Honda - Accord :: 1997 DX - Very Slow Start When Cold But Normal After Driving
Dec 8, 2015
I'm a bit concerned about my faithful old 1997 Honda Accord DX.
I noticed a particularly slow start a few weeks ago, so I went to Batteries and Bulbs for a quick check. The battery, which was a little over a year old, was already half dead. They swapped it out under partial warranty in case that was the cause.
This morning - same deal. It turned over 4-5 times with a particularly large squeal in the middle of the cranking, but it finally started. I drove it ten minutes and parked it at my normal mechanic (met a friend there to drive her to work, since her Honda has a check engine light on) and it cranked up immediately there. Turned over once, and fired right up.
The last time I thought I heard a funny noise on starting and took it to get checked out (and get an oil change at the same time), my mechanic swore everything was fine. In fact, he said "Your car is perfect." I'm concerned if I take it in without having some suggestions on what to check this time that I'll be dismissed as a car hypochondriac.
The car has 222K miles on it. Last tune up was around 200K miles, last timing belt change at 190K miles.
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My Honda has a pop or clunk when braking at low speeds( below 5mph) just before coming to a stop. It will pop as I start forward again (below 5mph). It only occurs when the outside temperature is above 90-95 degrees and after driving for 10-15 minutes. Dealership has looked at it twice and has not found any issue. I've changed brake pads and rotors as well as lubricated everything - didn't work. Brake performance, handling, etc isn't affected. It's highly annoying and makes me worry that something will eventually fail.
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On cold and/or wet days weak engine cranking. After a couple of attempts to start, I only hear a click about the 3rd attempt. If I wait about a minute or two, it still cranks slow but starts. Battery was replaced about 6 months ago. Electrical systems test good indicating no problem with battery, altenator, or starter. I don't seem to have any problem on warm days. My car is 4-cyl with about 85,000 miles and is kept in an unheated garage. Mechanic thinks trouble is likely the starter. Problem is intermittent, I'm not sure replacing the starter will fix the problem.
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I drive a 97 Honda Accord and just recently started experiencing an issue where while driving, my ignition suddenly shuts off. Sometimes when this happens I'm able to turn the key and get the ignition started right back up while coasting, but usually forces me to coast to the side of the road instead to throw it in park and restart ignition (instantly, no sputtering). This problem seems to occur most frequently while driving at low speeds or stopped at a light or sign. Despite the ignition cutting, my headlights and radio, etc remain on leading me to believe that the battery is fine. I've taken it in to get it diagnosed at two different mechanics so far but they've been unable to replicate the situation and couldn't do anything. The problem is occurring more and more frequently (as much as 4 times for a 10 minute drive last night) and I'm going crazy trying to figure this out. Anything similar seen before? (spark plugs, alternator, blocked air filter, etc?).
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I have a 2000 Honda accord and in the cold it has a hard time starting. It will turn over but it is like it is not starting right away. I also notice there are times when it starts to turn over but then it dies out.
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I took care of a vacuum leak on this car but I still have an Idle issue on a cold start it doesn't wont to idle at all once I get it warmed up it idle's in park and Neutral fine as soon as I put into drive it want's to die I can keep it going by letting of the gas and then pushing the gas peddle again and take of quickly. Stopping at red lights I have to hurry and put it into neutral or it will die having the ac on makes it worse.
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My daughter owns a 1992 Honda Accord wagon, she cannot get it to start on colder days. Sometimes she goes out and runs a hair dryer over the engine, it works, but it is getting worse. Her husband says that is ridiculous to do.
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When I'm driving at highway speeds and hit the brakes hard-ish (e.g., if the car in front of me stops or if I suddenly realize I'm going too fast on an exit ramp), my 1997 Honda Accord feels like it's shimmying from side to side. It only happens for a moment, but in that moment I feel like I'm on the verge of losing control of the car.
I've only noticed this in the last few months. What this might be? I'm going in for an oil change tomorrow and would like to ask my mechanic to take a look at this, but I'd like to have some theories/guesses in my back pocket before I go in.
