Rep Power: 0

Sorry but it appears all the experts are on vacation in the 1-5 generation section?
Hello all,
Brand new here and reaching out for a good friend. His problem with his 89 civic LX was discribed to me as follows. He would travel 2-3 miles to the store, turn off the ignition, shop for 10-15 min, try to start the car with no success. While cranking over the engine he described the engine as some times coughing. He would leave the car for approx.30 mins., return and the car would start.
After reviewing many of the post here I became some what convinced that his problem was the Main Relay. I removed it a few days ago and resoldered all suspect areas on the board. I reinstalled the relay and the car once again started with no problem. I only ran the car for a few minutes and the engine didn't reach operating temp when I turned off the engine. About 15 mins. later my friend arrived and I tried to restart the engine which did not start and for the first time I witnessed exactly what my friend was describing. In addition to the Coughing type of sound there was the strong smell of fuel coming out of the exaust. One of the plug wires was pulled off while this would happen to check for spark and there was. Would appreciate some guidance, this looks like a tough one.

 
Rep Power: 214

Any codes or anything. If not still go and get the codes read cause there could be one but not showing. I am assuming that his battery and alternator are good. He might not be getting enough fuel sometimes especially if he has spark. You might want to try looking at the fuel injectors, fuel pump, and fuel filter.