Shehzada

My 1992 CB7 5-Speed was running fine until Tuesday. I started it up and drove it about a half mile and as I was parking it in the lot, it stalled. It cranked fine but would not fire. I opened the hood and saw my battery wasn't in the best condition. It had acid powder build-up......which caused me to wonder if that could be the reason. I always like starting with the least expensive things.....so I cleaned up the acid and the cables. No difference.

I had lots of gas but then I started wondering if my fuel pump took a dump. I wasn't hearing that 2 or 3 second hum everyone talks about. I cracked the fuel rail bolt and fuel was present plus I was smelling gas every time I cranked the engine. I knew it couldn't be my Main Relay caused I fixed it a year ago and it wasn't hot outside and I was able to actually hear the relay.

I called my brother to bring some tools and decided to look at my distributor cap since I had not changed it since I bought the car in 2005. On the inside of the cap, the center electrode (that attaches to the coil wire) was no longer protruding and had actually welded itself inside. The rotor itself also was burnt where the center electrode of the cap touches. So, at that time I thought I had a bad cap and rotor and my problem was a simple one.

I left the car in the parking lot and went home. I did some reading up and realized that many people in my situation usually had to replace the coil. I decided to go back to the car and test the coil. The coil was not putting out any spark. So, now in addition to the visibly worn cap and rotor.....I was looking at buying a coil.

The next day I went to my local parts guy and bought a new coil for $85 and also bought an ignitor for $80 (just in case). I asked the guy if I could return one or the other if I don't end up using it and he agreed. He also told me they had a lifetime warranty. Went back to the car and installed the new coil. The car still did not fire up. Now I was getting very worried.

The next day, I decided to install the ignitor. Removing the rotor turned out to be a nightmare. The old rotor broke leaving the metal shank attached. I had to gently hammer the shank out. The new rotor was having a difficult time going on......so I had to get a dremel to clean up the rust. The biggest nightmare came when I stripped the 2 screws holding the ignitor. I didn't want to remove the distributor just to remove the ignitor and it turned out to cause me more headaches. Now that I had removed the 3 distributor housing bolts.....the distributor's 8-P connector would not disconnect. I tried everything but it was almost like it was fused together. After installing the new ignitor and buttoning everything back up.........I prayed and turned the key............and GUESS WHAT? It still did not fire up.

I was now getting spark and there was fuel. I took all my plugs out and they were soaked with fuel. I decided to change them and after installing new NGK's.....it DID NOT START. At that time.....I was very frustrated......it was dark outside....I was working with a 12V light on the streets of NYC and was thinking along the lines of calling a tow truck and getting it to some mechanic.

All of a sudden......it came to my mind that I might have installed the distributor 180 off. So I took it out again and turned the shaft. Now......by the grace of GOD it fired up. The greatest feeling in the world!!!! It took me a few days.....but after testing various components and ruling out things (1 by 1) I was able to get my sick Accord back to life!