khabibul35

Hey guys, it's my first post since I've gotten access to my roommates 91 Civic DX. The thing is ancient but drives, and since my roommate left for in July I started driving it, it's been acting funny. It sometimes cranks but won't start in 2 situations that I've noticed.

1) I've been driving manual cars for years but Oakland/Berkeley are pretty hilly and when I occasionally stall on a hill, I can't start the car again for 1 or 2 minutes. It'll crank but won't start. If I try every 15 seconds, it won't start for. But, if I wait 1-2 minutes, it starts right up. In actuality, this happens EVERY time I stall.

The first time it happened to me it was on a small street but the second was at a huge intersection. I actually got pushed out of the way with some help but then right after the push, it just started right up. It's happened a few more times when I've parked and shut the car off and then tried to start it back up too. I've just been trying to be more careful in general, but I think this was just the first signs of a bigger problem.

2) If it's cool outside... no problem. The baby starts right up. When I go to work in the morning, I have no trouble. Actually, one time about 1 month ago it wouldn't start and just pushed spark plug wires around and after 2 minutes it started. I figured it was just that. However, yesterday after I got off at 4 PM, it just would not start. I must have been there for about an hour playing around with plugs, wires, fuses and relays and trying to start every 5 minutes to see if it worked and finally it did. It seemed totally random so I suspicious and saw a youtube video saying that sometimes relays did this when it was hot. Car started up no problem this morning but this afternoon same thing. I just sat there for a bit with windows open and hood up, airing the car out to cool down. After about 30-40 minutes of trying to start every 5 minutes, it fired up again.

I know it could be a lot of things, but since it starts sometimes and not others, I don't even know where to start checking. Anyone have any ideas what it could be? Is it the main relay as youtube suggested? How would I check that, and would it have to be checked when the car interior is hot to replicate conditions?

Thanks

br8crumb

main relay is somewhere simple to start. could be on its way out and needs to be resoldered or just buy a new 1 for 20-40bucks. you can unplug and take a look and remove the plastic cover to see if the contacts are melted and touching each other.

usual symptoms are the car wont start for a few minutes after its warmed up

CaliSmokeH22

main relay