Okay - new update - found O'Reilly's new in town and they check ignition modules! They checked it - it's good. The guy there says that it could be the crankshaft position sensor. He said that definitely would be an intermittent problem. Okay, I am going to check and see if I can find it on the engine and try to check it out. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Does your car start at all now or is it still intermittent?

The crank position sensor is a posibility, but it should turn on the CEL.

There is a thread for online manual in the DIY section that has links to sites with electronic versions of the shop manual for the 6th gen accord. The CPS is on the engine block and the wires come out of the timing belt cover. The manual will have the proper resistance of the two wires going to that sensor.

There is also a thread in the DIY section called no start, no spark and gives a procedure to determine if the ICM or the coil is bad. I know that I read of others who had a coil that had the proper resistance, but it was still bad. If I had to guess, I would say that the coil is the culprit.

 

It won't start at all now. What does CEL stand for?

 

CEL = Check Engine Light

 

OK, you won't believe this. I put it all back together after not getting any results from anything that I checked.

It started.

Took it to O'Reilly's Auto Parts and checked for codes. None stored.

Only guess I have is that there was a bad connection and screwing around with it fixed it. What do you think?

Lost one of the bolts to hold the coil on and O'Reilly has no idea what it is. Will go to Fastenal and show them the other one to see if they got it, I guess.

 

Alright here we go. I am having the same problem again. It happens occasionally every so often but a lot the past month. Now here is the kicker. It happens when it rains. When it's done raining and dried out it runs fine again. Looking back - this has always been the case before also. Am I getting moisture in somewhere that would cause it to act like it is not firing? I looked around electrical connections and can's really tell where there is a moisture problem. Where would be the best place to start?

 

Is your coil inside of the distributor or outside?

 

Inside.

 

I was going to suggest for you to hook up a test light when the car isn't starting. Does the problem persist for long when the car isn't starting? If not, it may be hard to test.

I would suspect a faulty sensor would give you an error code if the car wasn't starting.

I think that you have it narrowed down to one of three components (or the wiring). It is either the coil, ignition control module, or the PCM. Or any of the wiring that leads to each. I would check, clean, then tighten all grounding points. Closely inspect the wiring inside of the distributor for damage or crappy repairs.

You can get a 98-02 shop manual from the online manuals link in the DIY section. Its an iso file, so you have to burn it to a CD. That should show you where the grounds are located on your accord.

 

It started this morning and I drove it home. Running like brand new. I guarantee that it will run the next time I start it because it is in my garage. The next time it rains heavily it will either stall a little while driving or will not start at all when I park it at work outside for 9 hours. Like you said, I believe it will be difficult to troubleshoot unless it is causing problems. Unless you have another idea, I was going to try something unorthodox. I am going to pull it in the driveway and simulate rain as best I can under the hood in different areas. I will check all connections prior and make sure I am not missing something. I am pretty sure this will work if I go about it the right way. Any suggestions?