putt putt puttin

[Navy I.C.]

yesterday my wife was coming home in her 99accord and she said the car started putt-putt puttin.
i tried to start the car when i got home and it started putting and then cut off.
i checked the oil, it was about a quart low. when i filled it, i tried to start it again. the starter would turn and turn, but it wouldn't start.
i read some forums that said to check the fuel filter and egr valve. can anyone think of anything else...
can someone help me...

[Evil Result]

That surely sounds like a fuel issue to me.

The car is fuel injected so when you turn the car on check for the sound of the fuel pump- that might be the problem, or somewhere along the lines of your fuel delivery system.

[Navy I.C.]

i can hear a that humming sound for a few seconds when i turn the car on and i'm sitting in it, and i can hear a faint hum for a few seconds when i listen thru the fuel tank filling hole with the gas cap removed after i try starting it...
can you or anyone else think of anything else...

[civichatch982]

this could be a solution but I'm not too sure go ahead an pull your fuel filter off and attach an inline psi gauge on there.. it should read about 40-50 lb.s .. you may have a pressure leak somewhere. I'm not too sure if thats it though ..your pump works cause you can hear is pumping to raise the preasure up. The only things that I can think of is pressure loss, you might check the fuel lines themselves too... also you might want to put a semi transparent fuel filter on so you can see if it fills up or not. Very good way to determine if yoru getting fuel or not.

[aBieker]

Some other ideas...

If you have fuel, you could be getting a putt-putt from the ignition. Anyone who's ever had an ignition wire disconnected knows that a car running on one too few cylinders putts. Also, if your ignition wires are fine, it could be a plug, the distributor, etc.

Does your wife remember what she was doing when the car started putting? Was she in transit? Did it start putting when she started the car that time? Etc.

I just had the timing belt on my '95 Millenia skip 9 teeth when a piece of the cheap-ass timing cover got caught between the belt and the crankshaft. I took it apart, retimed it, put it all back together, and now I have a putt-putt... but only when the car is hot and under stress (i.e under hard acceleration). It COULD be a similar problem... when I figure it out I'll let you know.

[Navy I.C.]

my wife told me that she just left the gas station,
i think she put diesel fuel in the tank...
she said the nozzle was to big to fit into the filler,
and she said it started putting once she took off...
I'm going to pump the diesel fuel out and then change the filter if it has one (i think its that evaporator canister type)...
any ideas...?

[Evil Result]

Well, the two things you should check first when your having engine problems are the fuel and ignition.