car not starting - Honda Prelude Forum

sjzking408 · 07-31-2006, 02:10 AM

Hello guys!

I had a real bad day today. Driving down 820 west bound car starts loosing power and some of my lights come up. Check engine was one of them. So it turned off and i pulled ove to the side... The car wouldn't start. I waited and tried several times it still wouldnt start. My batteries fine. The engines trying to start. It was like the engine's not getting the fuel. So I called up a friend and he told me it might be my fuel injector or fuel pump. So i called AAA... Since i moved from cali, I have cali plates and AAA California. So i had to go through 3 different people to get to AAA Texas... (when i got the INS they have the texas garaging address, they told me i didnt have to convert over to AAA Texas) So finally after 1 hour and a half the tow truck guy shows up and we towed the car to my house. (It was really really hot) So I tried starting again after 5 hours later, it still doesent start... It's not my battery, it's not my starter. I know that for sure... I had this problem some times before when it wouldnt start when it had been parked at work for 5 hours, parked in the hot summer texas sun. But after about 5 mins. I would get it to start up. Last week I was told to get new spark plug wires, spark plugs, fuel filter, and throw in a fuel injection cleaner with a full tank. I didn't get to do that because I hadn't gotten my check. So nw I don't know what the problem is? What should I do next? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks in advance!!!!

jsmooney · 07-31-2006, 10:45 AM

main relay!!!!

i have to get a new one - its a common problem

this place here supposedly has them for $25

sjzking408 · 07-31-2006, 01:51 PM

thanks bro!!! I really appreciate your help!!! I am going to search for it now. Is it easy to replace? As you may know, I dont know much about cars. I gotten my lude for a little over a month now.

jsmooney · 07-31-2006, 07:36 PM

its relatively easy to replace. normally i just feel for mine. i dont think i have ever seen it. most people just let their new one hang in there because the old one is a pain to get out

sjzking408 · 07-31-2006, 09:45 PM

O ok, I did look at some pics online to get a idea where it's located. I went to Honda today, ordered it for $60. They said it should come by wednesday. I really hope this is the problem because i have $ financial problems. The car is cranking btw. Thanks again for the reply bro, I really appreciate it!!!

sjzking408 · 08-02-2006, 03:43 PM

Ok, I put in a new main relay today. It still doesent start up. I have the same problem exactly how it was before. IT cranks. That's it. You guys know what other problem it may be? I guess I have to tow it and take it to a shop or something.

sjzking408 · 08-05-2006, 05:35 PM

guess what the problem was? It was my distributor and my timing belt. We have everything open under the hood. My timing belt should be replaced next week!

L-U-R-C-H · 08-06-2006, 07:47 PM

Hey man I have the same problem. It only seems to happen when it's really hot and humid outside. I was told by someone else on here that it was probably the main relay also. You found that your problem was your distributor? What exactly did you fix with your distributor...or did you just replace it? Also...would anyone know where I might be able to find a main fuel relay for cheap?

BionicKris · 08-06-2006, 10:59 PM

jsmooney- Is there any engine/ECU that is more prone to main relay problems, or could it happen to any Prelude?

BionicKris

jsmooney · 08-07-2006, 11:45 AM

i have no clue ^^^

ive always heard on here and from honda people that the main relay is just a problem that these hondas have. in my case, it was my main relay. i may check the distrib next.

G_Loc · 08-07-2006, 12:12 PM

You should have pulled the code for the CEL and done some other tests before throwing parts at it...

L-U-R-C-H · 08-07-2006, 01:47 PM

Yeah I got a Main Fuel Relay today at a junkyard and it didn't solve my problem with my car starting sometimes. I noticed that when the car doesn't start and I turn the key...sometimes I don't hear the fuel pump come on. Then when I do hear it after turning the key, it does start...any ideas?

BionicKris · 08-09-2006, 11:36 PM

The sound you hear after turning the key might be the ABS system as it activates- it sounds like a quick, faint whine for just a second and you usually hear it right after starting.

BionicKris

L-U-R-C-H · 08-10-2006, 01:25 AM

ABS? Then explain why the car starts only when I hear the sound and why it doesn't start when I don't hear the sound... Why would ABS have anything to do with that?

jsmooney · 08-10-2006, 12:01 PM

i heard somewhere maybe the distributor, but i havent had that problem yet, and i hope i dont. im sorry i cant help you guys!

BionicKris · 08-10-2006, 11:27 PM

When mine had a similar problem it ended up being the distributor cap and rotor. I had just come home from an errand and was just going back out. The car started fine, but when I was coming to a stop sign 1/4 mile down the road and went to downshift, the car died. Luckily I had some momentum and I was able to roll just past the stop sign to the shoulder of the road. My car also tried to tried to start and had the "Check Engine" light on, and I had plenty of juice but no luck. I guessed that it may be a clogged fuel filter, since I once got bad gasoline and the car acted in a similar way.

Luckily a friend who is a Honda tech goes right by my house on his way home, so he stopped by and checked the car in my garage and thought it was possibly the distributor cap and rotor, so we would replace that first and see how things went from there. He brought one by on his way home the next day and installed it and my car started right away and everything has been fine since.

I would have responded earlier, but I had to go back and find the receipt from that day so I could see exactly what parts were replaced, since I remember him mentioning a couple of different possible options.

BTW- I know the ABS mention sounded "out there", but a lot of people don't even notice that sound- which comes on every time you start the car- until there is a problem and then they listen for any little sound the car makes. I should have been clearer in my post since I didn't mean it to infer that the ABS system would be the cause of your starting problem. Reading back through the posts it did sound pretty dumb though...

BionicKris

Forbidden · 08-11-2006, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L-U-R-C-H

Yeah I got a Main Fuel Relay today at a junkyard and it didn't solve my problem with my car starting sometimes. I noticed that when the car doesn't start and I turn the key...sometimes I don't hear the fuel pump come on. Then when I do hear it after turning the key, it does start...any ideas?

You got it at a junkyard, how can you be sure it's not faulty has well? My car did the exact same thing as yours, sometimes I couldn't hear the fuel pump come on and the car wouldn't start but when the fuel pump did come on it would start everytime. But my car never stop while it was running because of the main relay.

Try this, before you start your car, put the key in the on position for a few second, when the CEL goes off you should hear the fuel pump if it starts and also you should hear a click, that click is the main relay, if you don't hear them then there's a good chance it's the main relay.

Forbidden · 08-11-2006, 04:29 AM

Also just so the OP doesn't think he wasted 60$ on a main relay for nothing, when a Honda doesn't start when it's really hot outside and then it starts when you try again a few minutes later, it's usually the main relay.

And BionicKris, it's not just Preludes, it's quite a few Hondas also, I'm not sure if newer Hondas still/will have this problem but it's common to pretty much all older Hondas

L-U-R-C-H · 08-11-2006, 09:24 AM

Forbidden thanks dude. I actually suspected that because I pulled the relay out of a 1992 Prelude it would have the same problem. I may either open the relay up and resolder the points or I may just buy a brand new one from Honda.

fastkill · 08-11-2006, 11:38 AM

so in a 5th gen were is this problematic relay located? i think that i may have the same problem