2000 Honda Accord Hard Starting

GSC83

MEMBER
2000 HONDA ACCORD
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
160,000 MILES

My Honda Accord has been starting hard. It is cranking excessively before firing up. The check engine light came on, so I took it to a local mechanic, who pulled the code p1607, a PCM failure. The car runs, shifts and idles normally, which makes me doubt the accuracy of the diagnostic. I did a quickie repair on a ground with electrical tape several months ago, and I am curious whether this may interfere with the diagnostic. I would like to find out some possible causes for the starting trouble. Thanks.

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 AT 9:54 PM

5 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Have the fuel pressure checked. Quite often pressure leaks from the intank fuel filter causes difficult starting.

Erase the trouble codes and retest. If P1607 returns, it is a fault with the PCM which could be the cause of the difficult starting.

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Thursday, January 27th, 2011 AT 2:45 PM

GSC83

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thanks for for the reply. Wouldn't an irregularity in fuel pressure affect the engines overall performance, i.E rough idling etc? I cleaned up the battery connections today and was able to clear the codes, and the vehicle started up perfectly. But, when I started the car again later the CEL was back and the engine was having trouble starting again. Very strange. Do you think a bad electrical connection or corrosion inside a battery cable could be causing an inaccurate code?

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Thursday, January 27th, 2011 AT 8:25 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

No, loose cables would not cause the problems described. When the battery is disconnected, the PCM loses its memory and when restarted, the PCM does not detect anything and woulsd run well but when the problem of the bad PCM is detected the CEL would come on and the difficult starting would occur.

If you remove the PCcover, you might notice some stains due yo leaking capacitors and that would cause PCM errors.

When fuel pressure is low due to internal leakages, it would affect initial starting but when pressure is achieved, starting and running would not be affected much as the pump is running at a very high pressure and it can overcome the leakes of the fuel filter housing as it is minimal.

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Friday, January 28th, 2011 AT 12:22 PM

GSC83

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Interesting. I just spoke with another mechanic who essentially said the same thing. He suspects that the PCM may have some moisture contamination or leaking capacitors, like you said. Thanks for your input.

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Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 AT 8:39 PM

KHLOW2008