93 cold starting problem

[itsahonda]

Ok, I installed the new dist. and it idles smooth as silk, And starts every morning. 1st morning it was about 26 degrees and it fired right up. All is good here.

 

Excellent. Good for you. I put on new dist cap and rotor over the weekend and hopefully that clears my problem. The contact on the cap which the coil wire connects to was pretty badly eaten up down in there so that might have been my problem. Of course since I installed all that, temp's have warmed up in VA and mornings are like 38º and at that temp the problem is not there. I'll know on the next bitter cold morning, whenever that happens.

 

Fifty9, tell me about your distributor install. Was it difficult. Did you have to reset timing afterwards. Did you have to turn crankshaft by hand to get it in position. Did you run into any obvious pitfalls that I might run into if I end up putting one in? Thanks.

[fifty9singlecab]

On the take off there are 3 12mm bolts that hold the dist. on and 2 plugs that you unplug. and you can wiggle the old one out. The shaft is only about 1 1/2 long. Put a rag under the shaft when removing because a very small amount of oil will run out. Then shine a flashlight into the hole in the valve cover to see how the key on the new dist. will line up. It will only go in one way. You will then wiggle it in just like you pulled the old one out. Then bolt it back up. I looked at my old one to see close to where it was bolted up, to bolt the new one up the same. And did it and it fired right up. While the car is running you can loosen the bolts just enough to turn the timing up and down and adjust it until it idles smooth while in gear. I then tightened it up and then took it to a shop (Not Dealer) and went to set the timing with a light and said it was fine. Lucky me!!! Honestly it is an easy swap out.

[itsahonda]

On the take off there are 3 12mm bolts that hold the dist. on and 2 plugs that you unplug. and you can wiggle the old one out. The shaft is only about 1 1/2 long. Put a rag under the shaft when removing because a very small amount of oil will run out. Then shine a flashlight into the hole in the valve cover to see how the key on the new dist. will line up. It will only go in one way. You will then wiggle it in just like you pulled the old one out. Then bolt it back up. I looked at my old one to see close to where it was bolted up, to bolt the new one up the same. And did it and it fired right up. While the car is running you can loosen the bolts just enough to turn the timing up and down and adjust it until it idles smooth while in gear. I then tightened it up and then took it to a shop (Not Dealer) and went to set the timing with a light and said it was fine. Lucky me!!! Honestly it is an easy swap out.

 

 

That does sound fairly easy. With my luck, though, something on my late 4th gen (1993) will be made a bit different than the earlier ones of that generation.. haha. I did read in my Haynes book about marking the dist and rotor to reorient everything precisely to reduce possibility of throwing the car out of time.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you did here:

 

While the car is running you can loosen the bolts just enough to turn the timing up and down and adjust it until it idles smooth while in gear.

 

Are you saying that adjusting the torque on the bolts that hold the distributor on has an effect on how the car idles or do you mean the idle adjustment at the IAC valve. When you say idles smooth while in gear, you mean with clutch in or if yours is Auto, you mean in gear with foot on brake.

 

Thanks again for the tips. I hope we get a really cold morning soon so I can see if I have more work to do.

[fifty9singlecab]

While the car is running you can loosen the bolts that hold the dist. in place. This is how you adjust the timing. Then with the car running and warmed up in drive with your foot on the brake or if its a 5 speed just in neutral you can adjust the idle by turning the dist. When it idles smooth then tighten the bolts and drive it. If your car is a 5 speed you may turn your headlights and air on before you do this so it will idle down first. Because if it idles a little low and then you turn this stuff on it will make the engine idle down and it may idle to low and die. If I can do this anyone can.I am real short tempered and no mechanical skills. Just poor and trying to save all the money I can.

[itsahonda]

While the car is running you can loosen the bolts that hold the dist. in place. This is how you adjust the timing. Then with the car running and warmed up in drive with your foot on the brake or if its a 5 speed just in neutral you can adjust the idle by turning the dist. When it idles smooth then tighten the bolts and drive it. If your car is a 5 speed you may turn your headlights and air on before you do this so it will idle down first. Because if it idles a little low and then you turn this stuff on it will make the engine idle down and it may idle to low and die. If I can do this anyone can.I am real short tempered and no mechanical skills. Just poor and trying to save all the money I can.

 

 

You can tell ignition systems are not my strong suite. I thought timing adjustment was a much more complicated process. Thanks for the info. I'm with you on the saving money. It's nice to just drop the car off at a shop, but labor rates and heavily marked-up parts will do some damage to the checkbook. Replacing dist cap and rotor on mine did not help. She has been hard-starting on cold mornings this week. Once again, warm the dist and about 1½ cranks and she fires right up. I will have to replace the whole thing. Watching for one on ebay like you purchased but none out there right now. Meanwhile the towel wrapped around distributor at night to keep out that coldest air and hold in the smallest bit of heat from the prior days driving is doing the trick. Still thinking about the possibility of gettting in there and taking out only the ignitor and replacing it, but, as this goes on, I creep closer and closer to the ebay price of the whole distributor assembly. It would be nice to find the culprit part and experience the aha! moment, but main goal is a nice smooth start, regardless of the weather, like Accords are known for.

[Kastigir]

While the car is running you can loosen the bolts that hold the dist. in place. This is how you adjust the timing. Then with the car running and warmed up in drive with your foot on the brake or if its a 5 speed just in neutral you can adjust the idle by turning the dist. When it idles smooth then tighten the bolts and drive it. If your car is a 5 speed you may turn your headlights and air on before you do this so it will idle down first. Because if it idles a little low and then you turn this stuff on it will make the engine idle down and it may idle to low and die. If I can do this anyone can.I am real short tempered and no mechanical skills. Just poor and trying to save all the money I can.

Or, you could do it the right way by running it to operating temp, jumping the blue connector to disable the ECU timing advance, and grab a timing light.

[itsahonda]

Or, you could do it the right way by running it to operating temp, jumping the blue connector to disable the ECU timing advance, and grab a timing light.

 

And then replace the Main Fuel Relay, RIGHT?

[Kastigir]

And then replace the Main Fuel Relay, RIGHT?

Not unless it needs it...not really sure what this means.