1717LST

I'm new to this forum, but not new to Hondas. I currently have 3 del sols and an Accord. I'm looking to add a 5th Honda to the stable, a new Si.

The 92 Accord is my daily beater and it's having a problem. Once I hit 350,000 miles (currently at 352k), it started to start rough. It only starts on 3 cylinders. If I turn the car off and re-start it sometimes it will start on all 4, sometimes it takes up to 10 starts in a row to get all 4 to fire.

Now the crazy part. Every now and then the car starts on 3 cylinders, then after 10 to 20 seconds the 4th cylinder picks up and the idle smooths out.

I replaced all 4 injectors with a used set. I know the were good because a friend had them in his Accord without any problems. I've also looked over the cap and rotor, plug wires, and plugs and everything looks good.

Does anyone have any advice where to look next? Is it possible the problem is with the computer?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

-Brian

phootbag

Since the problem is intermittent it is possible you won't see a problem when you look at the parts. You might want to go ahead and start with a tune-up if one hasn't been performed in a while. Make sure to replace the o-ring under the distributor cap.

1717LST

Alright phootbag, I'll give a tuneup a try. The past few weeks have been very humid and thats when the problem started. This morning was nice and dry with low humidity. The car started on 3 cylinders but the 4th picked up after only about 3-5 seconds. I'm thinking the moisture is making the problem worse.

jdadams12

Cap, rotor, o-ring, plugs and wires.

It is VERY possible that you have oil in one of the cylinders that is causing the plug and wire from arcing - are the ends of the wires full of oil? Do you know which one is not firing?

scottypippen147

does it smoke at all when you first start it up? because if you have bad valve seals oil might drip onto the cylinder stopping it from sparking until it is all burnt off

phootbag

Usually, bad valve seals will leak most when the engine vacuum is high.

1717LST

I never thought of this. The valve cover gasket and oil cap both leak a bit. I have never seen any smoke when the car starts or is running, but I have gotten a burnt oil smell after driving (I'm thinking the valve cover gasket is leaking and oil is dripping down onto the exhaust).

I ordered a new gasket and everything for a tune-up, should have it by wednesday. We'll see if that clears up this problem.

f22a1 ftw

when u do your tune up id make sure ur cam timing is correct after about 150-200k miles the timmng starts to slip atleast mine did and scince ur pulling u valve cover off it wouldnt be to much more work

jdadams12

Just pull the current plugs out and see if the ends of any of them are drenched in oil. If they are, then the plug won't fire right. You can just remove the plug, clean with brake cleaner (plug and wire) and reinstall... you can change the gasket later.