When the car has been sitting in the hot sun for awhile, periodically, it will not start. It turns over without any problem.I replaced the fuel filter and that did not help.I accidentally discovered thatif the gas cap is removed and the tank is vented, the car will then start. I have seen other posts regarding the the "main relay" and thought that possibly the act of venting the tank (leaving the car door open) was allowing the interior to cool down sufficiently to allow contact to be made in the main relay. I left the windows down on a hot sunny day and encountered the same problem. Again, after venting the gas tank, the car started without any problem. My dad just purchased a new Accord and gave this one to my daughter who drives back and forth from college, so I need to get this problem fixed before I can turn the car over to her. Dad kept up with the maintenance on it, so thecar is in otherwise excellent condition for a '92 Accord with 130k miles on it. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Did you check the main relay for cracked solder joints? Even if you left the windows open for the car to not be so hot, if the solder joints are already cracked, they probably need to be re-soldered or main relay replaced.

 

The main relay was checked and is ok. When it wouldn't start, I had my dad remove the gas cap while I was inside the car and it started.

 

Hmmm...maybe something wring with the evap system? I'm not familiar with that though. Hopefully one of our resident pros will get on here and offer some useful info.

 

Have you tried the gas cap removal test more than once? It sounds oddly coincidental.... It is a strange issue but I'm not seeing how improper venting would all together cause a no-start issue...

I'd run that test a couple of more times, you may also want to consider jumpering your main relay when it happens....

 

We've had it happen 4 or 5 times since we stumbled onto removing the gas cap.

 

Could it possibly be as simple as a gas cap with a faulty vent valve?

 

The gas cap was replaced and the car started right up after setting in the hot sun for several hours. A few minutes later it would not start at all...even after venting the gas tank. After further inspection, it was determined that the fuel pump had failed. I had the fuel pump replaced and the problem went away.

Thanks for everyone's input!!!

 

How was it determined that the fuel pump was no good ???who diagnosed it ?? did anyine ever chk the main relay ???

 

He said it was "checked" here. Who knows how a faulty fuel pump would cause symptoms like that though.