1992 Honda Civic my Civic starts when it wants to

CIVICSIX

MEMBER
1992 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
169,000 MILES

Hello to those who read this:

Heres my problem sometimes when I turn off the engine after driving less than a mile up the street and try to start it back up it wont start and the check engine light stays on. So I turn the key all the way back and pull the key out and I wait about 5 minutes then I turn the key till the all the dash lights come on ( ex: check engine light, battery light, oil light, ) and the check engine light comes on for about 2 seconds and cuts off and thats when the car starts fine. So my question is what is the reason my car needs a minute to start back up after driving for a really short period of time and how to repair this myself if posiible? Thanks again for your help hope I can get this fixed

3 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi civicsix,

Symptoms indicated are usually caused by the following:
1. Faulty PGM-FI main relay. Remove the relay and check if any of the soldered points are cracked. Resolder all the points and retest.

2. Failing ECM. Remove ECM and check for capacitor leaks. You would see stain marks similar to oxidation. If any fund and the circuit board is not damaged by shorting, replace the capacitors that are leaking and the ECM should work fine.