trouble starting on a steep hill
 

I have a 2002 honda accord (manual 5 speed) with about 100K miles. A week ago i parked the accord a hill for 4-5 hours in the hot sun. When i came back, i couldn't get it started. It had the normal cranking sound, but the engine seemed like it wasn't getting any gas (plenty of gas in the tank). I rolled the car out of the parking space into a flat area. I was going to try to push down the and pop clutch , but the car immediately starting when i turn the key on flat section. I haven't had a problem cranking since then. Any thoughts on what was wrong? Could that be sign of the fuel pump going bad?

extra note - Once every couple months or so, my accord will stall shortly after starting in the morning. I coast down a long hill to a stop sign where it stalls. So i'm not feeding it any gas for a period before stalling. It always immediately restarts. Thought it might be related.


thanks for any insight

welcome to the forum. On the hot day on the hill, it could have had fuel vapor lock. check your idle cut off , and throttle valve n prosition sensors and clean them.

thanks for the advice!

Similar problem but it's October
 

Hi,
I have a '92 Accord with automatic transmission. Just lately (within the last week or so), if I park with the car facing downhill, even slightly, I have trouble starting.

The battery is strong and the engine turns over, but doesn't catch. If I wait for about a minute after the first failed start, it will catch and continue to run. Or if I can roll down to a flat spot, then the car starts immediately!

Any thoughts on this one?

Thanks,
Bill

Inspect for loose connections and corrosion at battery, starter, and alternator. After all those items are checked it's possible your vehicle might be suffering from a sulfated battery. When a battery is sulfated it means the material on the plates inside the battery has fallen off and settled in the bottom of the battery causing a short between the positive and negative terminals. Often this condition is noticed when the vehicle fails to start when parked on an incline. Most of the time a common battery test will not show this condition. Try swapping the battery out and recheck fir problem. A sulfated battery is most common in batteries that are a few years old or are frequently drained down ( radio on ect engine off)

But would a sulfated battery still act like a new battery, in other words, turn the engine over with vigor?

A sulfated battery often acts like a battery that doesn't quite have enough power to get the job done and start the vehicle on an incline ( or completely dead) but will work normally the rest of the time. It may start cranking the motor but it's quickly noticeable that it's underperforming ( will stop cranking but once the key is cycled will do the same thing again or start right up). It's a hard to diagnose battery condition that will tie your brain in knots, and most often involves a car that won't start on a hill but will on a flat surface.

Never heard of this but makes since for sure.

Hi Xmechanic,
Thanks for your comments about how a sulfated battery acts, but my situation obviously doesn't involve this problem. My battery turned the engine over very strongly, whether on an incline or on a flat spot.

Note: it's been one and one-half weeks since I originally posted. The evening of the 11th of October, I concentrated very hard on the problem, focused on the engine of my car, and for the past week and one-half, the problem hasn't come up at all. I've even gone out of my way to park the car on inclines and it starts up like a champ!

I must be a psychic-mechanic! I wonder if there's a way I can market this new-found talent . . .

If you have my luck ,just when you least expect it your walking. Hope the problem is over for ya.