I have a 1990 Honda Accord EX
When it is cold, it starts up and runs fine. No CEL
The motor revs up to 6,000 RPM and more.
After about 10 minutes, it heats up and the Check Engine Light (CEL) comes on.
With the CEL on, the car won't Rev above 4,000 , I think this is called Limp Mode.
I shorted out the blue connector in the passenger kick panel, and tried to read the code in the Dash.
I looks like a 4 to me, 4 flashes of the CEL.
I looked up the code and it says “Code 4 Crank position sensor”
I called AutoZone, and the Honda Dealer, and they both said that the 1990 Honda Accord EX doesn't have a Crank position sensor.

Is there another way to read diagnostic codes on this old car?
I'm afraid that I may be reading the wrong code.
Any ideas?

 

It has a crank sensor and it's inside the distributor. You could buy some electronics cleaner and take off the cap and spray the crap out of it and let it sit for a bit to air out. Then see if that fixes it. If there is red dust inside your distributor then the bearing is going bad and will need to be replaced or you will need another distributor.

 

You must be reading the wrong code. If your crank sensor stopped working, the engine would stall as a result as this sensor triggers the ignitor that fires the plugs.

Every car has a crank sensor, or the equivalent to it.

The sensor assemblies are composed of a TDC, Crank, and Cylinder Position Sensor. They are not separable and must be replaced as a unit. The easiest route to source them would be buying a new distributor if your code was read properly, which I personally do not believe.

Pre-OBD Honda's use morse code, long blink for 10, short blink for 1.

 

I went to the Honda Dealer to see about a new Distributor.
I don't think that they want anything to do with parts for a 24 year old car.
The price for the Distributor assembly which didn't even look like it included the housing was over $450.00.
I ended up getting a replacement distributer from buyautoparts.com for $123.00 plus tax.
It was a perfect fit housing and all, beautiful.
Worked great!
Check Engine light is out, and the car is running excellent.

Thanks

 

just as clarification- or why i think you were told you don't have a crank sensor- like you've found out, there is a sensor in the distributor referred to as the crank sensor and functionally it is, but it's not physically on the crankshaft (or on a reluctor ring on the crankshaft) like the later model accords have. so you don't have a sensor on the crankshaft but you do have a crankshaft sensor.

 

Yeah, I bet the later models Accords do have a crank sensor outside of the distributor.
But 1990 Honda Accord have it inside the Dizzy.
I'm pretty confident that the code was correct, (4 CKP - crank position sensor ) because it is all good now.

 

Starting in '96 the F22 has the crank sensor located on the snout of the crank in front of the oil pump.

 

I'm fairly certain even OBD2 distributor ignition Honda's only have a sensor on the crank for misfire purposes, it is not used in any way way to trigger the spark. I know all of the Civic's are like this. I wouldn't imagine the Accord being any different. There is a difference from the Crank and CKF sensor: One is for coil trigger, the other is to determine misfire for OBD2 compliance.

 

It does have a crank sensor at the crank. It also has a fluctuation sensor which is what detects misfires.