okay all, well this is my first post, so please be gentle and help me, if you can. I have an 89 Honda Civic Si that I bought new 21 years ago, and this little lady is still going after 173,000 miles. She has some rust now, but that is not my concern. Over the past month or 2, I have been unable to start it right away some times. This usually happens, when I have been doing city driving or short hops between start and stops.

So, I got the fuel injector cleaned out the other day, replaced spark plugs, got an oil change, and added SEAFOAM into the tank, as I think there is a crack in the gas tank. I have been smelling fuel since last fall when someone side-swiped me in a parking lot. So, I think that there is a crack in the tank (possible right since I smell fuel daily when driving) and maybe moisture has gotten in.??? But wouldn't this SEAFOAM stuff help? I added it about 400 miles ago, and now it appears that it is not helping much, if at all.

Almost immediately after I added the SEAFOAM (recommended by a mechanic, btw) I noticed that the car idles fine now but when I am really gunning it, I have no problem. But when I am driving at highway speeds or anywhere between RPM of 2,000 to almost 4,000; it is a REALLY ROUGH RIDE. It is as if it is really hesitating and not wanting to be a smooth ride, but jumpy, even at cruise.

Any suggestions here? I just replaced the spark plugs and the igntion wireset (spark plug wires) this week also trying to see if that would help narrow down the problem. But today, I got to the mini mart to get something, and when I got back out to leave 4 minutes later, the car wouldn't start, and I had to wait a few minutes. Ughh!

So what suggestions do you have? Please!

Thanks in advance,
bubbadirect

 

I would say its bad gas. Or it could be a cloged Fuel filter if your car has one..

 

Have you inspected the distributor cap and rotor? If the contact points on either are worn or corroded, replace them both.

Any CEL codes (see diagram below)?

You must fix the fuel leak ASAP as it is a safety hazard. Have you yet pinpointed the location of the fuel leak? If not, do so and then post pictures of where you believe the fuel is leaking.

Also download the 88 and 91 Civic service manuals at site 1 and 2 in my signature.

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Checking for CEL codes:

 

Thank you for the replies so far! I have no CEL codes to deal with, as this light has yet to come on at all. So I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

 

RONJ and civclxcrab--Do any of these manuals that I can download show what and where the Fuel filter is? Distributor cap and rotor? I think I know where the DC is though. Is it easy to check and replace? Also the fuel filter?

 

Have you ever changed the stater? The starter may be heating up and then needs to cool down before starting again. But i agree with others, sounds more like a fuel pump.

One thing you might try is popping your clutch next time it wont start. If it starts then i think that would scratch some things out.

 

Well I just noticed that the charcoal canister was not hanging up on the bracket that was supposed to be holding it up, and that some of the hoses were bent over. Could this be some of it? I couldn't explore more this morning as I had to go to church.

 

I think you need to take it to a HONDA dealer and just get them do to a simple inspection
and i said Honda Dealer not some random shop its worth fixing up they just dont make them like they use to
just dont let them bully you around and tell you that it needs $ a couple grand to fix up $

 

Car cranks but doesn't start in warm conditions is the classic main relay problem. While you are trying to start, note if the CEL stays on. It should not -- it should come on when you turn the key to II then go out when you start to crank. If it does, probably need to resolder or replace the relay. But that won't help your hesitation / misfiring.

 

Thank you all for the replies! I am gonna take a good hard look and replace the distributor cap AND fuel filter. I think that either would cause the hesitation and/or roughness at steady speeds like it is doing now.

What do you think?