My girlfriends 93 accord LX with 130,000 miles died the other night on the freeway. She said she heard a funny noise when it first started and that was it. Then while driving down the freeway it just quit. First thought was timing belt. I'm decently mechanically inclined and know all the dangers of a timing belt slipping to far, i'm pretty sure her valves aren't bent.

A little background the service required indicator has been red since october. I have no idea what this "service required" thing means. I assume it's some service point.

Just a shot in the dark could something be wrong with the injectors? Just for kicks i sprayed in starter fluid and it didn't go so i don't think it is the injectors. Other wise it would have at least tried to sputter a start. Right?

Thanks for all help in advance.

 

16 views and nobody even knows what this maintence indicator is trying to tell me?

 

that just means it went over 7k miles. on my 93 dx, the yellow comes on at around 5k miles, and red means you shoulda changed the oil a long time ago

 

I did change the oil because i figured that was part of what is was trying to tell me but i had no idea how to reset it to green.

 

there should be a little "button" on your dash, around the trip meter reset push button. You just need to push it in with a key or something and it should reset to green.

 

Remove the bolt in the fuel rail to see if the pump is getting fuel to the injectors.

 

I removed that bolt and fuel came flowing out. Fuel pump is good. I also pulled the spark plugs and found one of them covered with oil. I'm guessing that the valve cover seal failed around that spark plug hole. Would this cause the car not to run? I would think not. Keep those suggestions coming. I don't want to order all the stuff until i know exactly what the problem is.

Are there any marks on the timing belt or cam gear that can tell me if it jumped a few teeth. I know there are a couple on my 3000 and was wondering if there is something similar that could give me a clue.


[Modified by gecko1, 3:23 PM 2/12/2003]

 

ttt

Are there any marks on the timing belt or cam gear that can tell me if it jumped a few teeth. I know there are a couple on my 3000 and was wondering if there is something similar that could give me a clue.

 

why dont you set the crank to top dead center and pull the valve cover off to see if the cam is at top dead center also if it isnt then you know it jumped timeing if not you know the problem is elseware


did you check to see if you have spark ??? maybe a distributor problem ...

let us know when you figure it out

 

Looked at the timing/timing belt and everything was find. Did the spark test, which should have been the first thing i checked, and got no spark. This evening i will work my way back from the sparkplugs to see what is wrong.

 

It's not the distributer cap and rotor. They were really bad looking. Replaced both and still no spark. Whats next? The coils? How do i test the coils to see if they are working?

 

Same thing happend to my cousins car and his prob is the whole distributor. B4 you go out and buy a new one check the coil and the ignitor.

 

how do i check the coil and ignitor?

 

i had the same problem. get a digital multimeter adn test the coil. on hers i don't know if it's internal or external coil. my 91 is internal. If that's the case you just take the cap off and you'll see the coil. take the + and - wires off of it and then test the resistance from teh + to teh coil tower (spring). you should get around 19k ohms. When i tested that on mine it just read 0 so that means teh coil was burnt. it's like 75$ for it and an easy fix. another thing it could be is the ignitor. there is a huge process in checking if the ignitor is bad, but if the coil is still good, chances are it's teh ignitor because there was a recall on those with 4g accords. If your coil tests out then let me know and i can either let your borrow to test or sell you my extra ignitor i have. they are lik 100$ at honda so i'd let mine got for half that or you can borrow it and test then if it works go buy a new one and send mine back to me. if you need any more help just send me an e-mail or message me on aol at CYRIXvsP2

 

Thanks so much for the reply cyrixvsp2. It's an external coil. I have my dad coming to my place on monday with his brand new fancy ohm meter. I will let you know about the ignitor. Could you tell me more about this recall. Why was it recalled?

It's really rare to find somebody that would just blindly trust somebody they don't even know, especially since this is my first time posting on this board, to hang on to a $100 part and not steel it. I think that's really cool. Thanks agian!

 

In the last month I have replaced two igniters on two different 93 accords, I see accords and preludes come in with this problem all the time, It is just normal wear and tear. Sorry I just now noticed ths post. That is where I would place my money.

 

hey SpyLude92, what are the symptoms of a an ignitor gone bad? could it be when a car cranks but will not start?

 

On the early 90's model accord, the two MAJOR causes of the engine cranking but not running are: the Ignitor, or the Ignition. 90% of the time in the last two years, all of my accord no starts have been either of these two problems, an easy way to tell the differance, is by turning the ignition when the vehicle attempts to start, slightly turn the key back, while pushing in on it. If the car continues to run while keeping the key turned slightly passed normal run postition, the ignition is bad.
If not it's most Likely the Ignitor. There are ways of testing the ignitor. I can't remember right off hand, I keep one as a test unit on hand.

 

don't forget the coil. everyone told me the ignitor so i replaced mine and it happened to be the coil. so i dumped 100$ into an ignitor i didn't need. check the coil first. if the coil is good, i'll bet money it's the ignitor. usually when teh ignition switch goes out it has sensitivity to heat and cold and will start intermittenly (sometimes it starts, sometimes it doesn't). the ignitor going bad is just no start at all.

 

well i have a crank but no start problem and i tested the coil (it tested good). i also tried replacing it with a new one with success. so if the ignitor is bad and just won't start then i guess i can just rule that out. I also have two ignition switches and they both yield the same results. what else is there that can cause crank but no start problem?