Thanks in advance for your opinions...

My Car: 92 accord LX, 201,000 miles, 5sp

(Background: on July 1, at work I machined a new bracket for my cigarette adapter. When replacing the wires, aparently something was wrong...later after using the adapter, smoke came from the dash and my gauges went out. It melted the cigarette lighter wire all the way back to the harness. The circuit that controls my interior lights, radio, and cig adapter is shorted out and will not accept fuses--just keeps blowing them immediately. However, the car ran like a champ until August 2 when she stopped running)

I searched through this message boards and others online to try and resolve the issue with my 92 accord, but I have yet to find anything like my problem. I was driving one day, and it simply stalled and refused to start again. I checked for fuel and spark first. I was getting fuel to the motor, the pump was working fine. The problem I encountered was no spark coming from the coil. First thing: replaced the coil. This did not solve the problem.

I had read about the notorious main relay solder points going bad. I looked at the solder on the circuit board, but all looked good. I tested it by applying voltage to the specified points and then checking for continuity between other points. My relay passed this test. I then check the wire harness that plugs into the main relay, and this also passed the test by showing the correct voltages on a voltmeter.

I called the Honda dealership that changed my timing belt in May and got their opinions. They suggested a new Ignition module, so I went out and bought one of those as well. Put the module in, and still I am not getting any spark out of the coil.

One thing I did notice was that I watched the rotor spin with the cap off the distributor, and it was moving very slow. On my other vehicles, the rotor typically spins faster than what I was seeing. A question I have: is it common for hondas to have slow rotating distributor rotors?

Any help you could offer would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

QUOTE:
"One thing I did notice was that I watched the rotor spin with the cap off the distributor, and it was moving very slow. On my other vehicles, the rotor typically spins faster than what I was seeing. A question I have: is it common for hondas to have slow rotating distributor rotors?"

The distributor can turn at only one speed; 1/2 the rotational speed of the crankshaft (universal value for ALL 4 cycle engines).
The only reason for it to appear slower, would be if the engine (itself) turned over slower.

With regards to this failure:
QUOTE:
"(Background: on July 1, at work I machined a new bracket for my cigarette adapter. When replacing the wires, aparently something was wrong...later after using the adapter, smoke came from the dash and my gauges went out. It melted the cigarette lighter wire all the way back to the harness. The circuit that controls my interior lights, radio, and cig adapter is shorted out and will not accept fuses--just keeps blowing them immediately. However, the car ran like a champ until August 2 when she stopped running)"

What has happened is that the cigarette lighter power feed wire has burned, not only the length that you can see, but (more than likely) all the way back to the effected fusebox. I also suspect that it has also damaged several adjacent wires which also ran thru that same loom (as evidenced by the direct short (blows fuses) every time you incert a fuse.

Any repairs you effect will (at the minimum) require removing the ENTIRE wire harness and either
1) open up the loom wrap and repair every wire in there or
2) replace the entire loom.
or
Get out the best wiring harness diagram you can find and start running wires individually, duplicating every splice, every connector and every terminal

Good luck!!

P





Modified by P_Adams at 5:25 AM 8/12/2005

 

I understand now about the distributor turning slow...the starter is only turning the motor slowly, so it makes sense for the rotor to also be moving slow.

But about the wires melting together and shorting out....I suppose it makes sense for that to happen; it is a logical thought. I just have trouble believing that it could be melted wires, due to the fact that it ran fine for a month before the shut down. Why did it take so long to die? Shouldn't it have happened immediately?

 

The hidious thing about electrical fires is not only how fast they can damage things but also the additional damage thay can cause. When that wire shorted, it generated heat high enough to make the conductor glow yellow, and melt not only the insulation in that wire, but many of those in the same loom.
At the beginning, they may have (although damaged) avoided contacting each other, but over time vibration could have caused movement. This could have caused additional damage to wires and components as voltage went places it wasn't supposed to.