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My 2014 Accord i4 CVT has 7000miles and it has acted a little strange ever since I pushed it to 3500rpm at Sport mode and then I maybe abruptly shifted it to Drive mode, at which point it made some whining noise shortly. But don’t get me wrong, acceleration was gentle and I don’t ever beat a car.
Since that incidence, it idles at 1500rpm upon cold start at P and fluctuates between 1000rpm and 1100rpm after it warms up a little bit (still in Park). When on stop (brake) on D, it has slight rough idle that periodically comes and goes, which gets better when the A/C is off but not completely resolves. Acceleration is sluggish and lagging, and it has some “dragging/sluggish” feel on coasting as well. When braking, it takes more effort and brake feels stiffer as if it lacks some break boost. Also, the electric power steering gets heavy/tight (I think this could be more of a sensor/input problem rather than the motor).
All these symptoms come and go together except for the fluctuating idle upon cold start, which is persistent. Gently pushing gas at 1200 rpm for, say 10 seconds, tend to “free” the tight steering wheel, and car starts to act more normally with better coasting and acceleration, and more responsive brake for a while. And problem comes back. Also, turning off the A/C seems to make the car act behave notably better but I am cautious of this point since it is known that Honda’s A/C system really takes away the engine power.
I had the dealer shop check for vacuum leak. The report says “check idle, check idle control, check for vacuum leaks ok, check or any codes, checks ok”, basically saying there is no vacuum leak. But I think it is still possible that they missed something. Dealer shops and some independent shops I visited aren’t so willing to figure out what is going on, and I basically need to ask them “check this and check that”.
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It has been so effective to add diesel injector cleaner to my 2004 Honda (all of 62,000 miles on it), that it is scaring me. Am I damaging anything? I add about an ounce/gallon every once in a while. Mileage drops back in between.
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My '96 Honda Accord has about 174,000 miles on it. Three weeks ago I checked my oil and the oil was black and way above the full level. I had also been adding 8-9 ounces of coolant previous to checking the level.
My coolant temp gauge has never gone beyond normal range. Two mechanics said I had a blown head gasket. I decided to change the oil and filter and only put in 4 quarts of oil. The level is only up about 1/4 inch level and the rest of the dipstick is completely clear. My friends also checked and it is so clean, like there is no oil in the car, but I have no signs of oil leaking. My oil pressure gauge shows normal pressure.
I continue to add 2-3 ounces of coolant each week. Early in the morning the engine shudders a minute or two before calming to a normal idle. I only drive around town a little, 75 miles a week. Can I continue running the car in this condition? If so, for how long? There is nothing else wrong with the car. Is it worth repairing?
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At any speed my car likes to slow down a bit then go back up to speed... feels like little mini lurches. Why... dirty fuel injectors?
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I have 1999 Honda Accord LX, 185000 mile, with 4 cylinders. Starts one month ago, the speedometer drop to zero randomly and immediately come back to normal on highway several times. Recently, car stops twice on street. Dashboard panel had no power. It seems electricity shuts off. I turn the key to OFF and turn the key to ON immediately then the car starts OK. The ignition switch was changed since there was a recall for it. What is wrong with my car?
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My 1994 honda accord station wagons cooling fan is working but the temp gauge still goes all the way up then back to normal numerous times while driving.. I park on the side of the road while the car is on, pop the hood to check and see any signs of over heating but the motor seems to be normal.. What could be happening??
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I have a 93 Honda accord EX and most times when i drive it, the car will become unresponsive to the gas and slow down and then speed back up. I went to a shop can Budget transmissions and they told me that the problem was it need a new fuel pump and when I asked them if that was for sure the problem they said yes. He told me to get fuel additive to clean out the engine cause it may still be a little laggy.
I drove the car to autozone and then home and it drove perfectly. A few hours later it did the unresponsive thing again and when i told the mechanic he said i had to put about 70 miles on it. I HAVE DRIVEN OVER 100 MILES NOW and it still lags like I haven't even gotten the fuel pump replaced. I haven't called the mechanic yet and i wanted to know if i should ask for a refund or what to do. My brother also said it may be the oxygen sensor haven gone bad so should I ask the mechanic to replace it for free?
