This may not be the right forum but I'll give this a try...

I have a 92 Civic Si. It's been well maintained but in the last several weeks, on 3 occasions I've not been able to start the car. It turns over but will not fire. Once it was after the car had been driven (~5 around town miles) and the other two after sitting outside all day in parking lot. All three times the car eventually started after sitting for 10 mintues or so.

Is this a spark problem, fuel pickup problem, injectors? Any help is appreciated as I'm not much in the market for a new car nor do I like sitting in the parking lot after work waiting for the car to cool off.

Thanks.

 

How many miles are on the car, and what has been replaces so far.

around 80-100k you should have done regular maintance to include stuff like new plugs, wires, dist cap, timing belt and water pump, and a visual inspection of stuff like CV boots and joints and stuff like that

When was the last time you put a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in your fuel tank? You should do it every time you change your oil, every 3000 miles. This will prevent them from getting all clogged and dirty.

if you havn't done any of these maintanance items, then it could be anything you mentioned, or others.

I'm going to copy this to the engine tech forum, so look for it there.

 

Also change your fuel filter. I've heard that the main relay could cause that problem as well.

 

Sounds like the main relay is starting to go. They tend to die in the hot summer heat. The main relay turns on the fuel pump, and when the relay dies... no fuel. When you turn the key to ON, you should hear the fuel pump build up pressure in the fuel system. Two seconds or so? If you don't hear that, your main relay isn't working. They go intermittant for a while, then finally die altogether.

If it won't start ONLY when the ENGINE is hot (ie., when it's up to normal operating temp), it's probably the coolant temp sensor.

 

Thanks for the input. The car has been well maintained with all the required items changed out when they should be. The car has 128k so things are beginning to wear out. I'm going to try replacing some of the various parts and see where it goes.

The issue only happens when it's hot so it may be the sensor you referenced. Any idea on the cost/trouble of replacing the sensor or main relay. I'm not much of a mechanic so if it's up there on the difficulty rating I'm going to be stuck heading to a mechanic.

Thanks again. First time on the site.

 

What is the Main relay? How much do they cost? I'm having the exact same problem.

--Jay

 

I'm not the one to describe the main relay but I did have it replaced for around $170. Don't know if it solved the issue as we've not had any hot days since I had the work done. However, my car never used to start on the first turn and now it fires right away. Thinking this part has been bad since day one.

Thanks to every who responded.

 

Fixing the Main Relay on a CRX

--Jay

 

$42.00 at AHMOTOR.com
***IN STOCK***

Worth a try, right?

 

Main fuel relay. I got about 3 calls a week over the summer at Honda with people saying there cars wouldnt start and that was the problem 95% of the time. There around $50 for a new one.