Mechanic's dream ;\)

I am curious what problems would show for a computer chip needing to be
changed ... Would a 90 Accord ever need this? 263,000kms and well taken care
of.
I was having problems starting my car, but only intermittently. When it
wouldn't start, it would turn but not start. It would eventually "catch" and
start, sometimes I'd have to sit there 20 minutes trying over and over again
until it started. This happenned more often after short drives than longer
ones. I finally had it assessed and they replaced both the battery and
starter. About a month later, not even 700km later, the problem happenned
again and has a couple times since. A guy I know who's hobby is mechanical
work, but he's not educated or employed in this area, shared that he thought
it could be the computer chip bc of the inconsistency and the fact that it
was turning but not starting... Arhhh! I'm tired of paying for work that
doens't fix the problem. In the last 30,000 km the distributor and coil were
replaced, alternator, slave cylinder, timing belt and now starter and battery.
It drives beautifully, sounds terrific, has all it's power... What could it
be? Oh, another weird phenominon is that the stereo goes on and off.
And... just this week I was driving it and the check engine light came on and
the speedometer stopped working, but then started working again. The check
engine light stayed on until I turned the car off. When I turned it back on,
all was fine again. Still, my car is driving beautifully, sounds terrific,
has all it's power... Then yesterday the check engine light came on again and
speedometer stopped. Please help. I'd like to get this car back in great
condition but without spending too much more money, since I just spent
several hundreds "fixing" what seems to be the non-problem (starter and
battery).
I REALLY appreciate any insight or help you can give!!!!

Michael Pardee

The computer is the least likely cause (unless the vehicle has been in deep
water before this began; the ECU is on the floorboard.) My first thought is
the "main relay" - the fuel pump relay - which has a very long history of
symptoms like that. See TeGGeR's FAQs at
http://tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#startrun for the details and other
ideas.

Mike

Michael Pardee

"Mechanic's dream " <u15701@uwe> wrote in message
news:574f7d294ed48@uwe...
>I am curious what problems would show for a computer chip needing to be
> changed ... Would a 90 Accord ever need this? 263,000kms and well taken
> care
> of.
> Oh, another weird phenominon is that the stereo goes on and off.
> And... just this week I was driving it and the check engine light came on
> and
> the speedometer stopped working, but then started working again. The check
> engine light stayed on until I turned the car off. When I turned it back
> on,
> all was fine again. Still, my car is driving beautifully, sounds terrific,
> has all it's power... Then yesterday the check engine light came on again
> and
> speedometer stopped. Please help. I'd like to get this car back in great
> condition but without spending too much more money, since I just spent
> several hundreds "fixing" what seems to be the non-problem (starter and
> battery).
> I REALLY appreciate any insight or help you can give!!!!

This part sounds like a different problem from the starting and running
problem, and has all the signs of a bad ground. The easiest to see is the
engine ground, which passes from the front of the valve cover over the
radiator to the chassis, but I'm thinking more of grounds under the dash.
Hope others can give you more details.

Mike