'91 Accord won't start when wet

Dan Beaton wrote:
> "caroline_t" (cmtwomey@[withheld]) writes:
>
>>I have a '91 accord with 230,000 miles on it. When the car is wet, I have
>>to hold the key for about 5-10 seconds to get the engine to catch. When
>>it catches, it runs rough for 5-10 minutes. It has been raining for 5
>>days and now the car will not "catch" at all. The engine turned a couple
>>times but never caught. The spark plugs are new (less than a year, or
>>10,000 miles). I've checked all the fuses. Any suggestions? Thanks in
>>advance.
>>
------------------


> As an emergency technique, you can spray 99% alcohol on the distributor
> cap and wires, then let it evaporate before trying to start. This will
> dispel water and make starting easier.
>
> If you have been having many incidents of hard starting, check your oil
> for the smell of gasoline. If you smell gas, your oil has been
> contaminated and you should change your oil.
>
> Dan


------------------

Excellent point. If the engine has been flooding (see my previous
response) the oil will be stinking with gasoline, although a
non-mechanical type might not know how it should smell. I thought that
aduring a long drive the high heat and the PCV would extract / burn out
a lot of gas from the oil, no?

'Curly'

motsco_ _ wrote:
> Dan Beaton wrote:
>
>> "caroline_t" (cmtwomey@[withheld]) writes:
>>
>>> I have a '91 accord with 230,000 miles on it. When the car is wet, I
>>> have
>>> to hold the key for about 5-10 seconds to get the engine to catch. When
>>> it catches, it runs rough for 5-10 minutes. It has been raining for 5
>>> days and now the car will not "catch" at all. The engine turned a
>>> couple
>>> times but never caught. The spark plugs are new (less than a year, or
>>> 10,000 miles). I've checked all the fuses. Any suggestions? Thanks in
>>> advance.
>>>
> ------------------
>
>
>> As an emergency technique, you can spray 99% alcohol on the distributor
>> cap and wires, then let it evaporate before trying to start. This will
>> dispel water and make starting easier.
>>
>> If you have been having many incidents of hard starting, check your oil
>> for the smell of gasoline. If you smell gas, your oil has been
>> contaminated and you should change your oil.
>>
>> Dan
>
>
>
> ------------------
>
> Excellent point. If the engine has been flooding (see my previous
> response) the oil will be stinking with gasoline, although a
> non-mechanical type might not know how it should smell. I thought that
> aduring a long drive the high heat and the PCV would extract / burn out
> a lot of gas from the oil, no?
>
> 'Curly'
>
depends if there's enough in there to ruin the film strength of the oil.
someone i knew deliberately put some kerosene in their oil to "flush"
it. and then drove it around. the journal bearings were hammered out
inside 10 miles & had to be towed home.

in the case above, it's safer to change. you can even do it without
changing the filter - will get rid of enough contamination to ensure
reliability until the next scheduled change.

jim beam wrote:
> motsco_ _ wrote:
>
>> Dan Beaton wrote:
>>
>>> "caroline_t" (cmtwomey@[withheld]) writes:
>>>
>>>> I have a '91 accord with 230,000 miles on it. When the car is wet,
>>>> I have
>>>> to hold the key for about 5-10 seconds to get the engine to catch.
>>>> When
>>>> it catches, it runs rough for 5-10 minutes. It has been raining for 5
>>>> days and now the car will not "catch" at all. The engine turned a
>>>> couple
>>>> times but never caught. The spark plugs are new (less than a year, or
>>>> 10,000 miles). I've checked all the fuses. Any suggestions?
>>>> Thanks in
>>>> advance.
>>>>
>> ------------------
>>
>>
>>> As an emergency technique, you can spray 99% alcohol on the distributor
>>> cap and wires, then let it evaporate before trying to start. This will
>>> dispel water and make starting easier.
>>>
>>> If you have been having many incidents of hard starting, check your oil
>>> for the smell of gasoline. If you smell gas, your oil has been
>>> contaminated and you should change your oil.
>>>
>>> Dan
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------
>>
>> Excellent point. If the engine has been flooding (see my previous
>> response) the oil will be stinking with gasoline, although a
>> non-mechanical type might not know how it should smell. I thought that
>> aduring a long drive the high heat and the PCV would extract / burn
>> out a lot of gas from the oil, no?
>>
>> 'Curly'
>>
> depends if there's enough in there to ruin the film strength of the oil.
> someone i knew deliberately put some kerosene in their oil to "flush"
> it. and then drove it around. the journal bearings were hammered out
> inside 10 miles & had to be towed home.
>
> in the case above, it's safer to change. you can even do it without
> changing the filter - will get rid of enough contamination to ensure
> reliability until the next scheduled change.


------------------
My question is, how much fuel will injected engines spray into a
non-starting engine, (or how much fuel will drip out of the pressurized
rail overnight if an injector is dribbling)? It's not like the old
carburetors (with accelerator pump) that could HOSE the fuel in there,
is it?
When my Odyssey flooded overnight, it seemed to take a while to get it
to start, but it was actually less than ten seconds, I'm sure. Gasohol
cured it.
I never thought to READ THE MANUAL to figure out the problem, at the
time. :-(

'Curly'