97 Accord EX wagon 2.2 f22b1

hi everyone , lately I've experienced a rough start when the car sat over night. At the suggestion of a friend, this morning I left the key in the ON position for 10 seconds, turned it off and repeated this 3 times.
the car started up perfectly after this.

whats the issue and how do I fix it?

thank you for your time.

 

You're losing fuel pressure when it's sitting overnight. When you put your key into the on position and wait, fuel is being pumped so that when you turn ignition it will start.

Talk to your friend and see if they can help you check the fuel pressure and go from there. Fuel system testing can be complicated so you may need to take it to service to test. Could be a leak somewhere in the lines or injectors (at the tank) or the fuel pressure regulator or the pump itself. Every car has a certain PSI (pressure) that needs to be at for the engine to work properly. If it's too low, obviously it won't be delivering enough pressure to meet the demand of the engine.

Hope this helps.

 

The symptom is almost always caused by a weak fuel pump, but it can also be that your fuel injectors are leaking and draining the pressure off overnight. My guess is the fuel pump. In case it is just gotten gunked up inside the fuel pump and/or the injectors you could run some fuel cleaner through it for a couple of tanks and see if it gets better. If it doesn't, you can borrow/get loan of a fuel pressure tester from a place like AutoZone or O'Reilly's for free (you actually pay for it and then return it and get your money back). Most likely a fuel pump issue, IMHO. You can get a used fuel pump from a wrecked car in a junkyard if you are strapped for cash. The fuel pumps are mounted in the trunk and come out pretty easily. To keep your fuel pump from getting weak, refill the tank whenever it gets down to 1/4 tank. The fuel pump works harder the closer you get to empty. Running it completely empty is deadly for a fuel pump.

 

thank you, where's the fuel pump on my accord wagon? (Since there isn't a trunk)

 

The fuel tank should be below where you put the gas in the car and the fuel pump is mounted in the top of the fuel tank, so I would say the fuel pump is most likely in the middle of the car, under the carpet and any other coverings, in the floor/cargo area, in line with the the fuel filling location (where you put gas in the car).

 

Update:

Got a code for Coolant Temperature Sensor. The one that gives info to the main computer. I changed it, $20, and now it starts perfectly AND idles more appropriate at below 1k. So far so good!