1996 Accord Won't start when weather is cold and damp

I have a 1996 Accord that has the same problem every year at this time.
When the weather gets cold and damp the car will not start. The
battery and starter appear to be strong. It acts as if no gas is
getting through, or if moisture is in the fuel. After several minutes
and many attemps the car will finally start. This has been going on
for the past 3 years. No one seems to have any ideas. Any help hear
would be greatly appreciated. Again, this only occurs at this time of
year.

 

Cracked distributor cap or old wires would be my first
suspicion.

When was the last time this car had a tuneup (new plugs,
wires, distributor cap and rotor, timing check, air filter,
fuel filter, maybe a bottle of Chevron Techron dumped in the
fuel tank, all ignition parts OEM)?

See http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#startrun for
more discussion.

 

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WHEN does it always happen? Only after sitting overnight, or in the
middle of the day / evening after it's been driven recently ? ?

'Curly'

 

How old are the plug wires?

 

It's usually an ignition high voltage leak if it always does it when
it's damp. This is real common on toyotas, and hondas may have
the same problem. Lots of times it's the ignition coil "flashing" over
to ground along tiny thin conductive dirt traces that form along the
body
of the coil plastic covering. Normally, the insulation from ground
should
be good with no flashing over. What I would do is remove and clean the
coil housing, etc with alcohol or something like that. Try to get it as
clean
as you can. Check all the wires for flashing. But..it's not very common
for
all the wires to do this at once, so I really don't suspect the wires
in
this case. I suspect the coil, cap, rotor, etc, before it goes to the
wires.
I'd slap a new cap and rotor on it being they are cheap, unless yours
are
already fresh. Sometimes the coils will leak so bad you just have to
replace them. Once they start forming traces, it's often hard to clean
them
away well enough to not have any more problems.
They seem to be quite conductive many times.
Also...It's possible to have carb icing in this weather, but your car
should be
FI, so scratch that...That would only occur after running a while
anyway.
Carb icing does not give starting problems when cold. It hasn't iced up
yet at that point.
At this point, if I had to bet $$$$$, I'd say it's probably your coil.
But don't
take that as gospel without checking it out a bit.
MK

 

This almost always happens after sitting overnight.

 

Thank you so much for the advise. I'll try what you've mentioned and
let you know what happens.

 

I am having the same problem with my 1996 accord. What was the
recommendation?

I have changed my wires, distributor cap, spark plugs, main relay
switch, computer, starter, fuel filter, and it still will not start
when temperature drops below 60 degrees. It takes me about 10 mins.
or more to get it started in the mornings. When it finally does start
after cranking on it for a while, it runs rough for a minute then
straightens itself out.

What else do I need to check?

Please help. Thank you.

Susan W

 

=====================================

Sounds like you've had some bad advice in the past. _If it only happens
after the vehicle has been sitting several hours_ (overnight), it may
just be flooding. Your manual tells you how to start a flooded Honda.
Fuel injector cleaner three or four times a year will usually make that
problem (dripping injector) go away.

My Honda starts at -40 degrees, but I have to do like the manual says,
holding the pedal half-way to the floor.

'Curly'

 

Bad Coolant temperature sensor will cause hard starting when cold.

The fuel enrichment mode uses coolant temp to raise the idle speed as well
as the air/fuel ratio.