my 98 accord v6 distributor type will start up when it wants to. the last couple of times i noticed smoke coming out of the intake box. yes its all stock. daily driver car. it had a after market alarm with remote start. i figured it had something to do with it so i took it to the dealer and they removed it. they did a full tune up, changed crank sensors cam sensors a few things and no help.
wondering what the problem. is ...

 

Take it back to the dealer and say throwing parts at it did not correct. Please fix properly this time at a reduced cost.

If there is a light backfire or ign system issues you can get some smoke coming back through the intake. I don't know the V6 engines on those too well or I would have a better guess, but ign system sounds like the right direction.

 

When it doesn't start up it can only be a few things. Spark, fuel, timing, or compression. Im guessing timing and compression are ok so you are looking at spark or fuel most likely. If you can test for feul pressure and spark when it won't start then you can get started in the right direction.