96 Civic EX hard starting

[surfstar]

My girlfrinds 1996 (105k miles) Civic EX (D16Y8 motor) is having a starting problem. It cranks over strong, but it takes a while before it fires up. I replaced the distributor cap & rotor, spark plugs and wires around 5k miles ago as maintenance, not towards this particular problem.

It used to do this more so when the fuel tank was nearing empty. My car does that near "E" as well. However it is happening when the tank is full now. Any suggestions?

 

[JMG]

Chech this out:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=002254

 

[surfstar]

according to this page: http://techauto.tripod.com/index.htm the 96 is not affected. It also is not weather related, and cranks consistently, so it doesn't sound like a main relay.
I'm gonna try the fuel filter and see if it helps. Fram is okay for that, right?

 

[trey]

Hey surfstar, I'm having the same exact problem, it only happens once every few weeks though. I changed the fuel filter and it didn't help.

I think its gotta be something with fuel, maybe the fuel pump is failing or low on pressure or something, kinda agrevating though eh.

 

[surfstar]

hopefully the fuel filter will help this one out - after reviewing the maint records i couldn't see anything that showed it was ever done. it is annoying, but i would hate to see how much a shop or dealer would charge to attempt to diagnose it.

 

[JMG]

I have read on some honda boards, that the filter filter, at least for my Accord, is a lifetime filter....

Anyword on this?

 

[doitmyself]

surfstar,
I googled "Honda hard starting" and there are several sites - most of which tend to lean towards a weak ignition system or fuel system - in particular, worn out fuel pumps.

Try a google search.

 

[Matt_S]

On my wife's 99 Civic that I'm selling, the fuel filter is not mentioned in the maintenance schedule. You only replace it if you suspect a problem. For the record, the filter is very large for the engine size, so I can imagine it should last a long time, barring any unusual contamination from the gas.