Question: An Acura And A Mitsubishi
I have a couple questions if you don't mind. I drive a 1992 Acura Integra LS Special, 1.8 liter and 5 Speed manual transmission. My First Question is: When I go to start it, it takes a little long to fire up. Like it will take about 5-10 seconds of cranking for it to start then once it's started it will die out after about 5 seconds. I repeat these steps for about 5 minutes until I can finally get it to stay fired up.
Once it's fired up it runs beautifully but the only problem is that it takes so damn long for it to start up and stay on. I cannot drive it like that because if I stall or turn the engine off I have to go through another 5 minutes of hell turning it back on. Do you know what the problem is??? When I turn the key to the on position the fuel pump goes on every time so I'm ruling out a fuel pump problem it was even just installed with a brand new fuel pump anyways.
Second question is about my other vehicle. It is a 1996 Mitsubishi Galant S, 2.4 liter 4 Speed Automatic. I was driving it fine one day no problems at all and I went to my aunt's house for Christmas Eve. After the party I went to start my car and nothing. I checked all the fuses. I tried starting it a million times still nothing. So then I noticed the fuel pump wasn't turning on. So I towed it to my house and I changed the fuel pump, I had a professional do it. We have electricity to the pump and it still is not turning on. I have no idea what it is.
I was told it was the relay but I have no idea where the relay is or what it looks like but wouldn't it not be the relay if there were power to the pump? The pump just doesn't want to turn on. I need these cars and I can't afford to be without a vehicle. Can you please tell me what is wrong with them? You will be the first one to provide me with actual information if you do and I will appreciate every bit of information I can receive about these cars.
Thank you so very much.
Mark B.
Answer: The first thing to do is to check the PCM for Diagnostic Trouble Codes.
If there are any codes that will put us in the direction we need to go to find the problem.
There was a recall on the 1992 and 1993 Acura Integra Distributors. It seems that after time they developed excessive internal clearances and the engine will develop a hard/no start condition. You should contact your Acura Dealer with your VIN number and see if this applies to your vehicle.
As for the 1996 Mitsubishi I'm assuming the engine turns over normally. If that is the case and you are, indeed, getting power all the way to the fuel pump, then you have a ground problem. What you can do is install a ground wire from the fuel pump to a good ground on the body. This will turn the fuel pump on and allow the engine to start.
