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1991 Acura Legend

Question: Problems with the car starting sometimes

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islandgirl, San Pablo, CA, March 10, 2009, 12:19
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 Rookie

The car will not start at times. The battery is good, and I don't think it could be the starter. The only problem I can see is that it needs a tune up or the fuel pump may be going out. It just passed smog and just had a recent oil change. Could you let me know what might the problem be and about how much does it usually cost to have the problem fixed.

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    patrick mannion from Greg Solow's Engine Room, March 10, 2009, 20:48
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    You said the car will not start at times. When the car "won't start" does it "crank over"? If the engine cranks over sufficiently fast enough the battery, starter and the part of the ignition switch that supplies power to the starter are OK.
    If the car cranks (engine spins over) then in all likely hood you have lost spark or fuel. It hard to guess with out seeing the car first hand. Your car has a computer that controls the fuel injection and ignition system, you could have a sensor that intermittently fails, you could have a fuel pump that intermittently fails.
    Your car has a main relay that is behind the left side of the dash, when cranking the engine to start the relay turns on the fuel pump, these relays fail and frequently fail intermittently. The car cranks over and fails to start, you walk away come back an hour later and the car may run for a week. It should not be too difficult to diagnose the problem "if" your mechanic can get the car in a failed state.

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  • Answer #2

    95legend March 14, 2009, 14:15
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    Sounds like a bad main relay. I had a similar problem on my G2 Legend and it would crank and crank and nothing then next time fire right up. The main relay is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and is located under the stearing column. It should be about $65 and takes about 20 minutes to replace.

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  • Answer #3

    fitzdand May 21, 2009, 19:08
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    Hello, i had the same problem, and i don't no if some has already answer this for you yet so, this is want i did, in the fuse panel in the inside of the car driver side pull the fuse marked fuel pump pull it out for about 2min check it and if ok put it back sometime that reset the computer and it worked for me. My problem accured mostly in the summer when my car sat in the sun for a long time. But i do think the fuel filter and pump will need to be replaced. Hope this help.

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