Hello,

I am new here and this is my last hope! I have a 97 Honda Accord EX 4cyl 2.2 and haunted by the crank but won’t start problem. I have changed the main relay, fuel pump, even went and purchased another ECM today and tried it and still the ol’ crank but won’t start!!

I’ll take any and all advice. What other things could it be? I’ve read forum after forum and changed the main culprits. This is my first Honda and I bought the car in this condition, so any Honda enthusiasts that can chip in help would be greatly greatly appreciated!

 

You definitely need to diagnose before throwing more parts at your car.

Does the car always do crank and no start?

If yes, then you will need to determine if the problem is lack of fuel or lack of spark. The easiest way to test for spark is using a spark tester or old spark plug. There are some good youtube videos from eric the car guy on testing for spark that will help.

For fuel, a quick test is take the snorkel off the throttle body, then spray car cleaner into the throttle body while someone is trying to crank/start the car. If the car fires up while spraying, then fuel delivery is the issue and you'll have to investigate further.

 

Maybe I should have elaborated more. I did all this to start with. Checking for fire is first thing I did and the plug wire is firing as well as leaving the plug in the wire to make sure the plug is getting fire and it is.

I took the fuel hose off after I changed fuel pump and it didn’t start and it’s squirting plenty of fuel to the engine so fuel pressure seems fine.

So I am getting fire and fuel which is what led me to try the ECM at recommendation of a few other forums I’ve read through.

One side note, while it is getting fire it looks rather weak or like it’s not as bright a spark as it should be!

Just hoping someone can guide me here and able to ask questions back and forth and help me please figure this out!

thanks for your reply!

 

You've checked fuel pressure at the rail, but have you verified the injectors are firing? You can pull a spark plug to see (smell) fuel in the cylinder, or maybe check the circuit that fires them.

Each injector has 1 of it's wires the same color for all 4 injectors. That one should be live when the key is ON, & the ECM switches the ground side of the individual injector to fire each injector.

 

Yes I have checked took out the spark plugs and there is fresh fuel on the plug! All the usual 3-4 things that everyone recommends for the crank but don’t start has not corrected the issue. Someone said to ask if it could be the ignition coil or how to go about checking the distributor?

 

Yup, check that your injectors are firing. I ran into the same thing on my 97 Accord and it took me over a month to find that I wasn't getting 12 volts over to the resistor packs that feed the injectors power. I had a new fuel pump installed, new distributor, new timing belts, and new plugs, and still no run. Some of that was to verify it wasn't an electrical problem. I made an adapter from the Honda part to work with my fuel pressure gauge to verify I had the right pressure. I even squirted starting fluid into the vac hose for the power brake booster, and it would run as long as I kept spraying. This all told me I needed to look elsewhere. Having the FSM, I back probed at the ECU to make sure I had power where it was supposed to, and ohms where needed too. It wasn't until I was looking for 12 volts input at the resistor pack that I found my problem. I had 4 volts going into the resistor pack, when I needed 12 volts. That under voltage was causing the injectors to not fire (spray). I brought a jumper wire from the battery over to it, and it fired up. So, upon finding my problem, I routed a new 12 volt wire to the resistor pack input that had a switched (by the key) 12 volt source and connected in. It was working for the next 2 years when I sold it. It taught me to check and see if the injectors were firing, since everything else was doing it's job.
I hope this helps.

 

Not real common but I had a flooding issue that fouled my spark plugs. After I fixed the flooding, it still wouldn't fire. Plugs looked nice & clean so I was too stubborn to replace what looked like perfectly good plugs. After awhile my wife told me not to be so stupid about the plugs. Soon as I put new plugs in it started right up. Before that I didn't think flooding could screw up the plugs to an extend that they didn't work after drying out.

(Can't guarantee that's happening in your car but I'm running out of good ideas)

 

Yeah, we ran into that on my son's VW before too. I don't know why it does that sometimes either. Maybe the unburned fuel leaves a coating that just won't let spark thru or something. Don't know, but a plug change cured it.

 

Did you remove the distributor during any of your diagnosis?

I remember a thread from years ago where they had a passing spark test, yet still had a weak coil. A weak spark won't jump the spark plug gap when under compression in the engine.

You can get a spark tester, where you increase the gap to estimate the strength of the spark. They are pretty inexpensive and available at most parts stores.

The other items to check are timing, compression, and also check that you don't have a something blocking the air intake.

 

Yeah, this is why I like having the FSM, as it takes you step by step thru trouble shooting.