I have a 1996 honda accord with about 220,000 miles. Recently it has starting cutting off about running for 15 minutes. I replaced the distributor cap and rotor but its still doing this. Any clue as to why?

I've replaced the starter, battery, timing belts, water pump and I'm trying to figure out what's next.

Any help would be greatly appreciated it.

 

The Ignition Module (Ignitor) is often the problem when the engine stops randomly with no warning and no check engine light. It is a module located inside the distributor. When it gets weak and out of spec, it might still help start the engine but can't keep it running very long. It also can cause starting trouble when the engine is stone cold on very cold days.

 

Hmm that makes very good sense because that's exactly what happened. No cel or warning the RPM just goes down and it turns off. Sometimes it'll crank right back up and sometimes it will after sitting. Is the icm hard to replace and does it take long?

 

Yeah, that's how it shuts off. It doesn't fight to hang on, it's just like you turned the ignition off from inside the car. Those module develops weak spark when it's old or damaged. When mine went bad, sometimes I could restart it while still drifting under the remaining momentum, and other times I had to drift it to any reasonably safe spot I could find and let it sit a while. It makes for dangerous driving.

The Ignitor is replaceable, individually, or as part of a new distributor. There is also a testing procedure for it that can be found in a Haynes, or other manual. It's only DIY if you're comfortable under the hood taking stuff apart and dissecting little pieces and turning screws in out of the way spots, and stuff. Basically the ignitor is stuffed down in the distributor housing and to check it you need to get the wires off of it, but you can't get to the wires without taking the ignitor out. If your car is in good tune and has no other unresolved problems, I would strongly suspect the ignitor is causing your current trouble.

 

Keep in mind, too, that Ignition switches (the thing the key goes into) can cause random shutoffs. I don't think your 96 was included in the model years that had fairly frequent failure of those, but you might try jiggling the key a bit while the engine is running and see if anything happens.

To answer your other question, the ignitor is not hard to replace if you feel good about working in the distributor. Some people have to take the distributor completely off of the engine in order to get the ignitor out of it. Sometimes replacing the whole distributor (especially if if is very old) with a good quality new one is wiser than trying to do surgery on it. The ignitor is significant portion of the cost of a new distributor, anyway.

 

Okay. This makes complete sense. I replaced the rotor, cap and o ring a couple days because the distributor was leaking a teeny amount of oil but based on what you're saying I might as well return all that stuff if it checks out that I need an ICM. I read online that I can go to auto zone or advance auto and have them check it for free.

 

Good to know. I guess the have one of those high dollar scanners that can tap into the ignition flow and check its strength. Ideally they can check it on a day when your car is acting up, which increases the chances they will see the voltage fluctuation that is very likely causing the sudden cutting off. If your computer on your Honda is OBD2, they might even be able to check it right through the diagnostic port. I'm not sure how, or if, that can be done, though. I have OBD1 on mine.

 

Oil in the distributor can rapidly destroy an ICM. It might be best to just another distributor.

 

Well yesterday I had a guy who has a machine to check the distributor check it and he said his machine doesn't show anything wrong with it. He changed my brakes and rotors and did an oil change. By the way, how long should a front brake and rotor change take? I know I took it to VALVOLINE and they couldn't bc the passenger side rotor had bolts that were stripped or something so they couldn't but I'm just curious as to how long it should take.

Thanks so much for the responses and Holmes I think you're right. That's how I'm feeling.

 

Perhaps the problem worked itself out. If your ignitor is failing, the problem will happen again and will get worse if you're in a cold climate that is getting colder as winter approaches. The real test is after it has been under load a while. Idling, it will appear to be doing its job just fine.

Brake rotors can take several hours on these cars if the rotors were pressed on in the beginning. Often, conventional methods of removing them don't work, and they have to literally be pounded off; the opposite of pressed on. Your 96 very likely has pressed on rotors. My 93 did. I drive MT and hardly even use the brakes, so I changed the rotors last year for the very first time in almost 2 decades and I couldn't get them off. It took a shop 2½ hours. The bolt that shop was talking about was very likely the one used for conventional removal methods but had broken off in some past effort to get the rotor(s) off. The pressed on ones don't pay that little bolt any mind.

 

Yeah I think the problem worked itself out bc when I put on the cap and rotor and o-ring I cleaned it up really good and I haven't seen an oil leak since. Plus, I've been driving it all evening and its been good.

You're right. The driver side came off fine but the passenger won't at all. I took it to VALVOLINE and they couldn't get it off either. Where's you go? How much was it?

 

I just found a small family-owned shop on the edge of a "bad" neighborhood. They were as nice as they could be and did the job while I waited. They had to, as carefully as possible, beat the rotors off. Their labor rates were less than any franchise name type place, and certainly lower than Honda. They also let me bring my own parts, which was the deal maker for me. I don't like paying for marked-up parts any more than I like paying ridiculous labor rates. The new brakes and rotors have been as quiet and smooth stopping as can be.

 

Well I'll see how the car reacts in the next few days. So far I feel better about it than I did previously. My next move is to get the engine cleaned really good and do other preventive maintanence.

 

The car cut off again today after 10 minutes.

 

I had this issue with my 1992 accord.
I replaced the chip in the distributor (like recommended above) and it solved the problem for a while. Then this same thing started happening.
I took it in and got the entire distributor changed and now it runs fantastic.

 

Just bite the bullet and get a new distributor or ignitor. You can get them at a good price off of ebay. Sometimes you can find these cars at the junkyard.

 

I'm just going to buy a new distributor since the ignitor and all that are one part and call it a day. I'll install it today and let you guys know what happened.

 

I tried replacing the distributor myself with a new one because I didn't have any help and figured I could do it after watching a few video tutorials online. I got everything removed and put on the new one but now the car only cranks and won't turn on. I have no clue as to why.

 

When crank is at TDC is rotor at #1 position?

 

I'm sorry but im not sure i understand what you're asking.

 

he doesn't know which shock tower the rotor points to at TDC.

 

I'll assume this is a 4 cyl.....

Me, I'd pull the spark plugs -makes it easier to spin the motor. Put a 19mm socket on the crank bolt and spin the motor - counter clockwise - and get the timing marks to TDC. Then you will see where the dist rotor is "pointing". Transfer that to the dist cap as it would be on the dist. That is #1 cyl. There should be a mark on the cap letting you know that is #1 cyl. If the timing marks are lined up and the dist rotor is not pointing to #1 cyl, you have something wrong.

#1 cyl is the cyl closest to the belts. If the rotor is pointing to #1 on the cap, be sure the "order" is correct for the wires.

 

Okay. Got a new distributor and set it up correctly with timing and spark plugs and started up but I'm going to need a new starter, spark plugs and gasket.

 

Can bad spark plugs and valve gasket kill a distributor

 

What's the problem ?