hi everyone. my name is Jaime. my girlfriend has a 94 ex 4door. we recently sold her 94 prelude and got this. about 3 months after we got it the car started having issues not wanting to start. meaning it would crank and start up the motor would die in like 2 sec. and you would do it a few times and eventualy it would catch and stay running. sometime let it sit a few min and it would start right up. well the car is finaly dead and not starting @ all. it will crank and catch, and try to start, but shuts down right away. even starting it and giving it gas has no affect on keeping it running.

i pulled the plugs out and they look good and smell like gas, so im assuming im getting fuel, plus the fact that the motor actualy trys to start tells me im getting at least some fuel. and i hear the pump turning on.

figured maybe the ignition....

replaced the distributor with a new one, but kept the old cap and rotor, car still no start, so i figure maybe fuel after all? i go and open the fuel cap and a lot of pressure is released, i have my girlfriend turn to possition 2 and i here pump kick on, tell her to start it and it turns on. and keeps turning on with no issue. then next moring wont start again, i try to take the cap off the fuel cap and start it again but this time no start. so now im back to square 1.

i dont here clicking inside the car, so im guessing the main relay is still good. maybe cap and rotor and wire? or could it be something else?

oh and 1 other thing....sometimes after i try to start it and it wont go, i here a vibrating sound from the front driver side, near the headlights....almost like a relay stuck or something.....?

sorry for the long post just trying to make sure everyone knows exactly what the issures are to avoid having to re explaine over and over....

 

Check the ignition switch

 

ignition switch???????????? u mean where i put the key in...how would that be messed up?

 

no theres a little switch behind where u put the key in just like in most cars trucks

 

Ignition switch.

My car did the same.

If you hold the key between the 2/3 position and it stays on it's another tell tale sign that's the issue, but it could be so badly damaged that that doesn't work.

$40 from honda new

 

yea, sorry thats what i ment. sorry in my car its all sold as one assembly. so you cant get the switch by itself. ok ill check that out. any other ideas? what could the rumbeling/vibrating on the front of the car be?

 

That is the fuel relay clicking on and off and trying to figure out if it is going to give you fuel or not. I had a civic with this issue for 2 years. A few taps on the relay itself and it would start up, but it took a lot more once the car was hot and shut off then tried to restart. I would recommend trying a used one, they are a plug and play item so you could try one from a yard and see if that makes a difference.
Cheers,
iZaGuF