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I have an 02 Honda Accord V6 LX with a bit over 142k miles and an automatic transmission. She runs fine (as far as I know). No major transmission problems, just a little slow going from 1st to 2nd and sticks just a tad when dropping down from 2nd to 1st.
Here's the question: To Flush or not to flush?
Mechanic #1 told me to never flush a transmission after 130k miles; instead, he said, I should take it to a specialist.
Mechanic #2 said a flush would be fine.
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I own a 1999 Honda Accord w/160K miles. This past summer my car would occasionally stall while driving at slow speeds (when the car, an automatic transmission, was in low gear). Usually I'd be able to start it right back up with no problems. In some cases I'd have to hold the ignition switch for about three seconds. As the weather cooled in the autumn (I live in New England) the problem disappeared. However, in the last couple of weeks the problem has started up again only now I have trouble restarting the car. I have to wait a couple of minutes before it'll start up again. It has the feel of a flooded engine. The car also idles rather low...at around 800 rpm. I don't think it's a battery or alternator because all of the electric apps.(power locks, windows, radio, etc.) work after the car stalls. I'm bringing my car in for regular maintenance but would like to know what to tell my mechanic to look for.
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I have a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid with about 150,000 miles.
It sometimes is lacking normal power - slow to start but fine once to full speed. When it is lacking power I notice that the gas engine is not shutting off when stopped at traffic signal like it normally does with charged batteries. It will be like this or a few days and then suddenly has its normal power and shuts of at traffic signals again.
Seems to be some failure of communication in the hybrid controls with system not telling the electric motor to do its thing. Where I should start looking for fix of this intermittent problem?
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I have a 2003 Honda Accord V6 that has some acceleration hesitation and general jerkiness, usually noticeable when the car has been sitting for a long period of time (overnight). The symptoms seem to dissipate after 5 - 10 minutes of driving.
When I begin accelerating, the car feels like it hesitates when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. If I let off the gas a bit, then the car jerks a bit.
I'm sure it's not the transmission, because the dealer said the fluid and everything looks fine. Additionally, I have another Accord (2000) that does have a failing transmission and the symptoms on that one are very different from this 2003.
A couple of months ago, I was getting a CEL and had a friend of mine read the code with his OBD tool. It indicated that Bank 1 Sensor 1 was bad. I replaced it with a Denso. I think the problem got better at that point, but has "worsened" again over the past month or so.
Any clues what this might be? Things I can try? Ways to narrow down the issue?
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Since December, I have had the SRS airbag light indicator come on in my 2006 Honda Accord (EX-L, 2.4 L, Automatic), but only in the morning, and only when the outside temperature has been below freezing the night before. After a few minutes when the car warms up, if I turn the car off and then back on the SRS light is gone. The rest of the day, no problem. Figuring that it was not the safest thing to drive with, I had it checked out by a repair shop that I feel comfortable with. They checked the code and said that it showed up as a faulty SRS computer, and the computer would need to be replaced. It seems crazy to me that a 2006 Accord with under 52,000 would need a new SRS unit, so I started looking online to see if I could find any info.
I saw about the SRS units in previous Accords, but it seems like they have those issues ironed out in the 2005 and 2006. I did however, see that some people have said that low voltage also could trigger the same defective code in the SRS unit, which got me thinking. The original Honda battery died and was replaced at the end of November with an AC Delco ACD 51R60 (460 CCA). My original theory was that the AC Delco battery was not cranking enough when it is cold compared to the old Honda battery, and it is triggering the SRS airbag light. I ended up having the shop switch out the new battery to an AC Delco 51R6YR (500 CCA). Unfortunately, however, it did not fix the problem. I can't get past the fact that if it was a defective SRS unit, why would it only cause a problem for the first few minutes when it is cold, and then consistently be fine after that?
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I noticed the last two winters oil spots show up in the drive and its only when the temputare dips below 30 or so if any warmer its not there.
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