I have a 94 civic ex. My car has no problem starting cold. It always starts right up. But after I drive my car for a little bit then get out to go to the store or something when I get back in it will start sometimes but take a couple cranks. But most of the time it wont start til I give it gas.

 

Air
Spark
Fuel

thats all you need to get the engine started..

figure out which one your lacking then come back.

 

Had the *exact* same problem last year. Turned out to be the main relay going bad. Yank out the main relay, open it up, and visually inspect the solder joints. If any look cracked with the "ring of death", reflow the solder with a soldering iron. Even if they don't look cracked, reflow it anyway... sometimes the cracks are too small to see.

 

yeah! what he said

 

This was a common problem with my Accord as well...

resoldering works, but my main relay failed again further down the road, keep your solders clean and be careful not to burn the board..

 

But why would it only start (95% of the time) when I give it some gas while I am starting it?

 

Because cracks on certain solder joints in your main relay would cause an intermittent connection and make it difficult for injectors to supply fuel to your engine. Essentially, your injectors would be getting mixed signals... quite literally... and as a result, wouldn't know whether to **** or wind their wrist watch. All of them might spray one time, then the next time you start the car, 1 or 2 might spray. It all depends on if that questionable solder joint is making the connection it's supposed to or not. See, if there's a crack in a solder joint, it got there from heating and cooling over time. Now that it's there, it's highly dependent on temperature, humidity, vibration, and the phase of the moon as to if it completes a circuit or not.

In short... just fix it.

 

I think I may have got it fixed. It was the ICM. I also fixed my other problem with my tach not working, which was also the ICM.

I read somewhere that the ICM can make the car have trouble starting when hot.

Thanks for the help.

 

Was going to say... ignition related. For example, a bad ignitor will start a car when cold, but not always when hot.

Or maybe it needs a tune-up, man.

 

Ok. Im still having the problem. Pulled the main relay right now. One looks cracked.

I have been looking around and it seems to me that main relay is a problem when it is hot outside. Not when the car has been running for a while. I've looked around and some said its the coolant temp sensor.

I don't feel comfortable soldering it. (Im pretty sure I will mess it up more)
So a new main relay is $50 and a new coolant temp sensor is 20.

So is the main relay a problem when the car is hot(as in running for a while) or is it just a problem when it is hot outside?

Any input is apreciated

Also the other day I took it on a long drive(About a hour). I stopped to put gas in, then when I went to go start it again it would start and I had to wait about 10 minutes before it started and as I was starting it I had to kept giving it gas. Then when it started it felt like it was gonna die so I kept giving it a little gas at idle. But that was only for when I was pulling out the gas station once I got out it idled fine.
Then the car was getting hot as I was taking the streets, with constant stop and go.

 

its the main relay i had the same problem id go to school in the morning and it wud start fine but wen i left it parked in the hot sun it would not start. i replaced dizzy and tested fuel pump and nothing. one day i finally decided to blow the $50 and as soon as i put the new main relay it started right up mines a 94 civic dx

 

But the car starts fine in hot weather. I live in Phoenix, AZ. The car would start no problem when it was 100+. It just takes a while to start after driving it around for a while. Like if I drive it for 30 minutes get out for 5-10 minutes then it has trouble starting.

 

Do some basic no-start diagnostics when the engine won't start.

There's little more to discuss until you've tested these two items: