If Your Honda Doesnt Start OR Doesnt Run Properly Read This

[monsterbishi]

Due to the mass quantity of my car doesnt start or runs like crap etc etc, ive written and copy pasted this for everyone to read, before they ask on the forums.

feel free to add some more if YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT!

Engine Related Problems

Engine will not rotate when attempting to start

- Battery terminal connections loose or corroded.
- Battery discharged or faulty.
- Automatic Transmission/transaxle not completely engaged in Park mode or Manual Transmission Clutch not completely depressed.
- Broken, loose or disconnected wiring in the starting circuit.
- Starter motor pinion jammed in flywheel ring gear.
- Starter solenoid faulty.
- Starter motor faulty.
- Ignition switch faulty.
- Starter pinion or flywheel teeth worn or broken.

Engine rotates but will not start

- Fuel tank empty.
- Battery discharged.
- Battery terminal connections loose or corroded.
- Leaking fuel injectors, faulty fuel pump, faulty fuel pressure regulator.
- Fuel not reaching the fuel rail.
Ignition components damp or damaged.
- Worn, faulty or incorrectly gapped spark plugs.
- Broken, loose or disconnected wiring in the starting circuit.
- Loose distributor is changing ignition timing.
- Broken, loose or disconnected wires at the ignition coil or faulty coil.

Engine hard to start when cold

- Battery discharged or low.
- Malfunctioning fuel system.
- Injectors leaking.
- Distributor rotor carbon-tracked.

Engine hard to start when hot

- Air filter clogged.
- Fuel not reaching the fuel injection system.
- Corroded battery connections, especially the ground.

Starter motor noisy or excessively rough in engagement

- Pinion or flywheel gear teeth worn or broken.
- Starter motor mounting bolts loose or missing.

Engine starts but stops immediately

- Loose or faulty electrical connections at distributor, ignition coil or alternator.
- Insufficient fuel reaching the fuel injectors.
- Vacuum leak at the gasket between the intake manifold and throttle body.

Oil puddle under the engine

- Oil pan gasket and/or oil pan drain bolt washer leaking.
- Oil pressure sending unit leaking.
- Cylinder head covers leaking.
- Engine oil seals leaking.

Engine lopes while idling or idles erraticallly

- Vacuum leakage.
- Leaking EGR valve.
- Air filter clogged.
- Fuel pump not delivering sufficient fuel to the fuel injection system.
- Leaking head gasket.
- Timing belt and/or pulleys worn.
- Camshaft lobes worn.

Engine misses at idle speed

- Spark plugs worn or not gapped properly.
- Faulty spark plug wires.
- Vacuum leaks.
- Incorrect ignition timing.
- Uneven or low compression.

Engine misses throughout driving speed range

- Fuel filter clogged and/or impurities in the fuel system.
- Low fuel pressure.
- Faulty or incorrectly gapped spark plugs.
- Incorrect ignition timing.
- Cracked distributor cap, disconnected distributor wires or damged distributor components.
- Leaking spark plug wires.
- Faulty emission system components.
- Low or uneven cylinder compression pressures.
- Weak or faulty ignition system.
- Vacuum leak in fuel injection system, intake manifold, air control valve or vacuum hoses.

Engine stumbles on acceleration

- Spark plugs fouled.
- Fuel injection system faulty.
- Fuel filter clogged.
- Incorrect ignition timing.
- Intake manifold air leak.

Engine surges while holding accelerator steady

- Intake air leak.
- Fuel pump faulty.
- Loose fuel injector wire harness connectors.
- Defective ECU or information sensor.

Engine stalls

- Idle speed incorrect.
- Fuel filter clogged and/or water and impurities in the fuel system.
- Distributor components damp or damaged.
- Fault emissions system components.
- Faulty or incorrectly gapped spark plugs.
- Faulty spark plug wires.
- Vacuum leak in the fuel injection system, intake manifold or vacuum hoses.
- Valve clearances incorrectly set.

