Solenoid valve having trouble starting

ANSWER : Hello. Thank you for writing in. There are several reasons your vehicle may only start when jump starting. The first and most common is a build up of resistance that is causing you to need a boost of voltage to get the engine started. This may be due to poor battery cables, a bad ground connection, a poor starter solenoid, and a couple of other issues. The first thing you want to do is perform a visual inspection of the starting system. Make sure there is no corrosion build up in the battery cables. You can also check the resistance across these wires and make sure you have a solid connection between components. You then want to make sure the starter solenoid is doing its job. It is responsible for taking the small amount of electricity sent by the ignition and turning it into a huge electrical charge that is strong enough to push over the engine with the help of some gear ratios in its favor. Do some more testing, and stick to the basics before assuming its something seriously complicated.

ANSWER : Hi there. There could be two problems here. It is possible that your battery is bad and will not take a charge from your alternator while driving. In that case every time you shut your car off you will not have enough juice to start it again. Inspect your battery – it should have at least 12.5 to 13 volts to start your car, if it doesn’t you will need to replace the battery. The second problem could be that your alternator is bad and not charging your battery, in this case you will need to replace your alternator. Both the battery and the alternator can be tested in your car. If you would like to have the car checked for you, a certified professional from YourMechanic can come to your car’s location to diagnose the starting problem and proceed with repairs.

ANSWER : Hey there thanks for writing in about your 1998 Honda Accord. This could be a few things. A faulty ignition switch, a failing crank sensor, or possibly other faulty sensors could be the cause. To have this taken care of, consider having a certified technician, such as one from YourMechanic, come to your car’s location to diagnose and repair the hard start issue.

ANSWER : Hi There,
The idle air control valve is a small valve on the engine’s intake system that reads the air intake as it comes into the motor. This is controlled by the car’s ECM which uses this information to make adjustments to the air/fuel ratio depending on various inputs such as outside air temperature, intake air temperature, load and various other things. As you accelerate, your car’s engine is receiving a much higher dose of fuel than when at idle and conversely, when you let off the gas pedal, there is a sudden change in this fuel supply as a result of your foot letting off the pedal. When this happens, the job of the idle air control valve is to bring this deceleration down to a slow and smooth idle rather than suddenly cutting off the fuel supply causing the motor to die. When the idle air control valve is not working properly, this cause a disruption in this process resulting in the engine not being able to idle properly. I would recommend having a professional come to your location to diagnose and inspect your vehicle.

ANSWER : Hello. Cleaning the throttle body and idle valve may have been needed, but the intermittent starting and dying symptom can be the camshaft and crankshaft sensors. These are the codes P0335 and P0340. The code P0446 can be from the purge control solenoid malfunction but would recommend the other sensors repaired first. The code P0171 is the system running lean and can be from a vacuum leak or from the dirty throttle body and idle valve sticking (you may have fixed this code). If you want to have this problem scoped out more thoroughly, a certified technician from YourMechanic can come to your home or office to diagnose the starting issue and pinpoint what needs repair.

ANSWER : This vehicle has a smaller separate relay in the dash panel fuse box that controls the bigger relay on the starter. The starter uses the big relay to get the starter moving. If the starter stays engaged after the vehicle starts or you hear a loud noise from the starter gear reduction then your starter may need to be replaced. I have seen weak batteries cause the starter to not work properly and a new battery fixed the issue. I recommend having a mechanic, such as one from YourMechanic, come and diagnose this problem for you.

ANSWER : It sounds like your starting issues may be linked to a problem with air metering or fuel delivery. A clogged or malfunctioning idle air control valve may show some of the same symptoms you are describing. The idle air control valve can be stuck in a cold start position which may work well if the car has been sitting a few hours, but as the engine warms up there must be a regulation in airflow. Consider hiring an experienced technician like one from YourMechanic who can come out for a closer look at your hard start situation and offer a more personal diagnosis.

ANSWER : As you may know, this issue is commonly related to the evaporative emissions (EVAP) system which is comprised of a few components, one of which you have already addressed, the purge valve. In some cases, when you have an air leak in the EVAP system, then the manifold absolute pressure (MAP) sensor will not be able to determine the air density, and the mass airflow (MAF) sensor will not be able to correctly determine the volume of air entering the engine. This will lead to an over-fueling or under-fueling situation depending on the size of the air leak and the engine’s operating speeds and load. This could eventually lead to destroying the catalytic converter as well. I would recommend having an expert technician, such as one from YourMechanic, take a look at your car to diagnose your starting and stalling problems.