Car won't start

A

ajax

100+ Posts
Help!

So I'm car sitting, okay. The thing is sitting in front of my house and I've been pretty lax about running it every once in a while. Actually, I've been pretty damn lazy and the battery died. So I charged up the battery with a charger and tried to start it.

The engine turns over. And over and over but the car won't start. I wish I was more mechanically inclined but my hunch is it's some kind of fuel problem. Maybe the pump or the filter??? (It's an Acura Integra)

Man, I really don't want to sink money into a mechanic for this thing even though it's my own damn fault. The owner of the car is a dear friend of mine, but she also happens to be a totally hot babe that my wife detests. Well, that's neither here nor there, but she also is on some volunteer thing digging ditches in Africa or who knows what the hell she's doing, so she's not reachable even by email. And the tags are expired, so I need to move it into my garage.

(push it into the garage you say? well, my garage is on a hill. a steep one. use another car to push it you say? you should have seen my wife's face when i asked her to steer the hottie's car while i push it with my suv. i guess i could get a buddy to help, but i'm gonna need to fix it sooner or later.)

Any ideas? Fuel line? Spark plugs? I don't even know how to begin to diagnose this.
 
If you're willing to get shocked a wee bit, there's a pretty good way to test the ignition:

Pull a spark plug wire off the spark plug. Put a screwdriver inside the boot so it contacts the metal inside. While someone is cranking the car over, ground the screwdriver on something metal, but not your engine block because that's probably aluminum. Find something steel. If you see a spark, then the ignition works. But that only diagnoses the problem.

To see if the fuel pump is working, pull the input fuel line off the fuel filter. Just turn the key to the ON position, as the fuel pump is electric. If gas starts coming out, then the fuel pump works. But again, this is just diagnosis. I would have no idea how to start actually fixing those things.

Accuratehorn works on Hondas, which is pretty much what your Acura is. He should be able to help more than me.
 
Alternator, maybe? If battery is dead, could be that the alternator isn't generating enough to recharge the battery. Has happened to me on past American made vehicles. Similar systems after jumping..engine would turn over but wouldn't start.
 
Probably not the alternator since I haven't been running the car. There's plenty of juice in the battery after I charged it. It was charged, not jumped.

Good advice on the plugs and the fuel though. I'll give it a try.
 
cycle the key on and off for several times. Then try starting it. This will build up the fuel pressure.
 
Ajax, if the first suggestions don't work then the starter is the next place to check. I have a honda. I started having troubles with the car turning over when starting it. I at times had to sit and try and retry to start the car. You know key in key out and turn over. Nothing. I think I did it one day 34 times and then the car started. It sucked!
Fix: Get a hammer, find the starter and tap it as someone turns the ignition for you. If the car starts then the Starter needs a fixin.
Parts: I would said O'Reilly has the best prices for an Acura Starter. Be sure to shop around because someone will see their mark coming and charge 150 dollars more then needed.

I hope that helps.
hookem.gif
 
yah id say definitely not the starter if it it turning like that, id say maybe fuel pump. you could get a pressure gauge and go under the hood and try to see if it is pushing the right psi. how old is the car?
 
Fuel problem. Check the pump. Push start won't help in that event.

Also, I don't know how long this car has been sitting around, but if you have had the same tank of gas for an extended period of time that might be your problem. Gas does go bad. Get a gas can to top off the tank.

It's worth a try?
 
If the car is older you can check if there is fuel flow into the carb. Have somebody else try to start it.

DID YOU GET a full and hard charge on the battery? Sounds like it if you are getting the engine to turn over and over it got a charge.

Try this but have somebody else near by, and perhaps even a fire extinguisher (just in case) try putting a little gosoline in the carb when you have somebody cranking it and see if that gets it going. Seems like we could put a ton of gas in a car that ran out of gas in the old days and need to "prime" the carb with gasoline to get the fuel pumping.

