I have been having issues with my 96 LX Accord with nearly 400k on it turning over. I replaced the relay about a year ago with a cheap aftermarket and it worked pretty good for about 4 months until the weather started getting hot and when it was hot it had issues getting started. I took it to a local garage and they did they said it was the relay. So I went to the parts dept at my local Honda dealership and bought an OEM and replaced it myself. It worked pretty good but it still at times wouldnt fire up. I had even taken the relay off and sprayed electronics cleaner into the harness connector and reconnected and it was still hit/miss with starting.

I took it back to the garage and told them the OEM relay was in and I was still having the issue. They kept it for a week and said it was the relay. I asked that they take another look and that it had to be something other than this, a grounding issue somewhere. I found a video of a guy who had his ECU get flakey and the circuit board in the ECU needed to be heated up with a hair dryer and then it would behave. I shared this video with them. They then said yeah the ECU is the issue and needs replacing. Im so frustrated, but that aside is replacing the ECU a swap out type thing? I guess I could go and find a used ECU and try myself but I have no idea whether this could be the issue or if its even a good idea.

 

I guess it depends on why it isn't starting. Are you getting spark?

Start with the cheap/free things

My experience with other cars being problematic to start usually has to do with grounding (sand/clean up the ground contacts)
Then, go through the distributor and check the condition of the igniter/coil etc. When my igniter was bad I had issues starting when it was hot
THEN worry about changing ecu etc, but most ECU issues are capacitor-related and you can usually spot a leaking capacitor if you open up the ECU
IF you know someone with an extra ECU try to borrow one and see if it fires up?

 

Thanks for the reply and yes FREE is better absolutely on board with starting there.
Is there a list of grounds to check I can go through and where they are located? Sorry for the bonehead question but Im pretty good at following instructions if I know what to do and where to look.

 

I can;t say exactly where your grounds would be, but start with battery to frame, then look for engine block to frame / chassis. If i recall, the second ground i mention is somewhere on the left side of the engine (right side if facing it from in front)
Just need to disconnect them, clean with sandpaper, put back on and see if it helps.

 

The shop that has it showed me today that the ECU no longer communicates to the relay. They had a diagram and highlighted the spot where its not communicating. They used a jumper wire in the relay to show how it can be bypassed to crank and run and it did and the minute the jumper was disconnected the car died. The part # i have is 37820-P0J-L60. If I buy the same part will it have to be reprogrammed? The shop owner has told me it doesnt need to be reprogrammed,