Acura Legend Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Trouble Starting Car only in Morning

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
C

cire5109

· Registered
Joined
·
21 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
Ok, so i haven't driven my legend in 3 years and recently i have decided to get it back up and running. First i needed to install a new fuel pump as it wasn't cranking over at all. After installing fuel pump it started right up. Then i had an issue with temp gauge. All it needed was temp gauge coolant sensor replaced.

But now, only in the morning, i am having trouble getting my car to crank over. It makes a weird noise. Not your normal cranking sound (re,re,re,runnnnn!) but rather a long (reeeeear). hehe, unfortunately i cant upload sound files as i recorded what it sounds like. After trying to crank 3 or 4 more times it slowly gets back to the normal cranking sound and finally turns over. Any thoughts?

In the afternoon and evenings, i have no problems at all turning on the car. This only happens in the morning. Also, my car passed emissions two days ago so don't know why this is happening.
 
#2 ·
sounds like you might have a slow battery drain somewhere (hence the slow start in the morning). Might also want to check for loose battery cables at the battery and from the starter. Lastly check your relay as those might be loose also...
 
#3 ·
I'm going to say the battery is the culprit. These cars have higher than normal parasitic draw. If the car is going to sit for more than two weeks it's best to: A. use a trickle charger or B. unplug the neg terminal. ( be sure to have the radio code)
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Just an update, i drove it yesterday to work, same problem starting in the morning. Then after it sat for 8 hours, i went to start it up to drive home and same issue affected it that normally happens in the a.m. Also, a puff of smoke comes out of the muffler when the car fails to start. Again, it eventually cranks over but it takes two or 3 semi long attempts of cranking it over.

I forgot to mention that when i installed the new fuel pump i also bought a new battery so it hasn't really gone more than 4 days without use. I bought the battery maybe 2 weeks ago.

If it were the starter, what symptoms would i have?
 
#8 ·
What fuel pump did you install? Next time you go to start after its been sitting for a number of hours, instead of trying to start it immediately:
1. turn your key to position II for 3 seconds
2. turn back off
3. repeat one more time
4. try to start
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Ok, I did as ari_one suggested this morning and turned the key to position two for 3 seconds, heard the hum of the fuel pump, turned off, turned on one more time, turned off, then attempted to crank over the car.

At first, the car didn't even try to crank, almost like a dead battery, then 2 seconds later it made the same noise (reeeeear) and i couldn't crank it over.

I didn't think it was the main relay because i can hear the hum of the fuel pump. But I gave it a couple smacks under the left side dash for good measure. Then i tried to crank it over and it turned over pretty quickly but started idling really rough, climbing from 500 rpm to around 1300 rpm pretty slowly (around 10 seconds) all while pumping out smoke from the muffler.

I havent changed the fuel filter, do these symptoms seem like they could be remedied by changing the fuel filter?
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
Around 6 pm today i went out to try and turn on the car, no hum from the fuel pump. Looks like main relay finally gave out. Didn't seem like all the symptoms i listed above were pointing to main relay but in the end that is what the problem was.

Went a picked up a new relay from auto store, plugged it in and car turned on with no problems. :woot:

Lets see what happens tomorrow morning.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
Well it looks like it's not "case closed" for me. This morning car went back to having the same symptom, I turn the key and it goes reeeeeeeeeeeear with a few clicks coming from the front of the engine. I'm at a loss here! It cranked over perfectly for one day after installing a new main relay.

Good thing is that the fuel pump is priming. Any ideas?
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
ok i need to post 1 more time so that i can put a link to a video of what my car is doing in the mornings. Here is a list of what i have done since starting to get my car up and running 2 weeks ago:

- New Battery
- New Fuel Pump
- New Main Relay
- New Engine Coolant Temp Sensor
- Topped off all fluids

Still having issues starting car only in the mornings. After work i go home and car gives a slight hesitation but then cranks over!
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
Ok this morning i recorded what my car sounds like. I didnt get it to start so i drove my other vehicle to work. I want to make sure this is the starter before getting under this sucker to remove it. It actually sounds a little better than normal in the video because i started recording after attempting to crank it over 3 times.

 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
So I came back to my car after playing golf and my car didnt want to start? This is after 3 1/2 hours of sitting in the parking lot. I took another video of it as it sounded like my original description. I want to make sure this is a starter issue so i can work on replacing it this weekend. Below is the video:

 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
I haven't solved the problem yet. I have the mechanic coming out tomorrow to replace the starter. The weird thing is that once i actually get it to crank over and run the car for awhile, it will have no problems whatsoever turning over while the car is warm???? WTF? Its only when car is cold again that i cant get it to crank over unless I try a bunch of times.
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
Guys, i am freaking baffled at this point and extremely irritated. As posted before, these are the things i have done so far to try and fix the issue with starting my car in the morning:

- New Battery
- New Fuel Pump
- New Main Relay
and as of yesterday
- New Starter
- New Fuel Filter

Car cranked over just fine after installing new starter and fuel pump. But this morning, same exact problem that i had in the last video posted! What else could it be?
 
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
About this Discussion
25 Replies
9 Participants
Last post:
ruiz12031
Acura Legend Forum
posts
1.5M
members
40K
Since
2002
A forum community dedicated to Acura Legend and Acura RL owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Second Generation Legend (1991-1995) First Generation Legend (1986-1990) New Member Introductions DIYs General Discussion Forum