Ok so when I start my car in the morning it cranks over a few times and starts right up. That's fine works normally. Later, when the engine is still warm usually after the car has been sitting for a while my car won't start right away. It usually takes about 5 seconds then it kind of sputters to life. After that the rpm will rise slowly and after about 3-4 seconds the starts running normally. I am thinking it has something to do with the fuel return system. What do you guys think?

 

Try holding the throttle wide open for your hot start. If that dramatically improves starting, your engine is flooding. Most likely reason is a leaking injector allowing fuel to dribble into the hot manifold while engine is warm. When you try to start your engine is flooded.

Overnight the fuel will evaporate and you won't have any problem starting.

You can confirm a leaking injector by having fuel pressure measured. You will see a steady leakdown from spec pressure to zero, probably in 1-2 minutes.

good luck

 

Honda does not use the Engine Coolant Temp sensor once the engine is fully warmed up and the computer is in Closed Loop Operation. The sensor could completely fail, full hot or full cold, and the computer would not care, UNTIL the next key cycle, then if the ECT sensor tells the computer that it is cold when the engine is actually warm, it will tell the computer to deliver more fuel than needed and slightly flood the engine in a scenario like yours. I recommend you change the ECT sensor as a matter of preventive maintenance as they are common wear and tear items, inexpensive and good insurance for some years to come.

This along with the fuel leak down test as mentioned would be great. Years ago I used to instruct folks to go to Radio Shack and pick up a 330 ohm resistor (I think that was the size) for a no start after a hot soak, 5 ~ 45 minutes, disconnect the ECT connector, insert resistor into car harness connector and start car, if car started, replace ECT, very common problem. The resistor simulated a warm ECT resistance.

 

Well, I think you're right. Giving it gas while starting helped quite a lot. How do I determine which injector(s) is leaking?

 

Without a 5 gas analyser, I think you may have to pull the fuel rail and injectors, apply power to the fuel pump and see which injector is leaking, new o rings for re-installation. At this point I would recommend all injectors get sent out for professional cleaning and they will determine if that one is still good after cleaning.

 

These guys seem to have a pretty good service for injector cleaning .... I had thought about using them, but haven't yet.

http://www.witchhunter.com/injectorvideo1.php4

 

I don't know of any way to easily isolate the leaking injector. It may be easier to simply replace or rebuild all of them at same time.

good luck

 

I think that I'll have to rebuild/replace all of them to be sure. I would use 2POINTautO advice, but this really isn't possible. The injectors in my car sit in the intake loosely. Then you place the fuel rail over them and bolt it down. I would need something to hold each of the injectors in place otherwise I'd have fuel everywhere.

I will look into rebuilding them.

 

Agree, if you start the fuel pump w/ injectors attached to the rail, the injectors will be ejected from the rail and fuel will go everywhere.

good luck

 

Don't know if this is helpful, but I checked the injectors resistance and they all were about 2.6 ohms +/- .1. I also did Honda's check where you rev up the engine to 3000 and let off and listen to the injectors. They all seem to be working properly while the engine is running.