I drove my daughter's car to work today to see if the CEL would come back on from an issue in this thread. It started just fine this morning, but when I went to start it up after work, it would crank and as soon as it fired up and started, it would shut off. It did this about 12-15 times before suddenly starting up just fine. I called my daughter on my way home and asked her if it had happened to her and she said it happens all the time (nice of her to tell me this). She also said it sometimes will cut off suddenly while she is driving it and then has trouble starting again.
The only other starting issue I have observed on this car is when the fuel tank is almost empty, it takes a long time for the engine to fire up.
Any idea what the problem could be?

 

sounds like it could be the one way valve in the fuel system is letting pressure out and therefore the pump needs to prime all the way to the regulator everytime. i have seen it a couple times on other cars. as for the engine starting for a second... it might just be fuel left over in the fuel rail and then when that runs out the engine kills ignition due to low fuel pressure at the regulator. rent a fuel pressure gauge and hook it up per instructions. try priming the car by just turning the key all the way to ON (right before it turns over) then off then on then off a few times. make sure u can hear the fuel pump working. once u get the gauge to show the right pressure shut it off and leave it for a while. the pressure should stay steady when the car is off. if its slowly dropping the check valve could be to blame (usually in the gas tank).

are you getting any CEL codes?

 

Thanks for your response. The CEL isn't on at the moment. I called a local Honda specialist and he suggested an ignition switch problem may be the culprit. He mentioned a couple of things to look for next time it happens. In the meantime, I re-soldered all the connections on the main relay to eliminate that as the culprit. I think I will drive it a few more days to see how it acts after the solder job.

 

yeah i know someone with a accord that had similiar problems. if he bumped the column or key just right his car would die. maybe a voltmeter and take the column apart.

 

When it cuts off, don't touch the key until you observe if the oil and battery lights on the dash have come on (which they should anytime the key is on but engine not running). If they don't it's almost certainly a bad ignition switch.