is the vacuum line? I do not want pull a fuel line by mistake.