Ok question for you. I have a 1990 accord LX. It has 240,00 miles on it but the thing runs like a top all except for one problem. The car will on occasion when starting it start up then sputter and die then when you go to start it it just turns over and over without even firing. I have tried to smell for fuel but dont think I can smell any. Any good starting points to look at for a problem. When the car finally does start up it usually takes quite a few times trying to start it or just letting it set for 15 minutes or so it runs like nothing was ever wrong. Thanks for any help.

 

I apparently had that same exact problem.
One friend of mine told me it was the IDLE CONTROL VALVE...
i replaced it and i havent had that problem ever since.

Ps: This also solved another low-idleing problem.

 

thanks what about the main relay does that sound like it could be a Problem with that or would it be doing something different

 

you need to determine if it is fuel or spark related when car does not start pull hose off throttle body, . get a can of carb cleaner , open the buttrfly and spary carb cleaner in throlle body , try starting car if it starts it is fuel related , than first thing i would chk would be the main relay they tend to crack the solder a lot and we se a **** load of them come summer time ,,..
if it is not fuel related pull a plug wire out , install a scrrewdriver at end of plug wire , ground screwdriver and try starting car see if you get spark , if no spark possibly could be ignitor or coil ,
if cr starts and dies right away could be a bad electrical part of ignition switch..
try these and post results

 

check your distributer, had the same problem. and found that my disributer was crap. swaped, and no more prob.

 

all good suggestions; and if they addressed your condition, great!
If, on the other hand, your Accord still exibits this condition, then I would suggest a simple test.
Once the engine starts for the first time, let it run for about 30 seconds, shut it off and remove the sparkplugs and check their color. All four electrodes should be of uniform color, approximately that of a Dunkin' Donuts Iced coffee (extra light). If you should find any sparkplugs dark, wet or sooted then that could indicate an injector leak down problem.
Injectors can fail in several ways
1) dirty, foreign material effects spray pattern
2) leaks externally
3) fails to properly close and leaks internally

Basically, when an injector leaks down it allows gas to leak past the nozzle when it is not supposed to. This can happen even as you turn off the engine. What this will do is to allow residual fuel pressure to leak past the questioned injector, flood that intake runner and deny proper fuel pressure to the other injectors at the next start up.
The initial start/stall is indicative of the engine starting on the fuel remaining in the intake runners and then stalling because of insufficient rail pressure until the fuel pump catchs up. It is sometimes accompianed by a skip / missfire by the flooded plug trying to clear itself.
Why the good restarts during the rest of the day (you ask)? Because of time. Leak down normally takes hours (overnight). The starting / stopping during the day maintains sufficient rail pressure between runs to allow "good" starts

P

 

My car is currently at the service station. Exactly same thing was happening to me but then yesterday it quit on me. i waite and waited and waited for 3 hours i was trying to start it. Then i called the towing truck as i was on a parking lot. I towed it to the mechanic and he promised me to take a look at it tomorrow. So i called him today and you know what he asked me - "WHY DID YOU BRING ME YOUR CAR?" He said it starts perfectly.... so i'm going to pick it up.
It seems like it is a common problem for accords 90

 

thanks for the advice p adams the only problem with that one is it has never done it for the first start up of the day it actually usually does it after I have driven the car turned it off for a sec then tried to start it back up like within a few minutes.

 

Then I defer to the suggestion from desertHonda; You'll have to determine if it's fuel, or ignition related.
In my defense, your query didn't specify a cold or hot start complaint. sorry

 

no appologies needed it was good advice just dont think it will help me.

 

hey Zach, have you figured this out yet? sounds like the main relay. I have fixed a few of these. if you need one, let me know and I can bring one to the next autoX.
-Anthony