2000 Honda Accord Hard Starting

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.

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?

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.

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.

You're welcome.

Keep me updated if you have any news.

Have a nice day.