How long before attempting restart after flooding engine?

[DaraSue]

Pretty sure it flooded because I pumped the gas too hard/too many times after the first unsuccessful start, so I guess I'm trying to figure out why it didn't start on the first try? It's taken a couple tries to start occasionally in the past and I want to say it hasn't been first thing in the morning but I'm not 100% sure. I do generally let it sit for either less than 2 hours or more than 8 because if I'm stopping it's usually either a rest stop, work, or home/hotel for the night. But there have been a couple times I took it out halfway through my shift and I kind of think some of the incidents may have been on those occasions but maybe I'm misremembering. It hasn't happened consistently enough to really pin down.

I did have a similar issue in my CRX during cold, wet weather and that went away after I stopped pumping the gas before starting after the first start of the day and/or started putting Heet in it during the winter, but that's carbureted so not sure the root cause would be the same.

Edit: poking around the blue and gray plugs this morning, I did notice that they wiggled a bit when attached. Is that normal?

[DMCVegas]

Nope. This is fuel injection. Even more to the point, mechanical fuel injection. Pumping the gas pedal when the car is at rest doesn't do anything. All that happens is the throttle plates move, and nothing else. The reason is that fuel delivery is based upon airflow into the engine. Which cannot occur unless the pistons are actively moving to create a vacuum. So pressing the pedal does nothing.

This bears repeating: You did not flood your engine because you cannot flood your engine.

Now because of that metering via airflow, the Owner's Manual does state that you are supposed to press and hold the gas pedal down ¼ of the way before and during cranking. That allows extra air and fuel in to start the vehicle. Now your CRX may look like it has similar symptoms, but it is definitely not the same problem. Your Honda has a carburetor.

Some people will tell you NOT to touch the gas pedal. That is fine on EFI systems that use electronics rather than mechanical components to meter fuel being delivered. But again, this is mechanical fuel injection. So hold that gas pedal down while cranking, and do it without worry.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Nope. This is fuel injection. Even more to the point, mechanical fuel injection. Pumping the gas pedal when the car is at rest doesn't do anything. All that happens is the throttle plates move, and nothing else. The reason is that fuel delivery is based upon airflow into the engine. Which cannot occur unless the pistons are actively moving to create a vacuum. So pressing the pedal does nothing.

This bears repeating: You did not flood your engine because you cannot flood your engine..

+1
Only a carb with an accelerator pump will flood the engine with constant pumping.

I never touch the throttle on my D when I start it.

One other thing holding the throttle a little will do is enable vacuum advance if the engine is already warmed up. Not that I think that will make much difference when starting.

[David T]

If you are having a hard time starting the car when it is cold it is not because you flooded it, it is because it is too LEAN! Try the plug swap and if it starts right up you need to fix the cold start valve system. If the problem is occurring when hot and starts up when you do the plug swap it is because you aren't holding rest pressure, probably a bad accumulator.

[DaraSue]

I'm at DMCCA getting the accumulator checked right now before I hit the road. I hadn't been doing the 1/4 gas pedal thing on startup consistently but I had noticed the other times this happened, it would start up when I tried giving it some gas so maybe I was accidentally doing what I was supposed to...

[DaraSue]

They ran it a little and checked it out and he didn't find anything obviously wrong. He said if it keeps happening I should consider replacing the injectors. FWIW, it started up just fine this morning. The adventure continues...

[DMCVegas]

One other thing holding the throttle a little will do is enable vacuum advance if the engine is already warmed up. Not that I think that will make much difference when starting.

Take a look at this, on page 14.
https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/au...n/ownmanr1.pdf

Then take a look at these instructions as well:
http://volvo.custhelp.com/app/manual...ual/om_id/1656

And page 14 here as well:
http://www.w-124.info/w124/!!%20Merc...s%20Manual.pdf

It's universally recommended on all cars with K-Jetronic to press the pedal down during engine cranking. Although it appears that as time went on BOSCH began having manufacturers refine the engine starting procedures with K-Jetronic. They continue to recommend pressing the pedal, and even farther down. BUT, they then revise things to only do it on subsequent cranks when the car will not start. Which may have been the way to cope with starting issues without the use of the HSR. If you're running one of your own units, that would explain why you don't have the same starting problems.

In any case, it does make sense. Pressing the pedal down would apply greater line pressure to the injectors to purge them that much faster to get the car running. In the case as well that the CSV sprayed too much fuel during a prolonged cranking, giving the engine more air would help to counter that. Most of all though, holding down the pedal would cause a spike in RPMs. Increased RPMs would keep the engine going for a longer period of time, and extend the recovery time of a fuel system that needs to purge air out of itself to run properly.

They ran it a little and checked it out and he didn't find anything obviously wrong. He said if it keeps happening I should consider replacing the injectors. FWIW, it started up just fine this morning. The adventure continues...

Unless your injectors fail testing (Spray Pattern, Minimal Cracking PSI, Flow Rate, and/or Leak Down), there is no need to replace them. What kind of tests did they perform on your car?

[DaraSue]

Unless your injectors fail testing (Spray Pattern, Minimal Cracking PSI, Flow Rate, and/or Leak Down), there is no need to replace them. What kind of tests did they perform on your car?

I can't remember what it was called or if he specifically told me, but I saw he had a meter with some lines hooked up to the engine on the driver's side.

It ran fine on the drive from Huntington Beach to Vegas yesterday, but I didn't make any stops longer than 20 minutes. I'll try to be more fastidious about noting the conditions if it happens again.

[DMCVegas]

Did it look something like this:

[DaraSue]

Did it look something like this:

Yeah, I think so.