My daughter's '91 Integra LS (80,000 miles) has failed to start 3 times in the last year, many months apart. The starter is turning fine, battery's fine etc. The problem is either fuel, spark, or timing. In this case I suspect timing/valve related. Twice the occurance has been after the car has sat for a week or more, and then it starts once, is driven a short distance and shut off. Upon trying to restart, it won't run. It backfires, and tries to run but won't. Both the 1st two times it eventually cranked and ran rough for a few miles, then eventually cleared up, and ran fine for several thousand miles. Today it happened and it won't start. She's 250 miles away at college, so I can't really do much but have it taken to a shop. I don't won't to get taken to the cleaners, so I need some advice.

P.S. The timing belt and water pump were replaced in August before she left for college, and she has driven home 8-10 times since then, with no problems.

 

How does the car idle once it's not choking anymore? If the idle is smooth at that time, it's unlikely that timing is causing it. Use a timing light to check the timing. If timing is within specification, the belt is installed properly and things are aligned.

It sounds like a combination of weak spark and fuel problems. Does the car smoke at all while it's choking? Does it smell like fuel is coming out of the exhaust? Does the engine run better if you rev it up? Is the ECU flashing any codes? These are all things to check to help narrow down the problem.

 

Since it's been a while since I personally witnessed the problem I can't say if I remember smelling fuel, but it definitely smoked and back fired for a while before clearing up and then running fine for several months. The only things I've personally done to the car are change fuel filter, spark plugs, and added oil and gas treatments. After reading quite a bit here, I'm going to suggest the mechanic check cap and rotor first. Another post with extremely similiar problem found something loose under the rotor. If the rotor is cracked, burnt or loose that could cause it, although it seems that would not "heal" itself. I'm not a mechanic at all, but I didn't even realize that car engines still had rotors. I thought they were all electronic spark devices of some sort.

 

i would have said that it would have been a fuel related problem as most hard starts are associated with, but i'm also inclined to think you're getting a "weak spark" as AwwsChwA put it...

now, u said you were not mechanically inclined? so let me make sure i get the symptoms correct...

the car will sit for more than a week... the 1st time u try to start it, it'll start... you'll drive the car... shut off the car... and when u try to restart the car, is the engine still hot? or did it sit for a few hours?

if u were trying to restart the car while the engine was still hot, and you had an ignition problem... say... some of the spark plugs aren't firing. the other spark plugs are firing, but it's not enough to get the car started, while the other cylinders are just pumping fuel out the cylinders since the spark plugs aren't igniting the air/fuel... once the fuel enters the HOT catalytic converter and is reintroduced with oxygen, it ignites and you get a "backfire"...

that may be quite a stretch, but it's consistant with what i think your symptoms are... if that were the case, it might be something as simple as the rotor, or expensive as a coil, module, cam/crank position sensor...

 

I guess I posted the outcome of this situation in another thread. The distributor was shot. Also the car had the original cap, rotor, and plug wires, which were age deteriorated. (the car is '91)

At random times the bottom gear end of the distributor would land wrong, or would get off time, causing the resulting situation you describe - no/weak spark to 2 or more cylinders.

The thing that finally killed it, was a leaky radiator was spraying coolant directly on the distributor.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

oops... i haven't been online in such a long time i think i went overboard a little... i didn't notice the dates on some of these posts...