Intermittent Crank – No Start issue – 99 Accord

[Matt Allen]

Team – My daughter’s 99 Accord has an intermittent crank no start issue. I first took out the relay, didn’t really see any cold solder joints but none-the-less, I re soldered a few of them where Eric recommended in his video. My relay looked a tad bit different but i think I got the right terminals. Regardless, I have an EE degree and know what a cold solder joint looks like and like I said, didn’t really see anything that would potentially cause an issue. Thus, I moved onto the fuel pump replacement. It wasn’t a lot of money and only took me a few minutes to take apart the assembly and replace the pump. Ironically during this entire process I had a battery start to act up, and a starter that died (no crank, no start) so both of those have been replaced. Yesterday, she drove it from point A to Point B, took care of some business and 90m later when she came out to leave the car would crank but not start. The temp was approx 85F. By the time I got there several hours later, and a bit cooler, it started right up. It has now been in my driveway all day, it’s 90F outside (131F on the hood of the car) and the car won’t start. I couldn’t hear the fuel pump, nor even though I’m pumping the gas pedal, I’m also not smelling gas in the engine bay. Maybe I have a bad relay, regardless of my observations? If it was a bad fuse, wouldn’t it just work, or not work? It definitely seems to be temperature related. I am having difficulty trying to figure out where I can check the fuel pressure on this car. I’ve provided a picture of the engine bay, the filter is in the tank, not on the fire wall as Eric showed on his Honda in the video.

Addendum: There seems to be no correlation to the amount of time driven, nor the amount of time parked. As indicated, today I didn’t drive it at all but after I let it get real hot outside, it wouldn’t start. BTW – the temp on the hood of the car, outside, was 130F, inside the car it was in the 120F range.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Attachments:

• 20160906_153129.jpg

Topic

[Richard Kirshy]

Can’t tell much by the picture…
But try looking along the fuel rail first and see if there is a test port
It may also be located on the high pressure line feeding the rail.
If no test port is there..

If your not hearing the fuel pump cycle
It’s possible that the relay is faulty or the control side is getting wonky with higher temps..
Suggest you check both the control side and load side using a test socket.

It may also be corrosion buildup where the relay install into the fuse box.
Also check to see if voltage is getting to the fuel pump

Attachments:

• fuel.jpg
• Testers.jpg

[Rob]

I have to ask… have you checked for spark …. because it is sometime common for crank sensors to go bad and fail in heat but run noral in cooler temps….if the crank is bad you will get no spark… you should be getting fuel unless the computer turns it off in that car but most of the time… now you can check if its a feul problem by spraying starter fuel in the intake and see it it trys to satrt
… there is a connector that goes to the fuel tank should have 4 wires 2 are for the fuel lvl swithch and 2 are for the pump als check the fuel e-shutt off it might be tripped

[hondaguy453]

I agree with Rob ^^. Since you know the crank no start condition only happens when outside temperature is high, then test the vehicle during this time. Spray ether in the throttle body to see if it wants to start. If it does, then it’s fuel related. If not, then check spark.

[Richard Kirshy]

[quote=”Rob781″ post=174883]I have to ask… have you checked for spark …. because it is sometime common for crank sensors to go bad and fail in heat but run noral in cooler temps….if the crank is bad you will get no spark… you should be getting fuel unless the computer turns it off in that car but most of the time… now you can check if its a feul problem by spraying starter fuel in the intake and see it it trys to satrt
… there is a connector that goes to the fuel tank should have 4 wires 2 are for the fuel lvl swithch and 2 are for the pump als check the fuel e-shutt off it might be tripped[/quote]

Agree ….
But he states he doesn’t hear the fuel pump prime …
it’s 90F outside (131F on the hood of the car) and the car won’t start. I couldn’t hear the fuel pump, nor even though I’m pumping the gas pedal, I’m also not smelling gas in the engine bay.
Which is where I believe he should begin to trouble shoot.

[Rich]

This appears to be the way to measure fuel pressure on that vintage Accord:

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=20983&d=1241819969

This should be the first step given that the fix in Eric’s video applies only if fuel pressure is an issue. Even then, you’d want to rule out other possible causes of a fuel pressure issue, such as wiring fault to the fuel pump.

[Author]

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