Hey Everyone!
I bought a second hand stick shift 5-speed 1990 ACCORDLX roughly 8 months ago from an old lady.The car was neatly maintained and in a really good condition.Around 4 months back, my car starteddying out whilerunning and needed to be jumpstarted everytime this happened. My mechanic said it was an alternator issue and got it replaced. It was running ok until now. Recently it started having this intermitent starting problems.If I try to start the carit doesnt and if i try it again it immediately, it still doesnt. But if I wait around 10 minutes, it then starts up.Sometimes the car starts with out any problem. And sometimes when im driving around and turn the car off after stopping at a place and then starting it, it doesnt.The funny thing is thatwhen I start the car the firsttime in the morning, it usually starts without a problem.I took the car back to my mechanic and everytime he tried to start it, it always started in front of him.[:@] He said tht unless he sees the car not starting in front of him, he wouldn't be able to diagnose the problem. So after coming and going to his place around 5-6 times, [:@][:@]finally the car doesnt start in front of him and he says that there is a wiring problem or a problem with the distributor. He initially said the starter might be the problem but then when he saw tht the car makes the start properly but the engine doesnt start.It doesnt give any click or any other noise when it doesnt start. So, he then says tht he checked the newly fitted alternator, starter and battery and there are all fine. When it didnt start in front of him, he pulled out some wires from under the steering wheel and said he needs to be sure that the wiring is ok. So he gave me a shorted switch and told me to connect it to the other switch that is now hanging from the bottom of the steering wheel when the car doesnt start. One of my friends said tht it probably might be because of the key not making contact inside the ignition so I sprayed DW-50(i think thts what its called) on the key and the ignition. Though I dont think that could have helped as the car was cranking properly butthe engine was notstarting up. So after I did this and came back from the mechanic, the car didnt start again. And i tried tht shorted switch that he gave me, it didnt help at all. So now he says the problem is the distributor. I just wanted to be sure that that might be the problem. I read some posts about intermitent starting but since I m a complete novice (dont know jack about cars), I was wondering whether my problem is the same. please help me out with this. Any help would really be appreciated.
Thanks!!

 

your mechanic needs to diagnose if car does not start because of lack of fuel or spark.......
there are write ups on our DIY section to diagnose both issues ..very simple tests ..

if lack of fuel ,,could be a main relay, seen a bunch of those go bad, fuel pump..

lack of spark ,, could be a bad ignitor, coil ,distr rotor,,

again ,,there are procedures on our DIY section ,,

 

When you try to start the car, does the starter spin the engine? Or does nothing happen?

 

The starter does do its job in starting as it always does. Im a newbie so Im guessing this is the starter spin. The engine doesnt respond to the starter from what it looks like to me.

 

Thanks alot for the info deserthonda. I'll Check it out and see if I can figure it out.

 

After you get a diagnosis, a fuel filter ($20) is probably the cheapest and since it's a 1990 I'm sure it would be appreciated, Next up is the distributor rotor and cap ($50 depending on what quality) , then the distributor (roughly $85 at the junkyard).

Another thing to check is the timing belt and distributor base timing.

 

Thanks for the input bro. Just yesterday when my car didnt start again, I was thinking of doing the dignosis like it was in the DIY sectionbut then my friend said to see if the car starts by using jumper cables. I did and themoment I connected the jumper cables, the car started. Does this narrow the problem down to the battery and the cables from the battery?

 

I am no expert, but have you had the battery tested. I have seen batteries die a slow death & give similar results. Just a thought.

 

Now you got me a bit confused ........

if when you try starting the car, the engine spins but wont' start,, it is NOT an issue with battery, cables or starter

if when you try starting the car and you just hear a click or engine does not turn over then you got a possible issue with battery, cables ( loose or corroded) or starter.

So which is it ?? does the engine turn over when you are trying to start the car ???

 

Sorry about the confusion. I guess I didnt word it correctly. Whenever the car doesnt start, after turning the key, the engine always spins but it doesnt start. I never get any clicking noise ora situation of the enginenot turning over. Every time I start the car,the engine spins but doesnt start. My mechanicsays the battery, alternator, starterare all fine but he's guessing its the distributor though he isnt 100% sure of his diagnosis. Like I mentioned earlier, every time this happens, if I jumpstart the car using jumper cables, it starts instantanously.
Thanks alot guys for your inputs.