Engine lacks power

- Incorrect ignition timing.
- Excessive play in distributor shaft.
- Worn rotor, distributor cap or wires.
- Faulty or incorrectly gapped spark plugs.
- Fuel injection system out of adjustment or excessively worn.
- Fault ignition coil.
- Brakes binding.
- Automatic transmission/transaxle fluid level incorrect.
- Clutch slipping.
- Fuel filter clogged and/or impurities in the fuel system.
- Emission control system not functioning properly.
- Catalytic converter plugged.
- Low or uneven cylinder compression pressures.
- Obstructed exhaust system.

Engine backfires

- Emission control system not functioning properly.
- Ignition timing incorrect.
- Faulty secondary igntion system (cracked spark plug insulator, faulty plug wires, distributor cap and/or rotor).
- Fuel injection system malfunctioning.
- Vacuum leak at the fuel injectors, intake manifold, idle air control valve, or vacuum hoses.
- Valve clearances incorrectly set and/or valves sticking.

Pinging or knocking engine sounds during acceleration or uphill

- Incorrect fuel grade.
- Ignition timing incorrect.
- Fuel injection system faulty.
- Improper or damaged spark plugs or wires.
- Worn or damaged distributor components.
- EGR valve not functioning.
- Vacuum leak.

Engine runs with oil pressure light on

- Low oil level.
- Short in wiring circuit.
- Faulty oil pressure sending unit.
- Worn engine bearings and/or oil pump.

[monsterbishi]

MAIN FUEL RELAY:

This is the cause of 80% of my car wont start problems.

basically after a few years the solder joints on the back of the relay dry out and crack, not allowing for proper conections to be made through the relay.

you can buy a new main fuel relay (around $80-$150 depending on model) or if you have a soldering iron you can re-heat the joints and let them dry to allor current to pass through them again.

WHERE IS IT LOCATED:

the main fuel relay is located under the drivers dash, almost directly under the steering wheel on EF8, EF9, DA8 and DA6.

when you pull the kick panel off you will see a black (or brown in some cases) holder bolted to the dash support. it has one plug coming of it.

undo the plug and unbold the unit.

take the relay out of the holder and replace it or re-solder it.

put it all back and bobs your sisters uncle.

[A18Accord]

Originally Posted by monsterbishi

Engine lopes while idling or idles erraticallly

- Vacuum leakage.
- Leaking EGR valve.
- Air filter clogged.
- Fuel pump not delivering sufficient fuel to the fuel injection system.
- Leaking head gasket.
- Timing belt and/or pulleys worn.
- Camshaft lobes worn.

My car used to idle rather shittly, very bouncy idle, heaps of putt putt out the exhaust, the carb back fired randomly, would always stall. The problem was a solenoid not getting any power (Primary slow mixture cut-off solenoid valve to be exact), i shorted the wire straight to the + of the coil, sure enough, ALL those problems went away.. weird eh? No more putt, doesn't shake the entire car any more, smooth idle etc... So ya carby peoples might wanna check for faulty solenoids or good eletrics?

[k3v1n_p4rk]

where would the main fuel relay be located in an EG6? My car does start before 5 mins after it has been turned off. I give the smack under the fuses and then it will turn on.
PM me if you have answered my Q's.

Originally Posted by monsterbishi

MAIN FUEL RELAY:

This is the cause of 80% of my car wont start problems.

basically after a few years the solder joints on the back of the relay dry out and crack, not allowing for proper conections to be made through the relay.

you can buy a new main fuel relay (around $80-$150 depending on model) or if you have a soldering iron you can re-heat the joints and let them dry to allor current to pass through them again.

WHERE IS IT LOCATED:

the main fuel relay is located under the drivers dash, almost directly under the steering wheel on EF8, EF9, DA8 and DA6.

when you pull the kick panel off you will see a black (or brown in some cases) holder bolted to the dash support. it has one plug coming of it.

undo the plug and unbold the unit.

take the relay out of the holder and replace it or re-solder it.

put it all back and bobs your sisters uncle.

