Hello, made an account after lurking here a few years for tips and stuff.

My Accord has been having issues starting and staying running the past few months. Finally about 2 weeks ago I had it towed to a local Honda dealership for a diagnosis. I paid the fee for diagnostics and they claimed the issue was a faulty distributor. I had already switched the ignition module out a few months after I bought it back in 2013. It made sense because I read aftermarket Chinese **** parts didn't last as long as the OEM stuff from Japan. So I went today to the junkyard and found a decent looking 1996 Accord w/ the F22B1 and took that distributor after inspecting it. I got home and installed the new distributor and attempted to start the car. The car kept turning over and would not start. I was fairly confused. I checked the fuel rail for pressure and it was fine. I even sprayed starter fluid to double check that it wasn't a fuel issue and the engine still wouldn't start.

What is my next step?
I am pretty certain that this distributor is fine, I checked everything, it looked better condition than the one on my car.
Is it likely the new one is bad?
I need to also report to you guys that the main relay was acting up for a while after I got it. I took it apart and re soldered all the circuits and whatnot, and it started working a lot better. However I started having an issue with the fuel system, when I would attempt to start the car, upon turning the key back the fuel pump would prime again. Its strange and has never done that before.

Basically, I'm not sure if that is another symptom of a bigger problem having to do with the no start issue.
Is there a way to reset the entire fuel/air/spark/ecu system? Any help I thank you for.

 

Have you checked for spark?
Pull a plug wire off and ground it to the block, you should hear/feel the spark arcing to ground.

When cranking the car to start, does the Tach move at all? If there is no movement then the ignitor module may be bad.

 

I don't know if the F22B1 is an internal coil (meaning inside the distributor) as I don't have an EX. Have you tested the ignition coil to see if resistance is within spec? If you're still running the one the car came with, it's likely at the end of its life. Maybe you could grab a junkyard main relay as well since you have that strange priming issue. In my experience, any of the three (coil, ignitor, main relay) can cause a car to die randomly. There are some Youtube videos on tracing a lack of spark in Hondas, if not Accords specifically, but I'd make sure its lack of spark vs. a fueling issue if the relay is acting strange. You can find service manual PDFs online for instructions on testing the ignitor and coil.

 

I grounded the #1 plug wire to the steel exhaust cover on the front of the engine and had someone crank it, but I didn't see or hear and spark. Gonna go make another attempt at that. I will also watch for the tach to move.

 

Yep the F22B1 uses an internal coil. The thing I'm confused is I changed the igniter in the old distributor and it ran for a couple years before acting funny again. I've never had to change the actual coil though. Could you give a brief summary of what the difference of the 2 parts are? I thought the igniter creates the electric pulse, which sends it to the coil, which then sends it to the corresponding plug wire?

Also, I double checked my timing and at TDC the rotor is facing #1 on the cap, which is correct I thought?

Ill test the igniter and the coil and then post my results. How I hate dealing with electrical problems lol, would much rather deal with mechanical issues!

 

The coil steps up voltage from I assume 12V to thousands. A high voltage is needed to jump the gap in spark plugs. I’m not an expert on the igniter’s function, but I believe it controls timing. The distributor’s rotor hitting the contacts in the cap sends current to each plug wire. I was at work when I posted yesterday but I had time now to find these links:

Honda Acura ignition (no spark) troubleshooting tutorial - How to

 

Got it, thank you.

Well I just tested all of the spark plugs, with all of the plug wires, and I got spark every single time.

It has to be a fuel issue, but Im getting fuel. Is it possible that the injectors themselves can fall off timing from TDC?
I drained all of my oil, cleaned out all the cylinders by "wicking" excess gasoline from the spark plug holes, and now I am letting it sit for a little while to dry out somewhat before adding new oil and reattempting to start it.

How do I know the injectors are pulsing at the proper time?

 

*UPDATE*

I have done just about everything I can to narrow the problem down.
I drained all of the oil and let the cylinders dry out somewhat as I figured the engine was possibly flooded causing my nostart after replacing the distributor (which works fine now).
After refilling oil and replacing filter I checked the timing to make sure it all lined up, which it did.

I now know the only things it can be is the ECU, Main Relay, or something with the fuel system.

There is one EXTREMELY STRANGE THING happening every time I attempt to start the car and I will list them in order of occurance:
1. Turn key to ON position.
2. Main Relay clicks on.
3. Fuel Pump primes for 2 seconds.
4. Turn key to START. (doesnt start right now obviously lol)
5. Turn key back to ON.
6. Main Relay clicks on.
7. Fuel Pump reprimes.
8. Hear an odd light buzzing sound coming from engine bay near Intake Manifold/Fuel Rail.

What do guys?

 

The fuel pump priming is normal. Anytime the key is turned to II(ON) the contacts in the ignition switch make. So when you turn from I(OFF) to II(ON) or from II(ON) to III(START) when the key comes back to II(ON) the pump is going to function. It will just prime until it the ECU sees a signal from the distributor and then keeps the main relay for the fuel pump ON so the engine will stay running.

You stated you have spark and you have it line up with #1 which is correct, however if you have installed the distributor 180° out you can have the crank at TDC but the camshaft will not be. Camshaft turns half speed, so you can have the crank at #1TDC twice for the camshaft to be at #1. Common enough error to happen. The keyway on the F/H engines distributors can be forced on wrong, it's offset slightly so check that your camshaft is at #1 as well. Also verify that the distributor keyway is installed correctly. If it was touched(you don't know it was in a yarde car) someone may have installed the keyway 180° out and even though you have done everything correctly the rotor may be 180° off from everything else.

If it is a fueling problem, but you do have spark, I would suggest spraying down the TB with engine start or even TB cleaner. It should ignite. If the engine sputters to life for a moment then you know it is a fueling problem. If it does not start then you can suspect that either there is a spark/timing issue or something else mechanical.
Injectors are fired by the ECU but ECU gets its timing from the distributor. I cannot recall if the PGM-FI is sequential or batch fire with the injectors.

 

do you have a dea or viper brand alarm ?