ok, i'll explain my situation. I'd say about 4/7 days a week my car has trouble starting. It will crank and crank and crank, but will just not start. It usually takes about 4 minutes of cranking and waiting before the car actually starts. I dont think its the starter cause it cranks just fine. I'm thinking it has something to do with my fuel system, but i dont really know for sure. I replaced the fuel filter last saturday and its still doing the same thing. I cleaned off my battery terminals and made sure they were nice and tight. The car runs fine once it starts so i'm not even sure if its in the fuel system. Any ideas? your help is greatly appreciated.

 

you could have sludge at the bottom of the tank, i dont know if you checked for that, but its a good idea. and make sure the wires running from the battery ARE NOT FRAYED, make sure theyre still tightly weaves, that will cause a very bad conduction (obviously)

 

how would you go about checking the gas tank?

 

I don't think it's sludge in the gas tank. More likely a problem with ignition. Get yourself a tube of dielectric compound (also known as "tune-up grease". Put a little dab on the contact of your ignition coil's terminal. It's also great for battery terminals, works as well as petroleum - for keeping them clean of corrosion. I would replace the wires and check the plugs (hell, might as well get a fresh set of NGK's while you're at it). I don't know about the '92 model, but if it doesn't have "distributorless" ignition, I would suggest replacing the cap and rotor. That would be where I'd start. When you're trying to self-diagnose a problem, always start with the simple stuff. You're not going to be able to see the inside of the gas tank without ripping and tearing for hours.

 

well, i just had it tuned up at 119k...and its only at 120k now. i know they replaced the cap and rotor because they asked me if i wanted them to.

 

hmmm ... not sure, but you could always start by checking the sparkplugs. if that's not it, try some fuel injector cleaner.

 

listen for the fuel pump when you first click the key to the second position... you can hear it build up pressure and then shut off. In my old 90 accord, it did that to me a couple times and it ended up being just a loose wire on the tank. Its probably not an ignition problem being thats its sparatic. But the easiest way to check the ignition system is to take one of the spark plug wires off and pop an extra plug into it... ground the plug to a good ground and have someone crank the engine... you'll be able to see a spark if everything is going good. (do it in a shaded area, the spark is not that bright) Worst case scenerio, the fuel pump is going bad... they are a ***** to change because you have to drop the tank from the car... ive done that twice on a 2 different 4th gens, its not easy.

 

i too think its your ignition....my 94lx would not start either...it would make that sound that it wants to start but wont..turned out that the spring was corroded and needed to be fix..

 

i'm hoping its not the fuel pump, cause thats not a project i want to get into.

 

did you check the distributor?