98 Accord won't start

You tried the flooded engine trick again, right?

Have you checked for spark at the plugs?

If you don't know how, ask or google. It's not hard.

> wrote
> Sadly I reported success too quickly. I got the car to start, filled
> the tank and added the fuel injector cleaner. Everything seemed fine
> for a few days ( a few hard starts but then it would fire up and run ).
> Now the car is a brick, no amount of playing with the throttle will get
> the engine to fire. I read up on the "main relay" PGM-EFI that seems to
> cause multiple headaches for other honda owners. Listening for the
> "clicks" in the relay I noticed that there was only one click (turning
> the key to the on position) and that even on close listeneing the fuel
> pump didn't seem to be running for the two seconds (and no followup
> "click" for the fuelpump shutoff). I thought for sure that was the
> problem. After much effort I was able to remove the relay, pop the case
> off, reflow the solder and reconnect it. All three clicks are now
> present and I hear the fuel pump run on switching thekey to the on
> position. I though for sure that would fix the problem, but alas no.
>
> All the start attempt drained the battery so I thought maybe if I jump
> started it I could get it to run, but that didn't work either.
>
> The engine cranks but will not fire. Now I smell a lot more gas when
> trying to start it. Any other ideas before I have it towed to a
> mechaninc?
>

wrote:
> The engine cranks but will not fire. Now I smell a lot more gas when
> trying to start it. Any other ideas before I have it towed to a
> mechaninc?

likely flooded.

and the weak battery isnt helping the PGM-FI work properly.

wrote in
ups.com:


> The engine cranks but will not fire.


So you get a "chugga-chugga-chugga" at the speed you normally expect to
hear?


> Now I smell a lot more gas when
> trying to start it.


Aha! The plugs are unable to fire the mixture, or are not firing at all.
Have you checked for spark? An engine only needs *three things* to fire.

A tip: HOLD the gas pedal TO THE FLOOR. Crank engine and KEEP CRANKING for
at least a minute. What happens?

Please report updates here. There are more possible causes of your
symptoms.

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

I don't think it's just flooded. I've tried to start... smelled gas...
let it sit 20+ minutes and tried again with no success. I've also tried
the different throttle positions (gas pedal halfway / fully depressed)
with no success mutliple times. The PGM-FI relay seemed like it wasn't
working properly and then, once I reflowed the solder on the terminals
on the little PCB the clicks+fuel pump for two seconds came back, I
doubt that would happen with just a weak battery. But it seems like
either that wasn't the issue, or it was part of some kind of cascade
failure.

One other thing I forgot to mention, I have an OBDII scanner and the
computer has no error/scan codes.

A few times, early in the cranking, the car would sputter a bit as if
it was trying to fire, but only right at the start of the cranking, and
usually only when I first tried after letting it sit for a while.

I've been getting the cranking at the normal speed every time I tried,
until recently. I think all the start attempts finally are wearing the
battery down and the cranking was starting to slow. I tried, earlier
today, to start with a jump from my girlfriends car. The speed of the
cranking came back up to normal during the jump but the engine still
won't fire. (I tried holding the gas pedal down during the jump attemp
too, no dice). I though about maybe getting an AC wall plug car battery
charger so that I don't loose my battery during all this "sitting idle"
and starting attempts, thoughts on that?

I've tried holding the gas pedal to the floor before (as directed by
Curly and the starting the engine section in the owners manual) but I
haven't tried cranking for as long as you suggest. The owners manual
suggests only cranking for fifteen seconds with ten second intervals...
should I really try a full minute?

Like I posted above, I also have an OBDII scanner and the car computer
doesn't have any error codes (or pending codes).

I followed the "fix your PGM-FI" section on your FAQ yesterday, nice
site BTW. I'm almost positive the relay wasn't clicking any more than
once (key to starter on position) and no fuel pump sounds. After
following the procedure there (reflowing the solder joints) all three
clicks are clear and the fuel pump kicks on for the two seconds but it
didn't fix the problem.

I'll check spark tomorrow, although I don't have a garage and it's been
raining continously here for four days.

Another thing I tried at the very end (after "fixing" the main relay)
was turning the key from off to on a few times (letting the fuel pump
run a couple times). I thought maybe that after sitting for a while the
"fuel rail" needed to be re-pressurized. (I'm grasping at straws)

I'm not a car person but I'm learning fast.

Thanks!
Mike

Me too I'm learning too.
I had problem of cranking but refused to turn over. I did wait while
for the fuel
pump to turn on. That got to work that I thought that was the my
problem.
Now I doubt that is the problem. Now i realize the problem alarm. The
alarm
was not turned on when I turned the key so there was nothing going to
starter...
I found the way to turn on the alarm in order to start right way so
that I do not
have to wait...I hope this is only starting problem I've...I did suffer
with starting
problem ))

I tried cranking for a minute as suggested, but the battery is
definitely discharged now... The speed of the cranking starts out
slightly slower than normal and then gets progressively slower and
slower... chug..chug..chug....chug.....chug......chug....... .....chug I
couldn't hold it for the full minute.

I'm having a hard time checking for spark since I don't have an
assistant today to crank the engine for me while I look. I can try
jumping the car again but I don't want to wreak havoc on my girlfriends
car (especially since she's trying to sell it now).

I might just bite the bulelt and buy an automatic battery charger from
the auto store. It looks like they're about $30 and probably not a
terrible thing to have hanging around.

Another thing I just remembered to note
The battery, alternator, ignition coil, and ignition switch were all
replaced about 1.5 years ago due to an unrelated problem.

wrote:

> I tried cranking for a minute as suggested, but the battery is
> definitely discharged now... The speed of the cranking starts out
> slightly slower than normal and then gets progressively slower and
> slower... chug..chug..chug....chug.....chug......chug....... .....chug I
> couldn't hold it for the full minute.
>
> I'm having a hard time checking for spark since I don't have an
> assistant today to crank the engine for me while I look. I can try
> jumping the car again but I don't want to wreak havoc on my girlfriends
> car (especially since she's trying to sell it now).
>
> I might just bite the bulelt and buy an automatic battery charger from
> the auto store. It looks like they're about $30 and probably not a
> terrible thing to have hanging around.
>
> Another thing I just remembered to note
> The battery, alternator, ignition coil, and ignition switch were all
> replaced about 1.5 years ago due to an unrelated problem.

I don't remember if this was brought up before, but have the spark plugs
ever been changed at all.

I did regular dealership maintenance on the car for the first 100K
miles or so, so I assume they replaced the plugs at some point. I could
be wrong though, I'd have to go back and check my maintenance records.

> wrote
> I did regular dealership maintenance on the car for the first 100K
> miles or so, so I assume they replaced the plugs at some point. I could
> be wrong though, I'd have to go back and check my maintenance records.

Check also for whether the distributor cap and rotor, spark plug WIRES, and
distributor's ignitor were replaced recently.

Were the alternator and distributor coil put in 1.5 years ago both OEM?

I had a distributor coil installed by Firestone in 2001. Failed a couple of
months later. They ruled it "defective" and replaced it under warranty.

You might be able to rig up a plug wire so that you can just barely see it
when you're sitting in the driver's seat, so you can check for spark by
yourself.

Dunno what a battery charger costs, but if it's under $20, I think it might
be worthwhile to have and may save you having to go to a shop for this
particular no-start problem.