I drive a 1990 accord LX. It stalled out the other week as I was driving goint about 30 mph. It would not jump at first but the next morning it started up with a jump and I was able to get it about 2 miles to my drive way where it died again and would not start. I tried replacing the fuel filter against the fire wall but it would not start and in the process of trying to start it I noticed that a steady stream of smoke was coming from my starter so I went ahead and replaced it with a rebuild replacement. But even still with the new starter turning strong, my engine is still not turning over. I had my father bench test the disributer that we replaced about a year ago and it check out ok as far as we could tell. I then tried to switch up the main relay with two that I found at the recking yardand that did not seem to work . I have been able to start it three times in the last three weeks but it will die and it will not turn over agian. The service light is not blinking on a regular bases, only when I was switchin up the main relay did it begin to blink. I am perplexed on what avenue to take next to figure out what is wrong. Any suggestions? One more thing when I was testing the spark plugs for a spark. I just pulled out the wire then the plug, attaching the plug back into the wire out out the cylinder and then tried to start it agian to see it there was a spark between the two connection points. Is this the way to do it or do I need to have the spark arch to a metal piece of the engine to see if the distriputer and plug are working properly. THanks again Chad aka Land Shark

 

There is an excelent writeup on how to test for spark at http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html

You need to determine if the no-start is fuel or spark related.

You should pull a spark plug (as instructed in the site referenced above) and ground it. If you see a bright white/blue spark, then the spark is ok. If not, then look at the coil, ICM writeup in the DIY section. Ignition switch could also be a culprit.

If spark is ok, the next step would be to test the fuel pressure.

 

go to our DIY section there are a bunch of write ups , on diagnosing your issue ,, just take time and read through them