Hey folks, I've been meaning to post on here before now about my Accord and how great it is as a project car. However it's now having mechanical issues and I'm looking for some guidance.

Bought the car 6 months ago, and trying to be proactive I had all the major fluids replaced, new tires put on, etc. The previous owner blew the engine during what I now believe was a street race, and his parents (kid was 16) paid to have another F22A1 installed. replacement engine supposedly has 50-60k miles on it, but who really knows. Odometer reads 298,000 miles, which has made me keep an eye on what needs to be replaced, and I've tried to make up for previous owners lack of maintenance. Battery was replaced about a month ago when it died on me, and I'd been eyeing the transmission unit for replacement.

Anyway, about three weeks ago I was backing out of my parking spot and the car just died on me. Now there was an outstanding issue with my Transmission Control Unit, and I'd already ordered a new one, so I assumed this was the cause. Tried putting it in park and restarting, but that didn't work. Ran over to the wife's car, thinking the battery had died again, and tried jumpstarting with her Corolla...no dice.

At this point I had to rush to work, so I left it halfway sticking out of my parking space and hoped it would magically fix itself before I came back home. Alas, the Honda Gods must have been busy because my car still didn't start when I came home that afternoon. Tried looking around on here and a few other forums, and after consulting my mechanic neighbor briefly, decided to buy a replacement starter and fuel filter online. Last weekend I installed both, and "voila!", Accord still didn't start. On top of it, when taking the old starter into the autoparts store for testing, the guy said it worked just fine! He proceeded to walk me through a diagnosis which involves checking the timing belt, and a few other things. Tried to get the timing belt cover off, but that didn't happen.

Much appreciation to anyone who reads all of this. I'm a novice car guy, and this is the first car I've had that I could reach into the hood and do anything with. Previous vehicle was a giant GM conversion van, and changing a battery on that thing made you hate engineers. It goes without saying I'm willing to answer any and all questions if it helps me fix this car.

 

When you turn the key to start....does the starter spin the engine - Yes/No? Sorry I'm not sure by your post....but I'm old and slow.

Do you have a volt meter or test light?

 

Yes, it does spin the engine. From what I can hear, the engine turns once, or maybe just a half turn, and then dies. If I try to crank it two or three times in a row the starter screeches like it would if you turned it after successfully cranking the car. Oddly enough, it didn't do this before I replaced the starter. Old starter - no engine turnover. New starter - engine seems to turn once. I meant to add this to the first post, but halfway through I lost track, sorry.

No volt meter or test light, but I'm thinking about getting one to check the strength of the battery.

 

Ok, this "sounds" like a battery connection, battery issue. Clean and recheck the battery connections.

Simple volt meters can be "had" for less than $10 - and IMHO. is one of the best $10 investments you can make...if you want to DIY.

 

If the engine doesn't actually turn on then it's not dying, it's just not starting. There is a difference. It's important when you're getting help from an online forum where people are solely going by your word to be as clear and concise as possible or you're going to get bad advice. If the engine isn't trying to start at all but the motor is turning, your fuel pump could be bad. You might want to listen for the main relay under the dash to click to see if the fuel pump is turning on or not. You can also do a dirty fuel pressure test. Just do a youtube search for "eric the car guy dirty fuel pressure test" and you should get a vid on how to do a kinda basic fuel pressure test.