Ok, so I have a '92 accord EX. Started overheating and so I figured it's been a year, time to change thermo...did that, and wasn't the problem...thought maybe radiator because it hadn't been flushed since I've owned the car. Pulled out radiator, flushed out, and plugged everything back in. now I get no spark, plenty of fuel, and plenty of frustration. I haven't been able to fiddle with it because of raging snow storms, work, and -10F weather and below...

any idea of what it might be? before I moved it into the garage (unheated) it was running rough, acting like it was almost flooding, kinda sputtering, but otherwise normal. General advice has been that I forgot a ground somewhere, but I only undid a couple hoses and fan-related grounds. only other two things I can think of are coil and ignition module...but my mechanic says coils rarely go out, and the ignition was a possible problem from way back when I was having battery-charging problems, but turns out it was the alternator...maybe it's still a factor, and is there any semi-easy way of testing it without a reader? I'm pushing almost 200k miles on it (198k-199k) and so far most everything is stock to my knowledge as far as electrical parts go.

No idea if I solved the overheating either...lol stupid thing is being most uncooperative

 

measure your voltage across the battery and see what you get, if its low charge it and try again. Alternator must be check with the engine running and I dont thing its the problem because that battery would give enough power to run for a short time anyway. Im gonna say too check all the grounds and check all the plugs and connectors under the hood, maybe something got knocked loose you dont even know you knocked loose

 

while flushing out the cooling system, did you get the distributor wet? Did you get a lot of things wet? Did you unplug the distributor and forget to plug it back in correctly (plug wires out of order maybe also)?

Sounds like maybe you got the distributor wet on the inside and now it is not firing. Check inside the distributor and see if everything at least looks ok.

 

How did you determine it had no spark?
When you moved the car in-garage, did you notice if the wires started sweating?
When was the last time the Cap / Rotor and Ignition Wires were replaced?

I know this can be frustrating; I've seen some strange stuff which can cause this.
a) Pourous Ignition wires.
Wet soaked, they allow the electrical charge to leak thru the insulation to ground, rather than to the Spark Plugs.
b) Pourous Distributor Cap:
Damp / wet soaked it allows the electrical charge to jump to any easier ground, be it another wire, the distributor body or any of the components inside the distributor.
c) Burned thru Rotor:
Under heavy electrical demands, the electrical charge finds an easier path to ground thru the Distributor Shaft. A burn-thru spot will be apparent under the center contact.

P

 

Cap, rotor, spark plugs and wires...Try these easy things first to avoid many headaches. And listen to P ^^^

 

....also, just an after thought, how bad did it overheat? Could you have possibly blown the head gasket? This would obviously cause the car to run rough and sometimes even not start if its bad enough.

 

ok thanks for your replies guys...next day off I get I'll definately check it out, cause it'll be ALOT easier to check those than to drop the steering column.

and to answer questions, the wires weren't more than 4 months old before it started acting up...got them replaced around end of august, stopped working right around beginning nov., but the cap/rotor might be it...got my distributor replaced about 8 months ago, but at the time they were ok so I didnt' worry about it.

and masterkill, that was what happened LAST time lol right answer but already taken care of...thanks lol...I wish I would've been told that when things were going beforehand y'know?
to check spark I unplugged the wire that goes into the distributor and set a screwdriver in there...no go, so there isn't even spark TO the rotor, and we tried it several times at several different distances (just in case we got the "gap" wrong)

overheating wasn't bad persay...but it was WAY above normal. normally ran about just over a quarter on the gage normally, but this was running on the highway at just under 3/4, and when I was sitting still it'd jump up to just below hot unless I rev'd up to 3500 rpm, and it would go down for some reason. also, my fans wouldn't kick on half the time but I didn't pay much attention cause eventually they would.

when I said that I "flushed the system" I guess I should've said I just rinsed the radiator...top hose was piping hot, bottom cold, so I figured the plug was in the radiator, so no water on the cap/rotor.

Ground's certainly a possibility, but I've gone over it 3 times with various mechanic friends of mine, so unless something got jiggled loose or I just plugged something in wrong and we all missed it...

and the head gasket was brand new when I bought it, and it's definately seen it's share of abuse, but nothing leaking and it's looking good so far as I can tell, but I'll definately check again.

I'll keep you guys posted when I get a chance to look through stuff...been taking a crash course for a new job and it's been keeping me real busy. thanks for all the help!

 

Do you think the plug-up might have been due to weak coolant freezing?

 

is your head gasket bad?.......if your car kept overheating you might have blown the head gasket and lost all compression

 

possibly, but then if it IS a plug-up then it happened when it was about 55 degrees out...

I checked the rotor, cap is fine, but the rotor has a burned spot on the blade-thing...tomorrow when I get into town I'm gonna grab a new one and throw it on and see what happens...but right now gf has the working car and I got no ride lol

 

I had this same problem with my '91 a while back after changing the thermostat! Its a really simple problem, and your right it is a ground. There is a small ground that attatches to the thermostat housing with a 10mm bolt. Its really easy to miss, but aparently is a ground for the PCM. Find it and re-connect it and I guarantee you the engine will start. If you miss this ground you will get no spark whatsoever (and no injector pulsing as well i believe).

I believe the ground attatches to one of the thermostat housing bolts more near the left side of the housing itself. The ground wire should just be a black 18 guage wire with a ring at the end that will fit between the 10mm housing bolt, and the thermostat housing itself.

I wouldnt suspect your ignition components for a completely "No-kick" non-starting condition. Even with a weak ignition system you can usually get a few kicks outta the motor while cranking. Same goes for a head gasket concern. The PCM ground on the thermostat housing is most likely what you missed when you put everything back together the last time. -Check it out... its a FREE repair if im right!

-Good luck!

 

mmmm...OK...riiiiight...I wouldn't rule it out though

 

check wiring to the ecu. my car did the same exact exact thing. started to overheat, and when i got home, the car wouldnt sart and no spark. i swap distributors and still no spark! then i went to the ecu, and it turns out that one of the wires was cut.

 

ok, I feel like an idiot...now that I think about it I think I did miss that one...Ima go try it out and let you know.

thanks a bunch for bringing it to my attention! I can't believe it's something as simple as that lol

 

ok after you check all those if it dont fix it you might want to check the icm i thonk it is inside the dizzy and the r fragile to heat and rough handling

 

Making, you are a lifesaver...I remembered the wire, I just forgot to tighten the bolt all the way!! I can't believe I forgot it, but everything's fine now, and I really missed my car! so far no overheating either, but it started after about 30 miles of highway, so we'll see.

thank you so much!

 

Haha, no problem. Sometimes thats all it takes is for someone to read a post and think- hey I had that SAME problem once! Its usually always the simple things that will get ya! Your always going to get the usual posts where people respond with general answers (coils bad, bad rotor, bad head gasket- (useless lol)), but you need a response from someone who knows their car better than any other, and I know my '91 inside and out .

As far as the overheating is concerned, is there a chance you installed that new thermostat backwards? Also check to make sure your radiator fans are coming on. Turn your AC on and see if both fans come on- this will rule out the fans, connectors, fuses etc. If they do leave the AC on (so the fans stay on) and see if it overheats again. Otherwise check that thermostat, the coolant level, and bleed the air out of the cooling system (there is a bleeder screw on the top of the thermostat housing).

 

Stevens gay!!! lol jk bro i still kinda hate your car for that one.