Might have made a huge D.I.Y. mistake

[mrplow123456]

Hey gear, my 6th gen does the same exact thing and unless I have my lights on, the car feels like it will die when I go to pull out. I have an AEM Hi Flo fuel filter so I know that's not the problem. I also have a fuel pressure gauge and it reads 40 psi consistently so fuel is definitely not the problem unless it is severely clogged injectors. I need to clean them but haven't gotten a chance to yet. If you have any more ideas maybe we can get this thing figured out. Even the local mechanics I trust with my car can't figure it out lol

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[gearbox]

well in addition to the idle shake, which isnt that bad actually, my number one problem im trying to fix now is on a cold start, right after the engine turns over the rpm drops almost to 0 and the car sometimes turns off. if i press the gas down right after starting, it wont die. after maybe 5-10 secs, it will stabilize and idle normal. as for the idle shake when warm, its almost gone after cleaning all the intake parts and idle valves. i even had the ignition timing checked and it was fine. so idk what else to do to improve it. i mainly wanna solve the cold start issues. almost sounds like it could be the ECT (engine coolant temp) sensor which is giving inaccurate readings. i think the car ('92) is only OBDI and does not have a code for that sensor. ive heard of this sensor causing all sorts of issues tho.

[mrplow123456]

my buddy has that problem as well with his saturn and has and obd1 as well. is it possible the sensor didn't stop working but is just reading off by a few degrees? and I thought the idle would be high at cold temps. Like when you first start and it hits 2k it evens out as the coolant heats up. it sounds more like a spark issue not being able to ignite at idle. You said you replaced it, but was there any components you might have overlooked?

[gearbox]

new plugs and wires already. on a cold start the motor turns on and then immediately the idle drops and engine shuts off. sometimes it will recover and the idle goes back to around 2k rpms and it continues like nothing happened. idle is perfectly fine, its just having trouble staying at hi idle right after the motor starts. it sputters for a few secs and then rises back to normal, if the engine doesnt shut off first. on a warm start, theres no problem at all.

[mrplow123456]

Oh well thats a slightly different problem he actually has the most problem getting it to turn over right away. then his idle drops. And since u said you cleaned the idle senors and valves I would prolly suggest something with the starter next? we eliminated just about everything else. One thing I can suggest yet is check the dizzy rotor. When I replaced mine, it was covered with oil/engine gunk and maybe it is causing a problem with that first spark.

[gearbox]

has new rotor too. starter seems fine cause it starts the motor. problem happens right after motor starts.

[mrplow123456]

I dunno what else to check lol. I've never heard of such a problem but then again i haven't been working on cars long. I can ask some of my mechanics and look through some books I have. This is your parents 92 accord you said? or something close? One last thing I could suggest is see if you can get a hold of a new ecu and test it. But I'll get back to you if I figure anything else out.

Hey Dex did everything work out find then?

[DeX]

Everything's good so far! Haven't taken the car out for a test drive yet but we might be going to see Fast And Furious this evening so I'm definitely not parking my car anywhere near that mall with the punks driving around there tonight. So I'll take her car and give it a little test run to burn off the oil and see if the timing is right.

[mrplow123456]

Lmao it's good and yeah I'd be carefully where you park or they might all park you and be like dude another street racer lol. Anyway if the dizzy was put on wrong, as soon as you go to start it, it will prolly take a while to start, but you will know immediately whether it's on or not. And oil getting on stuff in the engine bay isn't a huge deal, my motor is now covered in 3/4 oil and 1/4 dirt. It just looks ugly so don't sweat the oil being there.

[gearbox]

last thing ima try is resoldering the main relay. it seems its a common problem for the connections to come loose on these older accords. found one on ebay for $12 im gonna try it on, then replace the relay. it only happens when its cold out and you start it cold. yesterday it was 80F and i cold started it, no problems at all. it started right away and kept normal idle without dropping.

[mrplow123456]

Thats good to hear the its only during cold starting in cold temps and not like while ur doing 80 down the highway or anything. Everyone so far has been completely stumped by your situation too which always would have me worried. And yeah now that you mention it, it does sound like the starter relay, sorta like it shuts off before the engine is fully running.

Anyway, I have some free time tomorrow and I was wondering if you could get me a list of the sensors I should clean, parts I may need, and maybe some links would be great to. You can post it here or pm them to me. I have been trying to fix this and from you say its not electrical, it's sensor problems. Thank man.

[gearbox]

the reason i mention main relay is that its a 3 stage dual relay. its very complicated but can be tested by listening to clicks. it should click once when you turn the key to ON, then again once the check engine light turns off, then a final time when you start the engine. if one click is missing, its bad relay. it can potentially shut off the fuel pump as soon as the car is started. and the relay is affected by temperature if some of the solder joints are bad.