I did have to "put out" a friend of mine as the car backfied once starting and it spit a little ball of flame onto him. but that only happned once...
biggrin.gif
 
Egad-bad advice everywhere.
If it cranks over at a decent speed, the starter, the battery and the alternator are not at fault.
Cars need three things to start-spark, gas, and to be in time.
If it is not in time, the timing belt broke-go buy a new engine.
Take a spark plug, attach it to a plug wire, and hold the end of the plug against a bolt on the engine with insulated pliers. While a friend cranks the car over, watch the spark jumping from the ground to the center electrode. Blue? Good spark. Yellow? Weak spark. None-no spark.
If it has spark, fuel is probably the problem. Old gas, or the fuel pump not running. If the car sat a long time (months) the gas may be stale, and the electric fuel pump in the tank corroded and ruined.
You can take the oil cap off, and watch to see if the valves are opening and closing while a friend cranks the car on most models. If they are moving, then the timing belt is not broken.
If it has no spark, it is the ignition switch, coil, ignitor, or cap and rotor.
If it has no fuel, it is the fuel pump, fuel pump relay, or associated wiring.
What year is it, and how long did it sit?
 
Thanks accuratehorn. It's a 94 or 96, not sure. It's fuel injected. I'll try everything you suggested.
 
accuratehorn: taking off the valve cover is a pain in the ***. Couldn't you verify the timing belt by removing the distributor cap? Isn''t it driven off the belt?
 
If the fuel injectors are at the throttle body, and on most older fuel injected cars they are, you should spray some starter fluid into the throttle body, and see if it starts up.
 
I said oil cap, not valve cover. On most Honda/Acuras, you can see the valve spring/rocker assembly just by removing the oil filler cap. But on some the valve cover has a metal shield where you can't see anything, so in that case the next easiest thing would be to remove the distributor cap and crank the engine to see if the rotor is turning, because it is driven by the cam.
Usually the gas will still be OK after 3 months. I don't think it would have turned to sludge by then.
If I had to guess, I would say the fuel pump or fuel pump relay. Usually the fuel pumps don't go out until 200k or so, but sitting a long time without running-it might corrode up, especially if the tank is very low on gas.
 
Accuratehorn has some good advice. Usually when you turn to the key to the on position (don't try to turn it over), you can hear an electrical fuel pump. Should make a gentle hum heard from the rear of the car. You could probably buy a fuel pressure guage at a local auto parts store, connect it to the fuel rail and see how much pressure you have. It's easy to change a fuel filter on most cars, and pretty cheap too. That's one thing you could do. Changing the fuel pump is fairly invovled for a novice. You'd have to empty the gas tank and pull it out to access the pump. Usually there is a sock like filter on the end of the pickup which can be clogged. You have to be pretty careful when pulling the gas tank. Disconnect the battery for sure.
Pull a spark plug wire and hold it near the block while someone cranks the engine. You should see it arcing. Checking the fuel pressure and looking for spark (by pulling one of the wires) is a good start. That'll narrow it down a little but could still be in way over your head. I hope not. Auto repair can be pretty pricy as you know.
 
Okay, so I tried the easiest fix which was topping off the tank. It didn't help but I can't be sure that gas is not the problem since the tank is pretty full already. I don't think I can drain the tank on the street.

Next step is to somehow get my wife to crank the ignition while I check the plugs and the valves. I might end up having to tow this thing to a garage anyway.

Yeah, I know I'm dragging my feet on this one. Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
Okay, got it towed to the local garage and here's the prognosis. It's not the gas, it's the distributor. There was no spark and that was why.

Gonna cost $800 to fix. Apparently they have to replace the whole damn thing. I'm going to email hottie in Africa and see if she responds. She comes back next month anyway.
 
okay, this has turned from a how-to question into an ajax bitchfest thread.

i have achieved email contact with the hottie in africa and she is emailing local bay area mechanics to get the best price. if she finds a better price, she wants me to tow her car from the current garage to the new one.

you know, for all the trouble this has put me through, when she finally gets back to the states and is staying over my house, she better parade around completely naked for at least one week. i don't care what my wife says.
 
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