Hello folks:

My apologies if this could have been found using 'search'...... a quick search didn't help me out, so I'm going straight to the experts, and asking for your experience / help. Thanks in advance for your help!

Our family's trusty 1988 CRX has suddenly lost it's status as dependable daily driver.... simply because it's getting hard to start! It cranks hard and fast, but only slowly comes to life (it at all).....

It's a 1.5 SOHC with automatic transmission, and about 140,000 miles

Here's a summary of what we've done:
1) I assumed it was a fuel pump, so I replaced fuel pump and fuel filter on the fire wall...... (I should have diagnosed first! foolish me!)
2) we have spark on all 4 spark plug leads
3) I checked compression on all 4 cylinders: 165 PSI on 3 cylinders, and 150 on the other.
4) spark plugs all looked good when removed
5) 60,000 miles or so on the timing belt (and I suspect it's not a timing issue, as it runs great after it's run for 20 seconds)
7) I contacted a former colleague who is an EF Honda enthusiast, and he checked the codes, but there were none stored

Once it starts, it stumbles badly for a 20 seconds, and then it all smoothes out. But sometimes we have to crank for a long time...... not confidence inspiring! My 16 YO daughter has recently started to prefer driving my F350 crew cab dually, and she hates it!

Any help / suggestions you can provide would be much appreciated.

For the 8 years we've had it (and the 17 my dad had it before he gave it to us), it has been a wonderful little car...... reliable as the sun, and fun to drive too!

Thanks in advance, and again, sorry if I should / could have found this via a search!

 

I might suspect either dirty or stuck open/closed fuel injectors. Could have them cleaned and flow tested. Also double check mechanical and ignition timing.

 

Thanks 2x0 - I'm going to check those options out......

 

if its only for the first 20 seconds
sounds like theres a little valve thats opening or closing 20 seconds too late
and its not giving the motor enough air

i looked and looked but cant find a better picture
here i circled the area where the valve is

theres a vacumme line that connects to it and it also has a rod that goes to your throttle body
and gives the car a litttle throttle only on start up
only on those first 20 seconds or so
so you can have a smooth start up and if its not working anymore it sounds just like the problem your having
the valve isnt broken its probebly just clogged or stuck
to fix you just take it apart and clean it and then reinstall

while your fixing this its a good idea to remove the cover that says pgmfi the whole black peace where the intake tube connects
to get better access to the valve and also to clean that throttle body as well
if it has alot of carbon build up
that could be choking the car out a little also

goodluck