I was wondering if anyone had a similar problem as this one. Basically when I crank the engine over its starts really rough, but after its started everything is fine. Does anyone know what might be causing this? Thanks.

 

Is the CEL ON? Try cleaning the IACV:

http://www.superhonda.com/forum/f94/...r-iacv-144463/

 

No everything is normal after the car is started. I'll look into cleaning the IACV, thanks for that. Its not an idle problem however, but it wont hurt to clean it. I cleaned the throttle body when I purchased the car a couple months ago. I didn't clean the IACV though, maybe this will fix my rough start problems.

 

By rough you mean low rpms or high rpms? if its cold outside its normal for the engine to be revving higher

 

If cleaning the IACV doesn't solve the problem, then you may want to test whether your fuel pressure is at specification and whether your spark plug wires, distributor cap, rotor or MAP sensor is faulty.

 

I just got finished cleaning the IACV. It was pretty dirty. I also swabbed out the ports into the IM. I got a nice black oily resin..

The roughness I was referring to only occurs on the first starting strokes of the engine. Also it only does it when the engine is cold. I will have to check it out tomorrow when the engine is cold again.

I also noticed my valve cover has a slight leak too. Never buy the "non-hardening" gasket sealer from Kragen, it's ****. It hardens even though it says non-hardening, and results in a leaky gasket. Anyone have a good brand gasket sealant they use?

 

All possibilities I mentioned are candidates for hard/rough starting problems without a CEL.

 

Ok time for some new wires and a distrib cap + rotor. Cleaning the IACV didn't solve the problem. This engine has 157k on it. I bought the car at 156k. I don't think the old owner did anything to her other then change the oil.

 

Also check whether any of the plugs are fouled.

 

Could this be a result of air in my coolant system? My Civic doesn't have a bleeder valve and I can hear the air bubbles in the heater tubes when I start the car up. I've read I need to park the car up on a slant so that the radiator is the highest point on the vehicle. Is there no other way to bleed the system? What a PITA!