My 00 Honda Accord has trouble starting after sitting for a long period of time. It will crank but takes about 5-10 seconds to start and once it is started it will choke and sputter for about 5 seconds then engine sounds normal and runs great. If I turn it off and then turn it back on, it starts just fine. I recently replaced the timing belt, battery, distributor, spark plugs and wires. They ran full diagnositics on it and said my fuel system looks good because there is fuel in the lines. What could this possibly be? It has been getting worse and I don't want to end up on the side of the road again like when my distributor went out.

 

Have you put fresh gas in the car?

How long was it sitting for?

 

Define "long period of time." A day? A week? Months?

 

Could be an injector that is leaking ever so slightly causing a cylinder to become washed out and fuel pressure to drop over time.

Could be a leaking check valve in the fuel sending unit.

What are the environmental conditions when this happens? Does temperature alter the symptom? As asked, what is "long period of time"?

 

It has fresh gas and it does this after sitting for two hours or more no matter what the temperature is outside.

 

Leaking fuel injector(s), leaking fuel pump check valve. I would check fuel pressure. Also, check to see how long it takes for the fuel pressure to drop while the vehicle is sitting. If the fuel pressure drops rapidly this would indicate a faulty fuel pump check valve.