We just bought an 1994 honda accord and it will crank, but want start. We just replaced the fuel regulator and the fuel pump was replaced as well. Today we got it to start and drove for a few minutes and just died and would not restart. We are trying to troubleshoot and find out what the problem may be. Any suggestions would be great

 

Sounds like a bunch of things to be checked with so little info. What made you think to change the fuel regulator and pump? Previous seller/owner? Or was diagnostic done?

I would be checking spark if you think the fuel part is addressed. Although really a little early to tell. Distributor could be acting up.

When it won't start, does it crank and crank at a decent speed, or slow down a lot (trying to see if this might be an alternator). can you smell fuel at this point (which tells me that you made a good diagnosis and fuel is getting there , it's the spark that's failing.

When it dies, does it only do it in drive, or if you leave it in park and start it, it slows down and dies, or just cuts off like you had turned the key.

If you jiggle the ignition after starting does that turn it off?

 

the fuel pump was changed by the previous owner and told us the regulator needed to be changed. He had to sell the car because his dad died and he was in the process of changing it out. When it cranks it goes at a decent speed and yes smell fuel at that point. It did die after we started it and it idles for a min, but now it dies when we start driving like it did earlier today.

 

If you smell fuel, then I would focus on the electrical side. Since it's new, sometimes you just have a throw a few parts to make sure you convered the easy stuff. I would change the cap, wires, spark plugs first, just to make sure the conduit of electricity is getting there.
I would also, if possible, check the spark to make sure it's firing then. Checking spark can be done by pulling the spark plug and a screwdriver, or buying a tester you can clip to the wires to see if they are sparking, and sparking consistently.

I would also look inside the distributor to see if there is oil in there. I'm not 100% if this is the same as my 1999, but there are two areas that oil can leak. The outer ring, which gets oil everywhere, but there is also the one on the inside, which could be messing up the sparking. I would replace those if they appear to be leaking, regardless.

I'm not 100% i'm clear on if you can leave the car running in idle and park, or if it does even then. But if it only dies when you put it in gear, that seems to mean maybe checking a few other things, like if the air filter is clogged up (some people forget for decades to replace it).

If he is talking about a voltage regulator, then that means basically the alternator needs to be replaced, unless you think you can find a regulator (I never have good luck finding this for my alternators, so I end up swapping in new ones).

If none of those work, I would suspect the distributor as the next item to replace since if the wires and cap are replaced, the alternator is replaced, the only big item left is the distributor.

Also, and this will be hard if you have no reference, but I would also go around and check for any ground wires from the motor for their solidness in being screwed down the frame and if the wires seem to be solid. These things can slowly get loose or broken and very hard to just notice.