Hi,
Ok I have gone over this site and looked at everything involving cars that wont start and am seeking further advice. It's a 1993 Honda accord EX, 4-door, automatic. So here goes:

Last night I board the San Juan county Ferry to return to the Island I live on in Washington state. During the 1 hour voyage, I decided that I would get my car ready for the new stereo I was going to put in. I bought and 800 watt inverter from costco and bought a 10' power cable from Lowes Hardware. I ran the cable through the firewall and connected it to the battery and then to the inverter and it worked fine. I then removed the stock CD changer receiver and tape deck with blinking security light so I could install a mounting kit for my new receiver. Ok cool, done. Now I arrive at my Island and go to start the car. Click, power failure, I open the hood, and see that though I tightened the ground cable, it was still loose so i pushed it down tight, the dome light came on and I started the car again. Cool it started. I drove 5 feet, the car died, all the people behind me drove past me with brief sympathetic gazes in my direction. The ferry worker pushes me off the boat with his little fork lift.

Now Im stuck and decide to undo all the modifications I had just done. I disconnect my inverter from the battery and reinstall the stereo which now says code. I have not entered the code as it has previously not kept me from being able to drive the car while the error is displayed. Ok everything is now back to the way it was, and no still the car will not start. It sound like it really wants to and cranks "chugga chugga chugga" but never turns over. I look through my manual and find my alarm system features and see that one of them is an engine cut-off feature. So I assume that the alarm has stopped my car from being able to start. Soto reset the alarm, I lock the doors and unlock it with the key. No go, same problem. I also smell fuel when trying to start it. I have tried to start it with the pedal floored as well.

So today I toe it to a friends place and we take a look at it. I determine that it is not a function of the alarm and continue on. We remove the distributor cable and try to spark it but get no spark at all so we figure it's the coil. I dont think that we tested any of the individual spark plugs, but that shouldn't have been necessary since no spark was coming from the coil. The battery is now pretty well drained so I will have to get jumper cables onto it for any further testing. The battery is also old and has had a hard life the past 6 months being drained and charged since the car was sitting for a long time. I have not tested to see if there is fuel in the rail (nor do I quite understand where to do that at) so I cannot rule out a fuel problem. It has a full tank of gas as well. Would a fuel problem even make a difference given that there is no spark to the distributor?

I have had something like this happen once before, 4 days prior to this. I went to the post office and was in there for about 5 minutes, came back out, started the car and died immediately like its idle was too low. then it wouldn't start. i tried starting it in neutral as well. I left it for a minute and tried again and nothing. Then I held the key down for like 20 or 30 seconds and I think i had the gas pedal down as well and it finally caught and I revved it up pretty goo to keep it from dying and had no incident until last night on the ferry.

I'm trying to be as thorough as possible, so sorry for the long post. I have also read alot on the FAQ at http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#transmission. And couldn't decide what to try next so I though I would ask some seasoned veterans here their opinion on my specific problem. Let me know what other info you need from me.
Thanks in advance,
Zack

 

OK, so you need a constant jumper to go any further or a new battery, do you have voltage to the black/yellow wire going into the distributor, I am not convinced it is not a security problem unless only your radio has security and not the car.

The same power goes to both the coil and the ignitor, do you have the internal coil in your dizzy on your model. You should have been able to find all the help you need, this is an extremely common problem, this is why I am not yet convinced that the security is not at fault?????

 

I am not sure about the voltage to the black/yellow wire to the distributor. I have already remmoved the coil which was indeed outside the distributor.

I also called a dealership and told them about my problem and they recommended that I just replace the distributor and the coil. I am not sure where the ignitor is, but if they share the same power cable then im sure it wont be hard to find.

I will take some pictures of my engine tomorrow and post them. I am about 10 miles from my car so its a little bit difficult to get there and work on it.

As far as the security system, its the full deal. It has an alarm and a remote and all, although I never arm it. I don't know much about security systems so I'm not too sure about how it could be keeping the distributor from getting a spark or stopping the car from starting at all. If someone has in depth info about how these features work, that may help, but I haven't been able to find much info on the subject.

 

Dont follow the dealers advice yet, was there a little black electronic piece (square block, flat, 4 wires probably) on the coil bracket or very near the coil, if the ignitor is external also then that is it and it could be the problem, expensive guess though either way.

 

Check your fuses. You may have blown one while messing with wiring.

 

Yeah I checked the fuses already and they all seem to be fine unless there are more fuses than the ones under the hood.

And yes there is a little square box next to the coil.

I had a friend of mine do the spark check on the distributor and he said there was none. So today I went back to the car and had someone else turn the key while I checked it and I saw a spark and definitely felt the volts through my body. So yeah, the distributor seems to be just fine. Well at least on the way into the distributor. I wasn't sure about checking the spark plugs because on the valve cover where the spark plugs should be (I think) are some plugs from the distributor that go deep into the valve cover and I couldnt see the individual spark plugs and I didn't know what I was doing so I didn't search any further.

Also, I located teh Banjo nut on the Fuel rail and while having the key in the on position, I cracked teh bolt and istead of seeing an intense stream of fuel, there was a really weak, tiny amount that spilled out. I even took the bolt all the way off and nothing more than the initial spill came out.

 

Lack of fuel pressure sounds like it could be your main relay. Only it's common for them to go bad when it's really hot inside the car. Washington state is past the heat of summer, eh?

I'd check for power back at the fuel pump. It may be your main relay is OK but the pump is going bad? I don't know for '93 whether there's an access cover so you can get to the pump from underneath the trunk or backseat?

 

I agree with Jim I would chk the main relay before anything else .....

 

Yeah, in Washington its pretty damn cold right now. Ive been reading about tehse relay problems and they seem to only happen on hot days or during particular situations, but my car just wont start no matter what the weather condition. I will try the main relay. Though I don;t know where it is yet. Im going to buy a Chilton's or Haye's guide tomorrow. Im just looking for weak solder points right? Or am I testing this with a volt meter or something. I am also going to put my head by the fuel cap to see if i can hear the fuel pump come on when the key is turned to the On position. Any other suggestions?

 

If at some point you saw no spark and there is no fuel pressure, I still might look at the ignition switch or the security system stopping the ignition switch from working.

Is the security system installed in the car OEM or Aftermarket? Did you check all of the fuses under the driver's dash yet?