Today my car died on me twice when I came to a stop. I tried to start it and it just turned and turned. I had to push the car to a parking stall and let it sit. I loosened the distributor and gave it a slight adjustment and then the car started. The check engine light came on so I did the ground trick to get the code and this is what I got. 8 quick flashes pause 9 quick flashes, it then proceeded to give me the same sequence of 8quick pause 9quick for quite a while. My question is this, do i count all of the flashes or just the first two 8 then 9? any help would be great. This car has been giving me fits lately.

 

You count them as a group, so you have a code 8 and code 9. Those are for the TDC and CYP sensors that are in the distributor.

Did the check engine light turn on before you messed with the distributor?

 

Yes the light came on before I messed with it. I have a guy at work who told me a while back when the "wont start issue" started happening that it sounded like the distributor to him. He said that they have a habit of going bad.
If it ends up that I need a new distributor, does anyone have any input on any certain brand I should buy to ensure quality?

 

When I messed up my distributor, I bought one from a junkyard. It has been working for the last 4 years. The 94 distributors didn't have the problems that were more common with the earlier accords.

I find it odd that two sensors are out, so I think that you should do some more troubleshooting. Remove the distributor cap and see if there oil in there. Also look for a rust dust coating the sensors. Also, look for pinched wires inside as well.

Unplug the electrical connector to the distributor and see if any of the pins in either connector are loose, corroded, etc.

 

If you install the distributor drive key backwards, you can damage the distributor drive shaft alignment and get codes caused by misalignment of the static sensors and inductor rotors. Guess how I discovered this information? Yep, I installed the distributor key upside down, tightened, and attempted to start; w/o success of course. Upon removal the bearing retainer plate (weak element) was bent. I removed and straightened the plate, and this fixed the distributor. However several years later, hard start problem arose and I replaced distributor.

The incorrect installation damage allows the CYP and TDC rotors to move up relative to sensor, but no more than 1-2 mm max. This was enough in my case to cause the code to appear. The CYP and TDC are both beneath the upper plate on the 94EX.

It is a relatively difficult fix w/ no garuntee of success. A used or new distributor may allow quicker repair at some extra cost. You can buy a new aftermarket for about $100 on ebay. Used are $50-$75, so not as attractive as aftermarket new.

good luck

 

Come to think of it, when my buddy put the clutch in for me i noticed that he had the distributor out. Is there any way that he could have put it in wrong? If in fact he did put it in wrong would it still start and drive, but give me intermitent problems like I'm having?

 

The short answer is no. If it was installed 180 out of time, the car would never start.