I recently had an ignition control unit (ICU, also referred to as an igniter) fail in a 92 Accord, but the symptoms were different than the common ones I could find on this forum, so I thought they are worth passing on. The symptoms were simple - at times the car would not start, or was difficult to start, when cold. Eventually I could get the car to start, but only after cranking for long periods (10-15 seconds at a time) for several times. Sometimes I would let the car sit until the next day after a failed series of attempts and then it would start. But at other times it would start right up when cold. The problem was intermittent. The confusing point though, was once the car started, it ran just fine, and it would always start when warm. It never once stalled or failed to start once warmed up. This is counter to the symptoms of most ICU failures I could find, which occur when the engine is warm.

I live in the Seattle area, and this has been occurring during the winter, so warm air temperatures are not the issue. Without getting into details, I believe the culprit may not have been temperature, but moisture (not leaking into the distributor, but simple condensation).

Anyway, a new ICU solved the problem. Somewhere, someone else had similar symptoms but I couldn't find the post again. His explanation was that the ICU would not work when cold, but the electrical current from simply cranking the engine warms up the ICU enough so it will work. I suppose that could make sense but I'm not familiar enough with how they work to know if it's legit.

Hope this helps someone.