Hi all,
I have a 1984 Accord, my daily driver. It runs great, just ran into a problem. Started the car, ran for 30 seconds and died. Will not start, just turns over. I have done most of the typical tests for fuel and spark. I am not getting spark from the coil. I have tested the coil, swapped out the coil, still no spark. There is 12v to the distributor, I did a continuity check on the igniter and it appears to check out.
At a loss here. There is one thing that makes me think it could be the igniter, the tach has been bouncing, not the engine reving, just the tach bouncing at idle or while driving for a couple of weeks. Just don't want to purchase a new igniter without knowing this is the problem.
Thanks for any help.

Scott
1984 Honda Accord LX

 

I would suspect the ignitor, but I have seen where new coils were bad out of the box.

I remember that O'Reillys could test ignitors where I lived before. You may want to call your local one and see if they can do this testing.

Since your original ignitor lasted about thirty years, you could likely pick one up at a junkyard for very cheap.

 

Make sure the timing belt is ok. Take the dist. cap off and crank the eng. does the dist. shaft turn? If not the belt is bad. Now use a 12 volt test light one end to a good grnd. and prob the NEG. post of the coil and crank the eng. over the light should pulse off and on if not it is the igniter but a bad coil can cause this also Without a scope or a good DMM that is all I got.

 

@PAhonda, I will see if I can get the igniter tested. Yes, you are correct, I can buy a complete distributor at a local junkyard for $40. Might be the way to go.

@joec44, the distributor does turn, I replaced the timing belt a couple of years ago. I have an old coil and a coil I installed along with the timing belt a couple years ago. Both coils, no success. I will try the test light test. Thanks!

 

Finally a follow up post. The igniter was dead, a trip to the junk yard, $15 in parts, and I am up and running once again! Can't kill this 84 accord.
Thanks for the advice.

 

Great to hear