This is correct...starter is turning engine....it wants to start but quits right away. This issue has been with the car for quite some time...hot or cold weather...great running car...will suddenly die and then not start back up until car sits for quite some time. We have used starter fluid in the carb before with success sometimes...other times nothing...gut feeling is a faulty fuel pump! Now on to the spark plug issue....threads on spark plug are good (no cross threading it looks like). Have tried the other spark plugs as well...when plug gets tight after 6 turns I back it out. Went to Auto Zone and picked up a thread cleaner and with some vaseline on threads will try to clean the threads on the head. do not have access to a timing light. If I get the vehicle running I will bring it to the mechanic for diagnosis. Just concerned about getting that spark plug back in correctly...do not want to get into buying the thread repair kit with the tap and all that business...yuk!

 

So you do have a carb on your accord.

I have never owned a car with a carb before. Search for posts by poorman212 and carb, because he owns several of the 3rd gen accords and is familiar with them.

He will probably post on here when he reads this thread.

 

...PA, been reading. Asked for trim level already...DX and LX = Carb...LXi = FI

OP- #1 and #4 spark plugs on these "lean" out (#1 closest to the belts, #4 closest to the trans). Menaing that when the plug(s) are started in by hand the "tip" needs to point more towards the fender than the front bumper....I'm going to guess it is one of these two that you are having an issue with.

This is sounding more like a spark issue. Honda used two dist on these. Is there a "silver" rectangle "thing" on the outside of the dist...trying to find out if the dist is TEC or Hitch...to help with testing.

 

looking for some input....had a spark plug come out easy...but when I went to put it back in...it would not seed correctly. Went to Auto Zone and got a thread chaser to clean threads...this went in easy and I had to use vaseline to pick up the thread shavings...seemed like the thread chaser did the job after about 5 or 6 passes in and out of the hole. Put the spark plug back in....threaded fine...went all the way down and fit tight back into socket. Started the car and it is now running rougher than it did before..yuk! what happened? This vehicle has a carb and 4 cylinders..could this spark plug be not firing correctly? At a loss!

 

I would probably just replace the spark plugs with new ones. The NGK plugs recommended for the car should be listed in the owners manual and should run about $2 for each plug.

Let us know if the humming noise from the fuel pump is present or missing when you can not start the engine.

Like I said before, I always owned fuel injected cars. I think that there is a sight glass to see if fuel is running into the carb. Search the forums for carburetor or carb to see threads on these vehicles.

 

To me, the original issue is sounding like an ignition problem.

To speak to the new issue. Be sure the wires are seated all the way. Pull the cap and inspect it and the rotor.....while there, look at the dist cap, is it round or does it have a flat edge to it...again need to find out which dist is in the car - they came with two different ones.

On the carb models (DX and LX) it is RARE for the fuel pump relay to fail (different than the "main relay" on FI models)....but for now lets get the miss figured out, then back to the original issue.

 

will get new plugs and see what this does! One of the distributors wires does seem to be seated all the way. I think (I am not at the home where the car is now) the distributor cap is round...no flat edge...will post on this tomorrow. I agree...origingal issue seems to be some sort of ignition problem....but what kind..why would the car stall after driving for a while and then not start back up again.....car has to sit at least a half a day! Need to get the new issue taken care of first (with minimum expense) hopfefully! Derek

 

Just my opinion, testing needed. The ICM or coil is going out (lean towards the coil), once hot there is no more "signal" or "spark" coming to/from it....If you were close by, I have a spare coil in the garage,,,,somewhere????

Round cap with no flat side is a Hitachi dist.....you'll need to know this if you get a new cap/rotor or testing of the ICM and that.

EDIT: "thanks poorman and pa! " Sorry, my/our pleasure...pretty sure I can speak for PA on this one

Please let everyone know what you find. For us and the next person it helps to know what solved the issue and what was done to get there. Heck, knocks on wood, I could face the same thing with one of mine.....or did I already and that is why I have a spare coil

 

Will get back to the car tomorrow...how do I edit a post? Do you have a diagram as to where the Ignition control module is and the coil. If you have a spare....can you send it to me? This site is great and you are very helpful!! D

 

At the bottom of the post there should be an "edit" button.

For the ICM and coil testing....hope you go that volt meter?

At the top of this section there is a "sticky" - Common DIY Threads. In that there is a link to a manual you can download.

You might have to do these tests when the issue is present....meaning cold everything might test fine......once it runs for "some period" of time it dies again, do the tests again once that happens.

Sorry, I still have three of these in the driveway. What I was saying is if you were close enough (short driving distance) I would let you "borrow" it to see if the issue goes away...if so then we could talk price or you could buy a new one as this one is used (~150K miles on it, or so). Not sure if you have any junk yards close by, they might be a good place since you are trying to sell this.