For about a week now my 93 EX 5-Speed Manual 183,000 has been somewhat hard starting when being started for first time each day and then once I get it going and drive about 15 minutes and the engine gets good and warm it shuts down and will NOT restart until fully cool again.

Starting symptoms include:

►Excessive cranking needed to get any sign of combustion. Abnormal for this car.
►While combustion is happening car/engine shakes violently and finally starts running and settles into what seems like a smooth idle.


Dying symptomes include:

►Feels like a lack of power but sometimes feels and drives normal
►Occasional feeling that the vehicle has a miss
►Dies dead suddenly at slower speed, such as pulling off from a traffic light.
►No ECU code.
edit:
►Temp guage normal
►No oil light or other light


Restart attempt symptoms:

►Crank all I want. Absolutely no sign of combustion.
►Car is basically dead until it has cooled completely. Then it will restart but does not display the violent shaking while igniting that it does after many hours of sitting.
►White smoke out of exhaust while cranking. Possibly steam as it is cold and snowy outside.

Maintenance:

►Plugs and wires good.
►Car does use a little oil (about a ½ a quart every 2 months)
►Distributor assy is aftermarket (no name) installed about 2 years ago. Smooth install, smooth running afterwards.
►Main Relay original but it appears to be sending proper signal. I occassional hear it under there.
►Fuel Pump original
►Fuel filter, abt 10,000 miles
►O² sensor(s) orginal but vehicle throws no code when acting up
►Injectors and intake manifold, etc. "smoked" for cleaning about 90 days ago.

Things I have not done trying to resolve this:

►Checked fuel pressure
►Compression test on engine
►Checked EGR ports for buildup


Any symptom or the overall scenario grab anybodys brain? If so, please post. Thanks.

 

have you checked the spark my first impression was bad coil or igniter. especially since you said on name dizzy. also what was the psi on your comp test

 

i had similiar problems on my 98 accord.. i thot about most of the symptoms you thot of.. i had a low idle/ dying problem also. people told me about the EGR, and main relay and stuff like that.... but i jus brought it to Honda and they told me it was a faulty ECU, so they changed it out for me, and eveything works fine after that.. lucky my car was under warranty, otherwise they told me it would of cost $800... Hope this helps.

 

bump i have this same exact problem.. driving is a nightmare.. for every 30 minutes i drive i have let it cool down for at least an hour or more..

 

Problem definitely related to heat. I wish it was a computer connected part/system that is acting up because then there would be a code stored. When the blizzard conditions blow over, I'm going to have a look at the distributor and reinspect all the plug wires and check for fire. Is there a do-it-yourself method of checking fuel pressure that is not too dangerous and not too complicated?

EGPHANTOM- for the first time ever, I am not comfortable taking my Accord out for a drive. It's a strange feeling. What year is your Accord?

 

I think mine was trash in the gas tank and possibly some routine maintenance. I replaced dist cap and rotor. Replaced or thoroughly cleaned all wires. Coil wire at dist cap was pretty heavily caked with corrosion. Just neglect on my part. That could very well have been my problem right there but I'm not really sure. Cleaned that connection real good. Pulled and inspected all plugs. They were all in good shape.

While the car was acting up it had about less than ¼ tank of gas. I dumped ½ a can of SeaFoam in the tank and filled up with Shell VPower. Within a mile I could tell the car was running better. Idling better, smoother. Drove until engine was thoroughly warm. No sign of stalling. Been driving several days now. No more stalls. Also notice when first starting it each day, gone are the shuttering shaking starts. Starts smooth again. Turns over a couple of times and she fires up. It's once again running like a high mileage Honda Accord. Smooth and dependable.

 

I had a similar problem, turned out to be a simple fix. The electrical ground to the engine was loose. Thermal shrinkage allows tight connection when cold, but as engine heats up thermal expansion loosens connection. When engine cools down the connection gets tighter.

Remove engine ground, shine up all contact points with sandpaper, re-tighten bolt.