95 Accord that has been sitting awhile. Thought it was bad spark plugs, replaced those but it still won’t turn. Any advice? Video below (my SUV is running next to the car which is the background noise):
Have you checked if the battery is fully charged?
Tester
Yes, forgot to add that I put in a new battery.
Does it sound like a starter issue or that one of the spark plug wires is not connected tightly?
I’m not able to listen to the vdo sound. Does it crank ok, that rrr rrr rrr sound w/key in start? If so the next step is to identify if the problem is no fuel, or no spark. Spark plugs aren’t normally affected by sitting unused, so suggest to discount the spark plug idea. An unused car however often has fuel system issues. You could try spraying a little starter spray into the air intake. If it briefly starts and run, then stalls, pretty conclusive test there’s no fuel being injected into the cylinders. A fuel pressure test would follow.
Thank you. Yes, that is exactly the sound it makes (rrr…rrr…rrr). I will diagnose the fuel issues (I didn’t listen in the back for fuel pump noise yet).
The engine is cranking over too slow, did you allow the battery to become discharged?
No, it’s a brand new battery, just put it in a few hours before I took the video.
I’m also wondering if it could be the ignition distributor. I will try to rule that out today as well.
Update: I believe I may have narrowed it down to a fuel issue.
I tested the spark plugs and they had spark, so it can’t be a bad ignition distributor or coil.
I listened for the fuel pump and didn’t hear anything. I sprayed some starter fluid into the air intake and the engine sputtered like it wanted to start but never turned over, but that is slightly more than what it was doing in the video above.
I’m going to try replacing the main/fuel pump relay (which I’ve read goes out on the Honda, especially when sitting in heat for a long time). Any other suggestions are much appreciated!
1 Like
Good diagnosis job there DJ. I expect you are getting close to a solution.
Thanks George. Hopefully it’s just a relay or simple electrical issue and not the actual fuel pump that’s out.
Another clue: I’m not in front of the car now but I was comparing images of the same engine and I just realized that the wire in the red circle is missing. Anyone know what it is?
That is the positive crankcase ventilation hose.
Thanks. Sounds like that would not be related to a no start issue.
I received the replacement main relay today, going to test it out tomorrow. If this doesn’t do the trick, is there any diagnosis that can be done to test whether it’s the fuel pump (without dropping the tank to access it)?
Spray some starting fluid into the intake and then try starting the engine.
If the engine starts and runs for a few seconds, it’s a fuel problem.
If it doesn’t, it’s an ignition problem.
Tester
I did try the starter fluid spray. The engine sounded like it was trying to start (More than it did before) but still never fully turned over. Maybe I didn’t spray enough or farther enough up the intake for it to fully turnover? I’ve read that too much can cause damage so I didn’t want to overdue it, especially since I did get some spark when I tested the plug wires.
Put in the new main relay, still no start. I tried listening to the fuel pump again and didn’t hear anything so I’m thinking it’s gone bad, or there’s another issue not causing it to get power. Should I look at replacing the ECU?
What would cause the engine to crank too slow (besides a bad battery)?