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My '92 Integra cranks but does not start.

Car: Acura, Integra, 1992     -    Back to Fix-It    -    Acura Integra Repair Manuals

Q.My '92 Integra cranks but does not start.
Events:
Many months ago, car started to have starting problems in hot weather.
In the morning or evening, the car would start without problems.
In the hot weather, the check engine light would come on and I could not start the car, however it would crank but no start.
I had to wait for a few minutes until I heard a sound click, then the engine light would come off, then I could start the car right away.

Eventually, some months ago, this problem would occur all the type, whether it was day or night, hot or cool. I had to wait 5 minutes until the engine light came off, then I could start.
However, if I drove the car around for a little while and turned off the car, then tried to turn the key to the on position, the engine light would go off right away and I could start right away.

At this point, I wanted to get my car fixed. I took it to a shop to get it fixed. They said I needed to replaced the main relay, which they did. But it didn't solve the problem.
They then told me the ECU was bad and I had to pay such and such but I declined, since it was too expensive.
I talked to the technician and he said it was the ECU because he swapped in a junkyard ECU into my car and the problem wasn't there.
He said he would sell it to me if I wanted but there was no guarantees; anyway, I came by later to try it out, and for sure the car started right away. However, the engine light stayed on forever and the S3 gear was blinking.
I wasn't comfortable with it because it looked like an ECU for a different car, yet a similar one so it worked, but I was determined to get mine rebuilt for a cheap price.
I sent my ECU in and got it rebuilt but when I got it back, my problem got worse. I now have to wait 20 minutes before the engine light comes off and for me to start the car.

I would think that what has happened could narrow down to what my problem was, but I don't know much about cars to figure it out.
It seems like my car is priming something and it takes a while to do so, maybe the fuel pressure before it allows me to start.
However, I don't think my actual car parts have a problem since I could start it right away with another ECU.
And since my ECU is rebuilt I dont think it's my ECU.
I'm guessing it's a bad sensor or something.
Any ideas?

Answer From the symptoms described, there are 2 possibilities.
1. A bad PGM-FI main relay. It would cause the Check Engine Light to show and does not provide power to the fuel pump to prime the fuel lines when initial turning the key to ON.
2. A bad ECU. One or more of the capacitors inside the ECU is leaking and stopping it from operating while doing initial system test. You should have refered back to the ECU rebuilder.
As to the CEL showing when another ECU was installed, you should have tried to retrieve the error code to understand what was wrong. It most probably is not compatible with your engine.
Remember to recheck the P.. >> login for more

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