My 1997 Honda Accord wouldn't start. When I opened the hood, I noticed that there was a bit of moisture on the engine so I left the hood open so it could dry out. Then, I tried to start it after it had dried and it started up. It was a little rough starting, but after I let it idle for awhile it sounded pretty normal. It seems like it is related to moisture under the hood, because it started after letting it dry out. Not sure there is something simple that it could be or if I need to take it in. Any ideas?

 

hood up mosture problems... How about take a spray bottle and mist up the spark plug wires and other areas suspect. Do it at night. Look for arcing.

 

If I've had a moisture problem in the past, it was a cracked distributor cap that often did it.

As suggested above, you can usually spot this by spraying water until it misbehaves.

 

Within the last year, I have already had the ignition coil and distributor replaced because of no start problems. Maybe one of them went bad already. I'll do the water test and see what happens.

 

That does sound like something else is getting wet and causing the issue. You said you replaced the distributor, did you mean the cap?

Go and doublecheck all your grounds as well.

 

I had the whole distributor replaced, not just the distributor cap.

 

Curious to know if there has been any resolution to this problem. I'm having similar issues, well sort of.

 

I wonder how all that moisture gets in there? Is it more than typical outdoor overnight condensation?

 

I have not done anything yet, but haven't had any issue recently. I'm planning on spraying some water under the hood and see what I can find.
Also, I'm not sure exactly how the moisture gets in there, but when I had the problem it was a very foggy night/morning and it there was probably more moisture than usual. It also had problems on a day that it rained all day.

 

Update: I ended up buying a new distributor cap and just installed it today. The car started right up after I got it installed. Hopefully that was actually the problem. I just need to wait for the next time it rains/snows to be sure.

 

Hopefully the new distributor cap is what you needed. Years ago I had a Dodge Ram 100 with a 225 slant 6 would frequently not start after rain, or if it was foggy. I'd take the distributor cap off and dry the inside with a hair dryer. Would start every time I had to do that. Found out it was somewhat common for the cap to crack. The crack wasn't visible - but it was enough to let some moisture in.

 

It seems to have fixed the no start issue. There was no o ring seal with the old distributor, so that might have been the problem.

 

Way to go, you fixed it!

 

Thanks. Now it is in the shop because a brake line broke

 

Oh boy - sorry to hear. Not uncommon though with cars of this age. Two years ago I had both the brake and fuel lines replaced on my '99 - they were simply rusted.

 

Yep. Mine are also rusted. Hopefully after they put new ones in, I will be able to make it awhile before something else goes wrong.