lately with the weather being hot here in southern california i've noticed that my car is hard to start. it'll start up then finally die out. usually it'll take 2 or 3 tries before it finally starts up. i'm thinking its the main relay causing this to happen? if so, is this normal? how do you tell if the main relay is going bad??? thanks for the help...

 

same thing happens to me. if its real hot outside and i drive to the store or whatever, i'll come out of the store 20 minutes later and the car won't want to start for a while. main relay is what it is as far as i know. it can be fixed of course, but i'm lazy and its not that bad of a problem for me because i live in washington and it doesn't get hot often...damn so cal people and their hot wheather...

 

maybe im just dumb but ive never heard of a main relay going bad and ive been working on honda's for about 3 years your best bet is to check every connection: starter, batt's, exc. there are alot of actions that have to take place for that main relay to kick over chances are its not the relay its somthing else.

does anyone have a list of everything that takes place in order for the main relay to click over?

 

Your description is that of the classic main relay gone/going bad. It controls the fuel pump and provides power to the injectors. Thermal expansion causes hairline cracks in the solder joints to open. You could try to resolder it, or just replace it.

When you first turn on the ignition, listen for the faint hum of the fuel pump. The pump will stop when the CEL goes out, (after about 2 seconds). If you don't hear anything, it's a sure bet the main relay is the problem.

 

It does sound like the main relay, BUT it also sounds like a battery on it's way out. I've had that happen to me before. I would go for a drive in the heat and make a quick stop and the car wouldn't start up at all until it cooled down a bit.

 

i have that problem once in a while but mine was the actually the ignition switch. it kind of on the worn side so i actually hooked up a racing push start button directly to my starter. works like a charm when my car won't start

 

The OP stated it starts up and dies. A low battery would not allow it to spin enough to start. That doesn't seem to be the problem.

The ignition switch is a possibility, but that could be ruled out by checking if the idiot lights come back on when it dies.

 

Ahhh... didn't read that. You're right. Has to be the main relay.

spun vtec - main relay is one of the most common issues with OEM parts breaking.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4drEF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ahhh... didn't read that. You're right. Has to be the main relay.

spun vtec - main relay is one of the most common issues with OEM parts breaking.</TD></TR></TABLE>

maybe but i bet its not let him replace it and see if thats it

 

if the fuel pump is not charging with the check engine light at START then i'll bet that it is the main relay. i had this exact same problem. i would go for a short drive to get gas, etc. and then try to start the car again but the fuel pump wouldn't charge (and the relay wouldn't click like it's supposed to) which would keep the car from starting. i've now got a brand new relay and no problems.

i'm also going to replace the main relay in my gf's 92 accord pretty soon as her car does this exact same thing. to my knowledge Honda's are notorious for this problem.

 

Same exact problem my friends CRX had. He was to lazy to replace the relay, so I did, and it ran perfectly fine ever since. Started up perfect, never bogged and died.

It's most likely your relay assy, located to the left, on the drivers side. Just replace it, it only costs around $50.00 from Honda.