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drive a 1998 Honda civic, D16Y7. I deliver pizza, not exactly the best way to treat a car...
The issue is, the car will not fire when hot, some of the time. When cold, first start of the day, turns over and fires in 2 seconds. I go to work and come back out for a delivery 30 mins later , car starts fine. Get back, shut off car, come back out 10 mins later for another delivery and the car starts , but seems to take about 4 seconds to start, but dos not sound the same as a cold startup, like it is slowly working up to idle. Then repeat process 15 min later and car will not fire, turns over fine but will not start..... If I wait for 30 min or so, the car will start, but slowly working up to idle..
The first time I had this problem, the car would not fire hot or cold, I replaced the fuel filter, and it fired right up. started and ran fine for 5 days, then started to have the same problem again........

I can't work without my car running well... Thanks for any help.....

 
Rep Power: 518

Got fault codes?

Got datastream? What is the value of the ECT sensor while the car doesn't start?

 
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No codes, no datastream, ECT was replaced recently when I was having coolant issues

I should clerify that when I said car won't start when hot, I should have said at normal operating temp. Not overheating.

 
Rep Power: 518

If you just keep the starter cranking (up to 15 seconds) does the engine eventually start and run?


I might, when I KNOW the car will act up, try cycling the key on for 3 seconds a couple times to run the fuel pump to 'prime' the fuel system before cranking it, see if that shortens the startup time.


I might give a squirt of something flammable into the throttle body when I KNOW it's gonna be hard to start just to see if the extra fuel added gets it to fire and run quickly.


I would be checking the datastream on a good scanner to verify the ECT sensor is reporting coolant temperature accurately while the engine is hard to start. (includes checking values of other important sensors for anomalies during an event)


I might do fuel pressure checks to see if residual fuel pressure bleeds down too rapidly.



Compression, fuel, or spark. Which is missing when it won't start?

 
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Thanks, ezone

the answer to the first question is no.
I drove the car at work today (Tuesday) Made 18 deliveries until no start.
Car sat for 20 min then started. Went home.
Looks like I have more things to try.

 
Rep Power: 518

More to check or at least look for:

PGMFI Main relay issues:
While the engine won't start....turn the key on and make sure the check engine light does come on, at least for several seconds (assuming it still works at all). If the CEL does not come on at all when you flip the key on, the main relay may have gone flaky and isn't powering up the PCM correctly.

Or
The main relay can prevent the fuel pump from running, depending on which side of the relay has a problem (if it is a problem).
It can cause either of the above issues, and they usually don't happen together, it's one or the other.


If you can solder, the usual issue with the unit is cracked solder joints on the circuit board. Easy and almost free fix if you can resolder it.