Yes I did a search and found a lot of good info on this topic. The thing is, there is some contradicting info.

I have a 96 LX Accord Coupe with 234,000 miles on her. She still runs strong but recently it's been having trbl starting when it's cold in the morning. Its turns over just fine and starts but immediately stalls. I have to hold the revs up high to warm it up before it'll stay on.

A lot of threads are saying that the main relay is probably the problem. However, when I've visited some auto repair websites they say that the main relay usually acts up when its hot outside, not cold.

For example. Check out this link.
[URL]http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/l/aa010301a.htm

Can anyone that has had cold start trouble confirm that replacing the main relay resolved the trouble? I'd hate to spend $80 if its not going to do any good.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

If it fails to fast idle when cold, i can say it is not the main relay.

It could be a bunch of things though.

Is your check engine light on?

Do you have a multimeter?

check the resistance of the coolant temperature sensor.
check also if you have voltage going to that sensor

fs

 

Thanks for you reply Filthy_shovel

Guess what I found. My coolant temperature sensor is broken in two. It's completely separated from my head. It looks like its made of plastic and half of it is still stuck in the head. Would that cause my cold start problem?

 

The main relay switches power for the ECU, fuel pump, & injectors. If it were bad, the engine wouldn't start to begin with. It shouldn't cause a start-then-stall problem...

Broken coolant temperature sensor will certainly do this. It's like your ECU thinks the engine is hot, so it doesn't add extra fuel which is needed for a cold engine.

 

Thanks guys. I'm glad I did more research before I bought a new $80 main relay. I guess I'll be fixing my coolant temperature sensor this weekend. Thanks again.

 

i bet u have bad gas....maybe some water in it from using cheap gas...try buying some mid grade gas..and put some fuel treatment in it...sometimes bad gas can be hard to start...

 

Try a bottle of drygas next time you fill up