My Civic doesn't like to be inactive

Hi!

My '91 Civic 1.6 appearently hates to be inactive for more than a week or
so. I left for vacation without my car...I left it in a garage for exactly
15 days. When I returned home I found the car very difficult to start for
the first time. It just cranked and cranked very fast as if it had no
resistance at all, i.e. like a car with a broken timing belt. I needed 8 or
9 attempts to finally start it up. It started very roughly with a lot of
misfire and some blue'ish smoke which was shocking because I had never seen
my car emit such smoke before.

After some 10 seconds the engine settled down and it was back to normal. Now
when I drive almost every day, it starts right up every time, just like it
always did anyway.

The car has 260K km or 160K miles which isn't all that much. There's no
excessive oil usage, it doesn't use any coolant. It still accelerates like
when it was new. Fuel consumption is also very good.

I had a similar problem to start the car after sitting 3 weeks over 3 years
ago.

What do you think the problem could be? My mechanic told me that the oil
probably drained down around the piston rings after sitting for a long time
which resulted in such a loss of compression that I could not start at
first. And then after some running the compression obviously returned to
normal. He says I shouldn't worry about it and that the car should be
started at least once a week. Does that explanation make any sense to you?

Thanks.

 

If the fuel in the fuel rail has drained back into the tank because
your fuel pressure regulator has a slight leak, it can take a while
for the fuel pump to refill the system. Notice that the fuel pump only
runs for a little while, then stops when you turn the key on. This is
a safety thing. When you turn the key on, power is applied to the
coil of the first relay in the main relay assembly, which closes and
supplies power to the car's ECU and to the coil of the second relay.
The ECU supplies the ground to the coil of the second relay when the
key is first turned on, so it closes too and supplies power to the
fuel pump. The ECU however immediately senses that the engine isn't
running and after a second or two removes the ground, turning off the
fuel pump. This is a safety mechanism to keep an eager fuel pump from
pissing gasoline into a raging fire up front after an accident.

So if after a first start attempt the engine doesn't run, turn the
ignition off and then back on several times, cycling the fuel pump,
without turning the engine over. That way it won't load up with a
whole lot of oil and get all smoky.

A completely empty fuel rail takes a dozen pump cycles to fill, but
yours may not be completely empty. Better still, check your pressure
regulator.

 

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

You've got a leaking injector, and it's a very slow leak. Your engine is
'flooded' according to the manual, so it will start if you hold you foot
half-way to the floor when this happens.

Run a can of injector cleaner, or a couple of tanks of gasohol through
it. Ours used to flood overnight. Gasohol fixed it.

Good observation . . It DOES sound like the timing belt is broken when
this happens.

'Curly'

 

He says I shouldn't worry about it and that the car should be

Look in your manual. Cars are designed to run several miles every
day. 15 days is a very long time, bordering on long-term storage
(which requires special procedures to protect the car). Drive it.

JM

 

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

Just starting your Honda (without going for a good drive)once a week
will wear out your engine faster, because it won't get warmed up enough
to dry out the condensation in the crankcase. You'll have wet, acidy
oil, and 100% of your running time will be spent under the worst
conditions Honda descrbes in the Owner's manual. (cold engine)

That's why the manual says you're a 'severe conditions' customer if your
car is driven on short trips, where the engine doesn't get warmed up
enough to 'dry' the oil out.

If you want to prove if your engine is flooding, do what the manual
suggests, and see if it works better.

'Curly'

 

You've got a leaking injector, and it's a very slow leak. Your engine is

I did that, and it still needed several attempts. Don't think it would ever
start if I didn't.

15 days without a drive is rather long, yes, but what about brand new cars
in the showroom? I assume dealers take them out for a drive from time to
time?

 

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

Brand new cars in the showroom don't have leaky injectors. That only
happens after time, when deposits and normal wear cause them to not seal
properly. Showroom cars often have the battery disconnected to keep
rotten little kids from honking the horn too . .

Be aware that when the engine floods like that (thus the bluish smoke),
your oil is getting diluted with the dripping fuel, and one cylinder is
getting all it's lubrication washed out, so a can of injector cleaner or
some Mohawk PLUS gas would be a very cheap way to remedy the problem.

With all the years / clicks you've put on the Civic, hasn't anybody
suggested a can of injector cleaner before?

'Curly'