Questions and Answers

Honda Accord No Start Q. My problem is that my car doesn't want to stay started. The problem started this summer. Whenever I would go to start the car every once in a while it would start up and then die immediately after starting it. It was like the car wasn't getting enough gas.

I found that if I tried to restart the car by putting my foot all the way on the gas immediately after it died the car would start. If that didn't work then I would have to wait a couple minutes without trying to start the car and then start it. Lately the problem has gotten worse. I have tried to locate when the car is going to die on me but it seems to happen pretty randomly. Sometimes it happens when I start the car in the morning and sometimes it happens after I've had the car running for two hours.

One thing I do know is that if I go to get gas or any time the car is off for only a minute or two then it does this about half the time. Imagine having a line of five cars behind you and your car won't start. Lately I haven't even waited for the car to die, now I just start the car with my foot all the way on the gas. This has been working for the last month. But just now when I went out to start my car it started, died, and won't start at all. Chances are that it will eventually start. But this is getting very old very fast. What do you think the problem is?

I actually have another minor problem with sounds my car is making. Just last week I started to notice a squealing noise coming from the front of my car. The noise happens when I turn. But it doesn't happen every time I turn or when I turn at faster speeds or sharper corners. I haven't had my car on for long periods of time very much since it started happening. I have only been using my car for going to work which is not that far away from where I live.

It seems that if the car warms up it stops happening but I'm not sure yet. I don't think it's the brakes because usually I don't even have the brakes on. It sounds like the front suspension but I'm not sure. Anyways, if you could give me some suggestions on what either of these problems may be I would be very grateful.

Now I think I'm going to try and start my car again.

1993 Honda Accord EX
2.2 liter 4-cylinder
5-speed manual
137,000 miles
Fuel Injected

Thank you,
James R.

A. There are quite a number of things that may be causing this problem, both fuel and electrical. The first thing you have to do is narrow it down. When it will not start, pull one of the plug wires off and see if you have a good, strong spark. If not, then it is an electrical problem. If you do, then we can start looking at the fuel system.

The squealing noise is probably a brake pad wear sensor or dust in the brakes. I would pull the wheels off and take a look at the pads. If they are low, replace them. If they look good, clean and sand them with some coarse sandpaper and wash them off with brake cleaner. Do the same with the rotors. I think that will fix the squeal.

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