cas951

All,

I know this should be in OT. But I need some help troubleshooting a 1993 Honda Accord EX.
Here's the symptoms. Perioidicall while driving the engine will just turn off. Cranks but no start. Problem is everytime this happens my daughter is always on the road. By the time a tow truck brings it home the car starts right up. It's happened during the summer and recently in February happened twice. It's happened at least 5 times during the last year. Each times after a few hrs or a day it would start right up with no problems. The first time it happened I replaced these since I can't troubleshoot it when it's at home because it starts right up after a few hrs or 2 days at the most. So I've been guessing.

1st incident I replaced:
Spark Plugs,Dist Cap, Rotor, Plug wires.

2nd incident: Main relay switch

3rd: Fuel Pump, Fuel strainer, Fuel filter

4th: Ignition coil

The problem is it never happens at home. Only away from home. I have it towed home it starts right up after the tow truck drops it off. Any of you ever experienced this with a Honda Accord? ABout the only this I haven't replaced is the Distributor.

jim944s2

I would suspect a bad connection. Get some electrical cleaner spray, and clean every connector you can find (while making sure they're tight.

sillbeer

check to see if its getting spark while in its non start mode, (if you can). Could be an ignitor, or an ignition switch.

kevincnc

I had a '93 Mazda work truck that did the same thing . After two tries the dealer replaced the distributor. Either that fixed it, or they found a connection that failed when hot and threw in a distributor just in case...

F18Rep

Same problem on a toyota celica of that vintage... turned out to be a inductor pickup (sold as part of the distributor). PS... 93 Accord was the best of all Hondas - in humble opinion.

cas951

Thanks Guys, The ignitor is my next item to replace. The biggest problem I have is the darn thing starts right up when I'm ready to troubleshoot. Right now it won't start but I'm at work and no time to troubleshoot it till later today or this weekend.

xsboost90

not sure, but on alot of GM cars they have coil packs, and under them sits an ignition condensor module. This usually goes bad, then when it gets hot itll shut down ignition and quit. When it cools, itll work again until reheated and shut off once again. Check and see if it has an ignition module similar.

cas951

Thanks Dan. I think you hit it on the spot. It does have similar ignition modules. I've done a lot of google search and a lot of it point to that. So that is my next test once I get off work.

nickg

honda's are pretty famous for having bad distributers...that is where the module is

ilikemy944

I had a 88 civic (probably not even close) but the TPS would randomly do this to me...

badcoupe

It's def the distributor we see it all the time here at my shop. You can replace just the ignitor but if it's got alot of miles I'd replace the whole thing.

cas951

Thanks badcoupe. I'll take your advise.

jaje

i had an 88 crx with 315k miles on it and the main relay would cause this problem (gets warm and the connections would detach due to current running through them...some solder and all was fixed)...but looks like you already trouble shot that area...i did a swap into it later in its life and somehow fried a wire to the ecu which took me several weeks to troubleshoot

was the car throwing any codes (pull up the carpet under the floor mat to see the ecu and look through the peep window for a flashing red light)?

other then than it could be a distributor problem which is difficult to troubleshoot

MM951

You know, I have a 92 Accord DX that doesnt start. Snapped a t-belt a year ago and finally got around to putting it back together. Got spark (but only on 2 cylinders...weird) fuel and air, but no start!!! Think its the same problem?

cas951

I finally got a chance to troubleshoot the car today. Luckily this time the problem still existed. Usually the car starts right up after 1 day or so. It turns out it was the igniter. Rather than replacing only the igniter I decided to change the whole distributor as Badcoupe suggested.

Thanks all for the tips. This is what makes the Rennlist community great.

BTW: Also managed to do some wrneching on the P-car today. Finally put on a MAF.

Efren