Expert: Jeb S. Orr - 11/2/2002

Question
If I get in my car and drive a couple of blocks to go to the store, when I get back in the car, it will not crank.  But if I will wait about 10 minutes, it will crank up. Any ideas what the problem could be.  Also, when I turn on my car after it has been sitting for a while, the RPM's crank up real high, sometimes going up and down until the car warms up. This is a 5 speed car.  Can you help me out?

Answer
Well, the first question seems to be a result of the main relay. These have been known to cause hot-start problems around the time your car was manufactured and the problem probably can be corrected simply by replacing this part which can be bought at a Honda dealer for about $50.

Secondly, what you describe is normal behavior as the car should rev up to about 2-2.5k rpm's when cold, until the coolant temp comes up and the computer slows the idle down to about 650-750 rpms. If the engine is running much faster than that while cold, I would have a Honda mechanic inspect your idle air control valve. This controls the idle speed and sometimes opens more than necessary, causing the car to idle fast.

--Jeb