Searched and couldn't find folks having a similar issue to mine.

I daily drive my ITR and she runs like a champ, the issue is if she sits for more than 2-3 days without being started she will crank but has a hard time turning over, it will idle but feels like 1 or 2 plugs are out. Once I can get her to turn over I have to hold the throttle open to around 1500 RPMS for a min and then it will idle normally. This morning the issue happened again and my worry is I'm getting a daily driver soon what will become of the R.

Car has 150K never rebuilt.

Battery still has the correct juice only 2 years old
Plugs were just changed
Cap, rotor, ignitor, and coil were changed less than 10K ago
Main relay was changed less than a year ago

Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed thanks!

 

i have the same issue....but longer in between sitting time. hasnt done for me in a few months. same symptoms as you. hard to turn over and when it does turn over, idle is poop, and car wants to die, but if u hold gas down, it revs fine and eventually idle will smooth out. i was told to check test main relay. but i nwever did. keep me updated as to what you find, im curious. good luck!

 

Thanks TypeRod, the car actually wouldn't start on me a year ago and after swapping out the main relay it worked fine aside from this issue. Other issue which I'm not sure if it's related is if I start the car and turn it off let's say moving it in and out of the garage multiple times the car has a hard time starting again. Also if I drive to multiple destinations which are not far a part the same thing will happen.

 

are you on the stock ecu or tuned?

 

our cars must be twins! lol! mine also has that other issue u mentioned. mine will start but its a soft start followed by weak idle. how interesting...

 

same here. mine make a horrible sound if it doesnt start in 3 days (i work 3 days on 3 off) and i also have to rev it. i swear i think my neighbors think im trying to show off or something...japanese ppl look at you like ur the devil lol

 

Stock ecu.

Damn do your cars have close to the same mileage as mine?

 

mine has has 104xxx km i think its 86xxx mi i do regular 3 month maint. on it and everything. i dont drive it like a 16 year old either

 

Mine does some weird stuff due to a slow IACV. When I first got the swap, it would start right up, but instantly die. If I held the throttle open a little, it would stay running. Then if I let the revs drop to idle, it would idle very low. If I blipped the throttle again, it would die.

After cleaning the IACV, it would start fine. Only problem is, the idle slowly goes up and down when I first start it now. It's like the IACV moves to slowly compared to what the ECU is telling it to do when it's cold.

 

Thanks for the tip 94eg, I cleaned my Mom's Prelude's IACV I guess I should do it for the R as well. Her's had the surging idle issue though and cleaning the IACV solved that issue.

 

I have just about 187K on my clock. all stock, except headers n exhaust. i keep it properly maintained.

 

Fuel filter? I've had a few Honda's with trouble starting in the past (& sometimes just run crappy). Replacing the fuel filter was a cheap fix. Whenever I buy a used car it is always on my 'soon-to-do' list.

 

Fuel filter, fuel pumps or fuel pump pick-up screens. Cars like ITRs that sit a while or like my RV tend to have fuel problems.

 

Thanks guys, come to think of it has been some time since I replaced the fuel filter.

 

fuel filter?

 

My car iddles hard when i run it quickly never found the problem i guess i got acustomed to it changed everything migh be a tunning problem

 

i paid attn. to my car starting this morning and it started fine. but i never realized that the idle slowly rises to its cold idle....hmmmmm? i think its been like that for a very long time and i never realized it....lol

 

Ignition timing, fuel filter, and IAC valve. Make sure your distributor timing is on at +16 deg, if not you will have issues with driveability. The IAC is on the backside of the intake mani pull the 2 bolts and check to see if the screen or holes are clogged w/ carbon or oil. Also if your coolant is low you can get an air bubble in the IAC lines which will cause abnormal idle issues... as for the fuel filter its a cheap and easy way to fix any fuel related issues. Could also be a fuel pump on its way out, alowing fuel to drain back, and or trouble holding f/p.

 

Thanks rhd, just swapped the filter and it didn't help this issue. I'll check the IAC valve over the weekend.

 

no problem, good luck with the extra diag, let us know what you find...

 

do you notice any plumes of smoke when you start after a few days? you could have a leaking injector that fouls out the plugs till the cylinder(s) effected clears out

 

Keep us updated. Im curious as to what you find. If your cleaning the IACV does, Im gonna tear into mine and clean it up. GL!

 

Nope no plumes of smoke =(

I'll let everyone know if the IAC valve had anything blocking it.

 

Maybe a little low compression may be it? Never hurts to make sure anyways since this is a high compression motor.

 

Whenever my MR2 sat for a few days it would be a bit hard to crank over, have to do it a few times then rev it a bit to hold idle. Then it would start to warm up and run fine, I was getting a bit to much blow by. But I know for a fact it had low compression, maybe thats it?