I have a 1991 honda accord, it seems to run fine all the time. Recently it sorta cuts out at freeway speed, it shutters and wants to die for a second but doesnt, and the idle surges. Today i was driving in 2nd gear about to turn and it started to cut out a lot, the idle went crazy, and it died. When you turn the key it fires but wont turn over. Checked the dist. cap & rotor what else could it be? something to do with the ignition system? how do i check

 

I had to replace the ignition switch in my '98 accord because it would randomly die, especially if I was turning a corner like from one street to another or turning in a driveway, and then sometimes it didn't want to start, or it would start and immediately die, but it never died on the highway, and I never had the idle surge, it would just die. I dunno if what you are experiencing is the same or not, it sort of sounds like it, but then it doesn't either..... Ignition switch was only about $50.00, you might want to change it out just to see if that fixes it or not, if it does, it's a cheap fix....

 

Its never died while on the freeway, it would just shudder and seem like it was going to die & the idle would surge. When it actually died i was shifting into 2nd gear and when i gave it gas it jerked and shuttered & didnt wanna go for a second.. it stopped. Then after i turned onto my friends street i was at a stop sign, put it in 1st and it shuttered and jerked and finally it died and wouldnt start back up. this is the first time its actually died completely and wouldnt turn back on.

 

So from doing a little research i think its the distributor. Someone was saying on a forum that your distributor is the problem if theres oil leaking from it. Does anyone know how to go about replacing seals in the the distributor to fix this problem>?

 

DON't think, or assume what the problem is ........you need to diagnose to know for sure what the issue is.before you spend your money .......
when car does not start , is it lack of fuel or lack of spark??
oil in the distr means that the lower inner seal is leaking , unless the distr has a lot of oil in it,, i don't feel that a leaky seal is your issue,, it needs to be replaced regardless ,a leaky seal will make some oil come out of the cap but i have never seen the seal cause car not to start or die while driving ,oil would run at bottom part of cap thus away from wiring,,,,,,,,,,,,,, but if lack of spark i would suspect igniter and or coil

there are write ups in the DIY section on how to test for lack of fuel and lack of spark