johnm1

Hello,

I've got a '97 Honda Civic EX, 1.6, AT, ~85k miles, no mods/just plain stock.

If I start the car, from cold, and run the engine for maybe 20-30 seconds (like moving the car in the driveway) and then let the car sit for a while (over night to several days), the car can be very, very tough to start. I cranks just fine, it just doesn't want to fire up. It acts like it's flooded, but how can you flood a fuel injected engine?

Side note: This problem might be aggravated if the fuel tank is almost empty (the driveway is basically level where we park). I'm not really sure since we don't let it get that low very often, nor do we do this cold start/driveway car movement very much.

Any ideas?

Thanks for any help,
johnm1

b18crx88

does it just crank alot then start? try letting it prime a couple of times then start. if the car sits alot then i would think the fuel needs to be primed back up

BlackDeuceCoupe

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b18crx88 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">try letting it prime a couple of times then start. if the car sits alot then i would think the fuel needs to be primed back up</TD></TR></TABLE>


Yep! Exactly what I was thinking (we were typing at the same time)...


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johnm1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It acts like it's flooded, but how can you flood a fuel injected engine?</TD></TR></TABLE>


I used to have this problem, off n' on, with my D16Y5 motor.

For some reason, sometimes this or that injector would stick WFO at startup - flooding a cylinder - fouling the plug in the process and triggering a cel.

If I could get it shut off quick enough - and tap my injectors with a screwdriver handle or whatever - it would be okay - otherwise, I had to throw new plugs in it and clear the cel.

I noticed that if I allowed the ECU to charge the system (let the fuel pump run for a couple of seconds) before hitting the starter, it didn't happen - but, if I just jumped in my car and hit the starter without letting the fuel system pressurize - it was a crap shoot...

If you listen carefully, when you first turn the key on, you can hear the fuel pump run for a couple of seconds, then it shuts off automatically and waits until you start your engine - then it comes back on again.

Anyway, you might try that...

johnm1

I've never had to tap an injector or anything to get it started.

I'll try the pump priming thing next time to see if that helps ... assuming I can remember.

thanks,
johnm1