92 accord ex-r in great shape, original owner:

Problem is: no start 2 weeks ago, tow home and starts immediately

Today it stalls when driving and then no start, tow home starts immediately.
All lights stayed on, so it's probably not the ignition circuit

All maintenance is up to date, I checked and the cap, rotor, and plugs are fine. Cleaned them all for good measure

The main relay was replaced a few years ago and after the first incident I resolderd it for good measure. The ignition coil was replaced about 8yrs ago. Unfortunately, I can't troubleshoot it because when I bring the car home, it started right up.

Is there anything that fails intermittently that could cause this, I don't want it to happen again, I was stranded. Fuel pump, ignitor? Please help

 

ignitor or main relay most likely

www.techauto.awardspace.com if you want to test them

 

Yup I checked that website, both the ignitor and coil check ok.
Also the ignitor is made by NEC, has anyone had an NEC ignitor fail?
Anything else I should check?

 

Also, can the ignitor be changed or do I have to remove the distributor, a few of the screws look hard to access

 

Yes, the ignitor can fail. Happens a lot. NEC is often the original ignitor or possibly a replacement. The original ignitor in my car (replaced years ago) was a NEC. Note that the ignitor in these Hondas will "check out" fully functional and then cause stalling later when the spark they produce drops during driving. Twenty minutes later, it will check out fine again. Ideally, if you could leave the ignition on, even after the engine has stalled, and immediately check the ignitor, you could measure the weak spark that caused the stall. Two years ago, I let mine run until it stalled, then pulled the coil wire and carefully arced the spark (dangerous, try at your own risk) and was able to see the orange-ish, blueish spark that caused the stalling. The spark that keeps ignition going is white hot.

The ignitor is in the distributor. Some dissecting is needed to get it out and install replacement. Probably easier to replace the distributor with a quality OEM. Either way, the ignitor is a part that gets extremely hot during operation, so there needs to be a coating of dielectric great on the underside of it to keep it from cooking the surface it's mounted to and to protect the ignitor itself. If you have a tired old ignitor in your Honda, replace it. It will save you a lot of frustration.

 

Glad you mentioned this. Not hearing any responses and not wanting to get stranded againg: Yesterday I took the proactive step and ordered an Ignitor, the Honda dealer had it for me by 3pm. I installed the new Ignitor and Distributor o-ring last night and I'm glad I did because the o-ring was rock hard and fell to pieces. The car only has 215,000km so I was surprised. It was causing some oil to leak below the distributor. The Ignitor was only $130, I thought they were more expensive. It is no longer made by NEC, it wasn't a company I've heard of before but it is still Made in Japan.

It wasn't too difficult to install and the distributor is easy to remove just make sure you mark the top bolt for proper ignition timing. I didn't have dielectric grease but I used a bit of Copper anti-sieze because I know copper is a good conductor of heat. The original ignitor did not have any grease on the underside. I also lubricated the distributor bearing for good measure.

Thanks

 

well you said you tested the ignitor and it passed so I'm kinda surprised you replaced it before replacing or atleast testing the main relay...however hopefully that fixes your problem