1998 Accord Won't Start - Why you should RTM

My friend brought his car over because he was having problems where it sometimes wouldn't start. I said I'd take a look at it and didn't see anything obviously wrong. The OBD-II scanner didn't show anything wrong either. So I told him to just wait until it wouldn't start again and then we'll troubleshoot it.

It didn't take more than a couple days before he said it wasn't starting again. He tested for spark in that wasn't the problem. I then told him to open the throttle about 1/4 of the way and crank it for about five seconds, then smell the exhaust. He didn't smell any gasoline. Starting fluid helped for a bit.

I had him get down by the fuel tank and have someone turn the key to the on position. He heard the fuel pump run for a couple seconds. Check.

Our task was to find why the fuel injectors weren't firing. I had my OBD-II scanner plugged in, but it wasn't talking to the computer. I didn't see any relays labeled for ECU or PCM or the like. No fuses were blown.  I couldn't figure out why the engine computer wasn't powering on. I was turning the key off and on, watching the LEDs on the OBD-II adapter and saw no signs of communication.

It was then that I noticed a little green light on the dashboard shaped like a key. When I turned the key to on, the light went on, then started flashing. "Hey, do you have a spare key for this thing?" I put the other key in and turned the key to the on position. The light came on, then went out and stayed out. "Hey, put that air intake back together under the hood." It fired right up.

And that's why you should read the owner's manual.

Picture credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpG3Sazz3GA