Hi every one. I am a new member to this forum even though have visited in the past on several occassions.
I have a 1993 Accord, 4 cyl 10 th anniv ed. Auto A/C...146K miles. On sunday the car suddenly stalled while driving. The check engine light came on. Pulled to the side and let it sit. I used to have a small oil leak and thought I was low on oil and didn't bother to start. Had it towed home let it cool and checked oil water levels etc. and every thing was OK.
1. Started the car started OK at the first attempt.. and would stall after 2- 3 mins. The car was in park. The engine would idle at about 1200-1300 rpm and as isaid after 2-3 mins would just abruptly stall and die. Immediately try to restart and it won't. I let it sit cool down for 40 mins anbd restart, it will start and and stall after 3 mins same as above.
2. Tried the above 3/4 times and all the time the same way. Finally it just wouldn't satrt at all even though would crank.
3. I read on the threads that it may be a bad main relay. So pulled it out resoldered the pins and tried. The car will crank but not start.
I am wondering what might be wrong. I do have some oil leak around the distributor. Is it a case of a bad distributor. Also noticed oil in the spark plug wells. So cleaned it and tried to start and still won't start.
Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I am familiar with minor to medium repairs with good instructions.
Thanks again in advance for any help/comments or suggestions.

 

For the oil leaks, the valve cover gasket and upper spark plug seals should be replaced. That will take care of the spark plug tube oil.

There is an o-ring that will need to be replaced that seals the distributor at the cylinder head.

Pretty easy DIY repairs.

You said that your check engine light came on. You should find out and post that code on here. You will have a blue two-pin connector somewhere under the glove box towards the door. Use a thin paperclip to short that connector and count the codes. These directions are almost identical to your 93 except the location of the connector. http://www.dhost.info/accordinfo/howto/cel.html

 

My Accord had the same problem you described. The culprit turned out to be a bad ICM located inside the distributor.

 

I finally decided to muster some courage and pulled the distributor out. It wasn't difficult at all. The only time I had some second thoughts on continuing was when I couldn't separate the 2 connectors. Once the connector housings were removed from their brackets, it was easy to manuever and separate the connectors.
Noticed that the rotor contact had some black spots from burn out. Also the cap had some wear. I was contemplating on changing out the rotor and the cap but after reading your note about the ICM (I suppose this is inside the distributor itself am I correct), I decided I will buy a whole new distributor with cap and replace it. Does the ICM come with the distributor?.
Also with regard to re-installing, here is what I plan to follow. Please let me know if I am doing it right.
1. I made some alignment marks on the distributor mtg. flange and the head where it mounts.
2. Noted the orientation of the drive shaft on the distributor, and the rotor position, relative to the mtg. flange.
3. If I orient the new distributor shaft and the rotor in the same orientation as the old one I pulled out, I suppose that should be OK.
Please validate if my assumptions are right. Any suggestions on the distributor where you bought it from.
Thanks in advance. This forum is really great and very helpful.

 

The ICM is inside of the distributor.

You may be wasting money on a whole new distributor, because the ICM may be at fault. By using a piece of wire to short that connector, you will have a better idea of what caused the problems.

It sounds like you did almost everything right with removal of the distributor. I would have removed the cap to see which way the rotor points, because there is a possibility that you can install the distributor 180 degrees off. The key that goes into the camshaft is slightly off center, but can be forced in there if it is flipped the wrong way.

 

The ICM inside the distributor only cost $70 from Pepboys. It's a lot cheaper than replacing the whole distributor, not to mention the extra labor involved.

If you decide to replace the ICM w/o removing the distributor, you may want to remove the air cleaner box to give you more room to press the philips screwdriver against the two screws while you are loosening them. They are VERY tight and easily rounded off. I learned the hard lession.

 

Hi PAhonda and jsam,
Thanks for your notes and tips.
I did make a note of the rotor orientation in reference to the shaft and the housing mtg. hole marking. As far as checking the ICM by shorting how do you do that.... may be it has to be done on the car with the items connected... if so I may have missed that opportunity.
I am attaching the picture of the distributor I pulled out. I would like to go inside and see what is the condition of the ICM, or may be replace the ICM if I go that route. How do I remove the rotor form the assembly. Some sites mention that it is attached with one screw. I couldn't see any screws at all. Even if I buy a rebuilt dist I still have to salvage the cover to use it on the new one and have to install a new rotor. When I manually rotate the shaft, it doesn't seem to turn smoothly like a shaft with some good bearings or bushing. There is a little bumpy feel as you turn the shaft. Any help on this will be greatly appreciated.

 

That black cover is going to have to come off. Then there should be one screw holding the rotor to the shaft. I don't know how that cover comes off.

I don't know what you will find by looking at the ICM. It is a sealed unit. You may want to clean up the connections. It should be under that cover too.

What I meant by shorting, is that your check engine light came on. That means the computer detected a problem with your car. Use a thin paperclip to short a two pin connector and read the code(s) as I described in an earlier post. It may point to your ICM or maybe one of the sensors in the distributor. It is well worth the 5 mins it will take to check engine codes.

If you want to test the ICM, some auto parts stores can test them when removed. I know that O'Reillys can test certain control modules. Just call and ask if they can test your ICM.

 

Thanks to the personalized help from PAhonda and jsam, I got my car up and running.

I did notice burnt contacts in my distributor and suspected that is the most likely culprit. besides I saw oil in the spark plug wells, a good deal of it to soak about an inch of the wire boot.

1. First changed out the valve cover gasket and replaced the seals (the grommet kind) for the plug wells.... hope this will keep the plug well dry.
2. Changed the plugs to Autolite AP5224 (platinum tip).
3. Changed the plug wire set since they werer soaked in oil.
4. Was very lucky to find a brand new Dorman brand distributor on e-bay for $44 including shipping.
5. Installed the new distributor, and started the engine and let it run for about 30 mins. It didn't stall. Tried to kill the engine and restart a couple of times and started OK and the idle speed held steady at 750 RPM. I will try to take it for a drive around the block for a couple miles and try to get some comfort level.
I am glad that with the help and advice of you guys and the forum's wealth of information, I was able to get it done myself and save unexpected mechanic fees.
From now on I am going to get in the regimen of check for oil in the plug well as a preventive maintenance check.
Thanks again for your help.

 

hey PAhonda im new to this site and have just bought a 1993 honda accord i believe also the 10th anniversary one
anyway i had a question about oil getting on the spark plugs and if that is a common problem? and if valve cover gasket and spark plug seals as you said are the answer to the fix
thnx.