Ok guys so I have created an account for my friend in hopes of getting more input or suggestions from the community here as to what the hell is going on with her car.
Its a 1994 honda accord LX automatic 2.2l. She just bought it recently and brought her dad with her who is a mechanic with over 30 years experience. All in all it was all good in person when he did the go-around and test drive. Only thing he noticed was a super small transmission leak. On the way home the temp needle read really hot going uphill so the car was pulled over but everything checked out ok and no sign of actual over heating, so we continued home and turned out ok. Car was driving daily for weeks. Then ones morning it didn't crank. I changed the main fuel relay and distributor and viola! ran for days on in. Again one morning it didn't want to start, I looked deep in the forums and found out about resetting the ECU by taking the fuse out for 5 minutes, I did that and viola! Ran again for days no problem what so ever. As i type the car has been sitting for 8 days the last time it ran she took it on a 300 mile trip and the radiator hose blew on the driveway. I replace the hose and new thermostat. Put it all back together, crossed our fingers and it didn't crank again of course! Argh!

From digging deep in the forums I've found a couple people with the same problem with the same model car or very similar and turned out to be a bad ECU or ignition switch.
So we've come to the conclusion that we either buy a new ECU or press our luck with a used one and or new ignition switch and if that doesn't do it, I guess get rid of the car.
We've gone through the basic checklist through the air, fuel, and electrical systems. Any input is much needed and greatly appreciated!! Thank you

 

Pull the ecu and see if it smells rotten when you open it. (Look for burned or leaking caps)

 

I forgot to mention a couple things in the original post as it was late and I was really tired. But I did already open the ecu and no smell of burn damage or wet damage. Ill look again to see if the capacitors show any sign of leakage. Thanks

 

You need to understand that cranking is when the engine turns when you turn the key to start. Is the car cranking when you turn the key and it's not starting or is it not cranking and not starting ?

 

Yes the car is cranking but won't hold, tomorrow I will be replacing the ignition switch, i hope that'll do it! I haven't re-checked the ecu for leakage yet like one poster mentioned but i will in the morning. Where can i locate the ground wire on the 94 honda accord lx?

 

You need to test for fuel and spark.

 

We have tested for fuel and spark, both check out

 

I have the new ignition switch and lock cylinder with me, I will be replacing soon

 

Update:
So I took upon one of the posters suggestions and took apart the ECU once again to double check
for leakage around the capacitors or any damage in general. I found what I'm not sure is damage or is what is affecting
or even enough to be the culprit of the car not starting but I have some pictures down below that I took of the only damage I can
see in the ECU board. I also unplug the harness from it and plug it back in. The negative cable was disconnected from the beginning. So after looking at it, I decided to put it back together and try to start the car, and viola! the car is firing up like nothing again. I have some video of me going around the ECU board and video of the car running and towards the end of the video I go into the hood were I'm hearing a squeaky kind of noise coming from the timing belt area. Anyone know what the can possibly mean/ lead to? Thanks in advance! By the way, I did this before replacing the ignition switch with cylinder lock. Im debating on the refund or replacing it anyway. Thanks everybody.

 

Bump anyone?

 

If it does the same thing again, then its not going to start in the morning. So I will come back in the morning

 

It's entirely possible that ecu is bad. Swap it out from a 94-95 of the same trim and transmission type.

 

When I swap out ECU do I have to take it to the tune shop? Thanks!

 

No, because it's a stock ecu. It's plug n play.

 

Ok, thanks. I ask because I've read in the forums and was told from the new and used sellers of ECUs to double check if its the exact numeration before i make the purchase.

 

So I'm beginning to think its a bad ignition switch. See if this makes sense. The car has been running perfectly fine now, ever since i figured out i need to leave the key on the ON position for about 5-10 seconds then crank it. I only need to do that once in the morning for the first start then its fine for the whole day. But if i try to just crank it in one shot like one would normally do it dies out. So does that mean its a bad ignition switch? Thanks for the input.

 

Any ECU experts on the forums?

 

Jiggle the ignition switch when starting, if there is slop or worn contacts the car will not start/run. Jiggling may allow the engine to start/run.
Remove the lower column cowl, pull off the ignition switch and look for any arcing, wear, or excessive play in the switch.

Excess keys, charms, key chain junk, tassles, etc, will wear out the ignition switch.

 

I did as you suggested, still wouldn't start. I went ahead and replaced the ignition switch in hopes as that's what it is and no luck. I did run into a complete mess of wires and splicing coming from the ignition switch wiring to power an old alarm that is useless now and was apparently installed by a dumb***. I'm starting to think it might having something to do with the problem. In the end I disconnected the negative cable for ten minutes or so and viola car has been running fine again since then, its been almost a week, no problems. I just read the battery voltage at 8.6v, is that why the car won't start sometimes? I shall replace it asap anyways. I'm thinking I should go ahead and replace for a new ECU and go from there. Any thoughts?

 

Still running strong, this car is weird man.. has a mind of its own. Any other suggestions as to how a I should approach this situation? Thanks in advance