I'm a newbe here, so please bear with me. I have a 98 Accord Coupe with a 4 cyl, automatic, with 65K miles. My wife drives it to school each day, where she teaches, which is about a 6 mile round trip. Longer trips about once a month.

In the last six months, it has stalled when put in reverse, and won't crank until the car has set for 30 min to 1 hour. At first is just needed to set for a few minutes, but that time continues to get longer, and the frequency of these occurances is now about once a week. The only pattern I can detect is that it only happens when put in reverse, usually at school when she gets ready to leave in the afternoon. I had it towed once to my usual mechanic, and he said it started immediately upon his arrival with the wrecker, and he couldn't get it to malfunction again. Also, there are no codes to be detected.

Has anyone else experienced such a problem or know of any TSB regarding such. This car has never been to a dealer for anything, and I sure hate to start now, but if I must...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions on where to proceed.

 

This doesn't explain the stalling, but if it won't crank, my first thought is the starter interlock. Does it help to push the shift lever farther forward or backwards? If so, then you'll need to adjust the interlock switch.

 

Thanks for replying, Jim. The starter will spin over freely, so I didn't think the interlock would be the problem. It spins and spins, but just won't fire. Let is set for about an hour and then it cranks as though nothing ever was wrong.

 

OK... One of my pet peeves is the words 'crank' & 'turn over' are useless any more because everyone uses them to mean something different.
[/rant-off] sorry, I just had to vent...

So, the first thing to do is decide whether it's lack of spark vs. lack of fuel.

Next time it happens, pull a plug wire & check for spark (d'ya know how?). Also, when you turn the key 'on' (not 'start') the fuel pump should run for about 2 seconds then quit. It's not very loud but you can hear it back by the gas cap.

 

Well, it did it again this afternoon, and would not start when I tried again at 1hour and 2hours later. I did not hear the fuel pump when I turned the key to the on position, so maybe that tells the tale. Anyway, tow truck called and maybe it will still have the problem when they get to it this time.

Thanks for your help, and I'll let you know what it turns out to be.

 

I guess the main relay is a suspect, but I thought they usually fail when the interior of the car gets really hot (in the sun). I don't think they usually stall the car once it's running. They can check for that, & maybe they'll check for a flaky ignition switch, too.

I suppose a dealer would know to suspect those, but if it's a corner garage ???

 

ground?

 

Turned out to be the fuel pump relay. My mechanic said he had seen this twice before, but he had to let the car heat up in the day to make it act up.
Thanks again for the help...

 

JimBlake,

"... One of my pet peeves is the words 'crank' & 'turn over' are useless any more because everyone uses them to mean something different..."
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Yeah. As in THIS case. When the Main Relay fails, the engine WILL crank/turn over. It just won't "run."

"Won't crank/turn over" leads you to the battery, starter motor, interlocks, yada yada. "Cranks but won't start" is an entirely different animal. It IS frustrating when people can't describe their symptoms accurately.