already replaced the cap/rotor, so that's not it. i doubt it could be timing because it ran fine until one day it just decided it didn't want to start. it's my neighbor's car. i'm starting to think it could be an injector or the fuel pump or something like that. compression, fuel, spark, right? it does sound a little chunky while cranking. any ideas? oh, it's an auto so i can't roll-start it.

 

do you know if the rotor is spinning when you are turning it over? if not then ite the timing belt. If it is the look for good spark, if none the its the coil. If not those then I would say check to see if you have fuel/fuel pressure, that could be the filter/pump/relay/pressure regulator.
Kind of running it blind. But these are where I would start.

 

update - i noticed when we try to start it, it cranks in bursts of 3. crank crank crank......crank crank crank......crank crank crank, instead of a steady cranking like you usually hear. what the hell does that mean?
ps - it's not the main relay and i can hear the fuel pump whirring. haven't checked the coil or the distrib or igniter yet.

 

I had a similar problem at about 217000 on my 92 Accord. It turned out to be the igniter. It connects to the coil in the same spot right next to the coil. Has three little wires on it and a heat sink. I got a brand new one with the modified heat sink for under $100. You can test this buy checking spark, and if you don't get spark, you should check your output of your coil. If the coil has power comming out, then check the igniter. Kinda hard to explain really if you haven't taken it apart. The igniter is a small thin box with a metal heat sink attached to the back of it with three wire terminals comming off of it.

Hope it helps...

 

update - thanks, flytoday, that is helpful, i'll have to look into that. well the rotor spins when the car cranks so it's not the timing belt. i pulled a plug wire and sparked it against the block today. there was a tiny little spark, i'm not sure how big it's supposed to be. so there is spark i guess. he said last time it ran it ran fine. he parked it one night and the next day it wouldn't start. hasn't run since. so that must mean it has compression. i can hear the fuel pump priming so it most likely has fuel. my instincts tell me it's electrical, unless there's some kind of blockage somewhere. he's already put new plugs and wires and cap on, but we couldn't figure out how to remove the rotor. main relay appears to be A-ok. i was told the igniter was under the rotor on the distributor. i'm stumped tho. oh and cursing at it didn't work either. that was the first thing i tried.

 

Bump

 

You're still stuck on square one. You must determine fuel or fire. You have conflicting information; spark but maybe not hot, fuel pump running, yet no start.

Ignitor is usually a go/no go piece so I would discount that for now.

Check the specs on the coil. A weak coil can cause weak spark and no start (been there and done that). The coil should be checked for resistance w/ a good VOM, properly zeroed. You need a manual to be sure of specs for this car, but my 90 Acccord EX the secondary resistance is 13.2-19.8 Kohms. Primary is less than 1 ohm (very difficult to measure). When I had a coil problem, I first checked w/ a cheap VOM and missed the slightly low resistance. It measured about 11K ohms and would not start the car, but gave a weak spark.

Checking fuel pressure requires a fuel pressure kit w/ special fitting and guage. A blocked fuel filter is possible but seems less likely than ignition. A crude fuel pressure check is to crack the fuel pressure plug w/ a wrench. You should get a good spray of fuel, if pressure is there. If fuel dribbles out, you've got a fuel pressure problem.

good luck

 

how in the hell do i remove the rotor? i mean i know how it's supposed to come off but i don't see any sign of a screw anywhere...wtf?!

 

its held in by a metal tab inside the rotor. Its really really really tough to get off the first time as they heat seize in. but if you carefully take a flat head screw driver and slowly and I mean slowly work it it will come off.

if it is really stubborn then take two put one on each end of the lips (meaning the top not the bottom as you can not reach that) and slowly start putting force to it and you wiggle and it will come off. A really good part for anti-seize in there as all that shaft does is spin the rotor.

 

I thought I remembered a set screw in the rotor to hold against the flat on the rotor. It's been some time and I too removed the rotor by main force w/ difficulty. However, I think last time I pulled the rotor I noticed a set screw. I may be mixing cars in my memory.

regards

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phateless &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">already replaced the cap/rotor, so that's not it...</TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phateless &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how in the hell do i remove the rotor? i mean i know how it's supposed to come off but i don't see any sign of a screw anywhere...wtf?!</TD></TR></TABLE>How did you replace it before?

 

Went an pulled mine again today. Nope no set screw, I even looked in acouple of books I have as some years are different then others.

On the 93, unless you have an aftermarket distrib. , there is no set screw. its just locked in there tight.