[DA6 RSi]

My tegs stopped one night on the way to fire call (I'm a volunteer fire-fighter).

Pulled the dizzy off the next day and, the little screw that holds the onto the shaft had come undone and the rotor was jumping all over the place. Luckily the screw was still intact!! Just did it back up and it ran fine.....

[BTLF3D]

Originally Posted by DA6 RSi

My tegs stopped one night on the way to fire call (I'm a volunteer fire-fighter).

Pulled the dizzy off the next day and, the little screw that holds the onto the shaft had come undone and the rotor was jumping all over the place. Luckily the screw was still intact!! Just did it back up and it ran fine.....

i would take it back out, and put some locktite on it

[Dw33d0r]

I couldn't find any pictures of what I wanted on the net for resoldering the main relay on the BB1 Prelude, so I just decided I'd do it myself!

My problem.. the car wouldn't start. I turned into my driveway, stalled it, and couldn't get it going. Just turned over without firing. The fix took me about 10 minutes all up..

First off, remove panel under steering wheel column, 2 screws underneath, one in the side (which you have to open the door, and remove a little panel to get at). Reach up and remove the heater ducting, this just pulls out. You want to climb in, and get your head about where the arrow is, looking up.



And then you'll see this little grey box, (I've marked on the next pic, the location of the accelerator and brake pedals, so its' pretty obvious where the relay is..) with a brown plastic piece clipped inside. Unclip the wiring going to it. Everyone else who I read did this, had trouble getting at the bolt that holds it on.. you only need to do that to replace the whole unit. Or if you do get a new unit, just swap the brown bit over, its' way easier than getting at the bolt that holds the relay on.

So as per the pic, I got a screwdriver, GENTLY pushed the sides of the grey box out, and pulled the brown piece out.



Fire up your soldering iron. Flip the brown piece over, this is the circuitry for the relay, with its' problematic soldering! With the soldering iron, just lightly touch each solder to get it loose, then let it reset. If you want to be thorough, add a little more solder, but be careful not to heat the circuitboard up too much, this may damage it.



And there you go! Better than forking out $90 for a new relay.. the car starts perfectly, even when warm, which it had issues with before.

[eg4yo]

In case of no start and no spark, there are several things which could be at fault, and its fairly easy to check a few things which could save you replacing the wrong bits

-Look VERY closely at the rotor arm. They quite often arc through to the steel insert for the shaft. Obviously its best to discover this BEFORE you've replaced the coil and ignitior etc!

-Put a LED test light across the coil input and crank it over. If it flashes, then chances are that everything is fine with the ignitor and low tension side, and you have a fautly coil or cap/rotor etc
You could also try the RPM function on your multimeter if it has it as this will show if the ignitor is switching - 180-200rpm is about right depending on how flat the battery is getting!

-I have just had a faulty coil in a d15b sohc vtec and the old and new coils both measured the same for resistance across the prmary and secondary. The old coil wouldn't spark a plug when bench tested tho - so its a good idea to try and bench test a the coil before you spend the $$ buying a new ignitor (or anything else!).

[ACE-JDM-SNT]

Hey man,
My D16y4 had a nose to tail and for about a month after it wouldnt idle correctly... when its cold it would idle a lil higher as normal but when it heated up it would idle up and down between 1000 and 2000rpm like a slow rotor lol...

I had word from a few different people that the cold start valve was clogged or something about the little wax plug not melting when heated up...

I drove it like that for about 3 weeks and one day i turned it on and its all sweet... fixed itself, is that normal?

Cheers dude, Good info

[EVLB16]

problem with my teggy.. car turns but will not start, just keeps turning and turning, but once i git it 2 fire and start, the engine makes a 'zzzzzzzzzz' sound from near the cams/aircon unit. anyone got an idea to what it is??