Questions and Answers

Flooding Honda Q. Would like your comments on the following: Leased a 2001 Honda Accord, V-6 last January, 2001. The vehicle has 6,800 miles and has run great until this last weekend. The car is always garaged. It was not any colder this weekend than any other we have had.

I do live in Colorado at an elevation of near 5,000 feet. As expected we have "oxygenated fuel".

Could not start the car, the engine turned over but would not start. Tried several times that day and once the next day. Would turn over but not start. Called local dealership and they had the car towed to their shop. Diagnosis -- engine was flooded. Codes as recorded on repair order are P0303, P0306. They pulled and cleaned plugs and cleared excess fuel from cylinders. They also changed oil as had fuel in oil. I paid for the oil change.

Dealer's fix for flooding problem is "to turn on key and wait until engine check light goes out before turning key to start". Supposedly this allows the fuel pump to fill the fuel bar (my words). Almost like a diesel? To clear a flood they tell me that the only way is to "clamp the fuel line". The foregoing fixes are not documented in the owners manual (at least that I can find).

I am concerned about this problem as I do not want to be stranded somewhere and have to get a tow. By the way according to the dealership Honda only pays for one "flooded" tow.

Thanks,
Don

A. The codes P0303 and P0306 indicate random misfires which makes sense if the engine was flooded. There is good news and bad news about this problem. The good news is that most EFI systems have a "clear flood" mode that allows a flooded engine to clear out and start. The bad news is Honda is not one of them.

If you start your car in the morning and do not touch the gas pedal, it should start up normally. There is no logical reason to wait until the MIL goes off before starting.

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