Honda Car Forum

Does the car always start first thing in the morning?

Does it not start after you've been driving awhile, stop and turn off the
car for a few minutes or more, then try to start it again?

If so, the main fuel relay is a likely culprit. The originally installed
main fuel relays tend to fail at high outdoor temperatures and after driving
awhile, such that the car won't start until you let it sit awhile.

Considering the age of your car, it would surprise me if the main fuel relay
hadn't already been replaced. (The original main fuel relays had some kind
of defect. Replace it once, and IIRC the new one probably is going to last
the life of the car. At least, my second one has lasted to 143k miles on my
'91 Civic.

If these symptoms are not your car's, then I suggest:
If you're not sure of the age of the plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, and
distributor rotor, replace them all. See if this remedies the problem. (If
it doesn't, at least you know you have all new of these parts, and they're
not that expensive.) Next, consider replacing the ignitor (it's inside the
distributor housing). This gets more expensive. If this doesn't fix it, then
consider replacing the distributor coil. This is about the same price as
replacing the ignitor.

Please post an update. :-)


"K.P. Singh" <singh.159@osu.edu> wrote
> Sometimes my car doesnt start immediately and then if I let it be for 5 -
10
> minutes, it would start. Could someone care to comment what the problem
> could be?
>
> The car is a:
> 1. 1990 Honda civic lx
> 2. Mileage: 139000
> 3. The temperature these days in columbus ohio (where I am) is 70-90
> degrees.
> 4. Fuel used: regular
> 5. I recently bought the car. Hence, I dont know much about its service
> history.