Hi guys ,first time here and probably not the last and I am looking forward to any help or input from some Acura techs out there who may have come across this.
Information :98 Rl
2.5 5 cyl
The car has an intermitant starting problem.It doesnt seem to make a difference if its hot or cold.The owner is 79 she says she can goto a friends house and it wont start 10 minutes later.She lets the car sit for half hour fires up.I get the car to the shop it took 3 days for the car not to be able to start .I got as far as finding out that its flooded to death ,I pull the plugs ,blow them off ,throw them back in and the car fires ,does not run like it ever had a problem at all which is strange considering how flooded it was.Then more work came in and I was pulled off the job.Car continued to run all day no problems ,started on and off 30 time throughout the day.Next morning it did not start.I have tons of spark,we know we have fuel.I m using the tablet tester to check to see if possible coolant sensor baffed or if im getting a crank signal ,Going by specs I cant see anything and the tablet tester is not even flagging a problem.Has not had a code once.There is only one thing that is throwing me off and that the calculated load during crank when it doesnt fire is at 90% which to me seems high but there isnt a spec to go by considering the only thing that would know what calculated load is the ecm from crunching data from the sensors.Every thing is there to make this car fire but it does not plugs get soaked but then after 20 minutes will fire up and may be 3 to 4 days before it will do it again.My only guesses at this time is the ecm is having some breakdown at times or on the times it does not start spark vanishes for the first 2 to 3 revolutions of the motor and by the time it firs the plugs are soaked ,any help would be great
thanks
badrotty

 

You sure you have fuel and spark when it doesn't start? I' assuming it cranks fine but no fire? It sounds like a classic honda main relay going out. That's exactly what they do, will start fine then bam, no start just crank.

I would start it up about 40-50 times, then let it rest and charge the battery for a half hour or so, then do it again until it fails to start. Have someone continue to crank the engine after it refuses to start and go loosen either the inlet banjo fuel fitting at the fuel filter or the inlet at the fuel rail and see if it shoots fuel out. If the relay is good it should soak you with fuel while cranking. if it's bad you'll have no fuel coming in from the fuel pump.

 

Well we know its not the relay ,relay is clicking ,still have spark and fuel.Have tried since first post switching relays ,Going by the tablet tester the pulse width during crank is 9.7 ,coolant temp is right on the money,MAF is right on spec ,th eonly thing not sure about is calculated load value which is should be all the numbers crunched together by the pc to make the whole system work ,there is no spec for calculated load value,but its at 90% .Tech line suggested a set of new plugs and some new gas to start so we did this ,have not had the car not start since,fluke ,not sure ,will keep everyone posted.I dont think thats it,plugs in there were not that old ,only thing or possibility is the lady lives out in farm land and maybe she put a tank of gas in her car there with an alternative fuel they sometimes use(corn).No idea.
badrotty
acura tech

 

Hmmm, go back to the basic's. If it has spark and fuel(i think you're having a spark issue) do a compression test. When you checked for spark did you check at each plug? I'm sure techline asked you if you checked pin fits, did you? What did the HDS give you for a ign. signal? BTW, you have a TL right? It sayes RL in your post but I know they never had a 2.5l .

 

Don't lose faith. you sound like you're trying, don't give up on that car you will find it. I being a tech was easy everyone would do it.