Engine Died While Driving, Won't Start
 

I was driving to my buddies house that is just a few minutes away, and about halfway there my car just died. Music was still playing, but the engine had shut off. I put it in neutral (still coasting) and tried to start it but no dice. I pulled off the road and put it in park. Nothing leaking, no rods sticking through the block... everything in working order pretty much. The car just cranked, and cranked, and cranked, etc... I listened for the fuel pump, could still hear it thud, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's pumping fuel. I don't know if I am getting fuel yet, I don't know if I'm getting spark yet. I left the hazards on and left for an hour or two, waiting for a tow home. That was enough to kill my battery, so battery charger is going on tomorrow and the testing starts...

I talked to a guy at autozone who knew Honda's, and a buddy of mine, and they both mentioned something in the distributor, something with two little wires or two little screws, the autozone guy said to check the resistance on it, and my buddy said the little piece commonly fails. What's this little piece called? My buddy called it an "igniter".

All ideas and thoughts are appreciated.

Please put your year, model, etc... in your signature so we don't have to ask and/or lookup your old posts.

My bad, it's in there now.

I would start by having the battery tested. The hazards shouldn't drain the battery that quickly.

The first thing I would do after the battery test, is to turn the key to the II position and listen for the fuel pump to turn on for about two seconds (when the check engine light turns on for about two seconds). You said you heard a thud, but the pump (to me) sounds like a faint buzzing/whirling sound from the back seat. Just want to make sure you hear the fuel pump.

Next try to start the car. Disconnecting the battery erased all stored engine codes. If the car will not start, I would check for engine codes. See the common diy thread on top of the gen tech help forum for a link to checking engine codes.

Next step would be to test for spark. Do you have a timing light?

My battery is a hunk of crap, I'm aware of this already. Leaving the lights on for 30 minutes will leave me stranded.

I have no check engine lights on, my light comes on then shuts back off after a few seconds.

I do not have a timing light. I believe my buddy does though, I'll borrow it, but I don't really know how to use it.

My buddy that called it the "igniter" pulled up this part. Ignition Control Module

If you want to read some more about the ignition control module (ICM)/igniter, here are a couple of links:

Honda Acura ignition (no spark) troubleshooting tutorial - How to

Igniter failures

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...hen-hot-48102/

check out my thread I m going through the same thing and have narrowed it down to a lack of fuel.

Did some trouble shooting. Pulled the wire coming from the coil to the distributor and there was no spark. Also tried pulling a spark plug wire and stuck a screwdriver in it and still no spark. There was 12.7 volts going TO the coil. Does this mean my coil is bad?

or the ignition control module (igniter) I'd think the igniter might be the problem here.

No spark with 12V going to the coil could be the igniter or the coil.

You can try some resistance tests on the coil itself, but a coil can test good, but still not work properly.

I would still check for codes. It takes a few minutes.

I've not gotten a single code other than P0420 cat inefficiency during my issues. I have not had that code since i replaced my coil (which had a burn mark on the back)
https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...-spot-5977.jpg

Alright, I'll give that a shot. But even with nothing coming out of the coil?

How do I test for codes? I believe my car is OBD1, but I don't know how to check the codes with that sort of system.

Oh I don't have an engine light on either. It turns off after about 2 seconds.

The igniter turn on/off the coil to generate spark. So a good coil would still give out no spark.

Go to the common diy thread on top of the gen tech help forum and open the link for checking engine codes.

Fished my igniter out and took it to Autozone, they tested it for me. They tested it 5 times and it passed every time. Does this now mean it's my coil?

If you don't wan't to waste money on a part that you aren't sure is the problem, I would go to a U-Pull-It junkyard and buy a coil and/or igniter. You would need ones from a 94-97 LX/DX accord. It shouldn't cost too much.

My car doesn't start at all, hot or cold. It just cranks.

My coil i'm getting is only $40, and returnable.

Well installed the new coil and surprise surprise there's no fire. After trouble shooting I decided to see if the rotor on my distributor was moving because I wasn't sure if I had put it back on wrong. Then I came to find out my cam wasn't spinning. Yay for broken timing belts.

you need to test for spark.


You can get a can of ether, have someone spray it into the throttle body while you crank if it fires you have spark but no fuel if nothing happens then you have no spark.

I believe its your timing belt? when you crank it over does the engine sound abnormal to you?
If its the timing belt you will get no spark no fire power,the engine will crank slower than usual and sound more like a winding than a crank

It's an interference engine so you need to be careful about camshaft position.

You've already been cranking the engine without the cam spinning. So if you're gonna bend the valves then they're already bent.

Turn the crankshaft until the TDC timing mark is 90-degrees away from the pointer. That will position all 4 pistons at mid-stroke, and now you can turn the camshaft any which way you want.

By turning the camshaft, you should go through the motions of checking your valve clearances. Any that are way too large are bent valves. If you see that, you can decide whether to have the head rebuild or look for a used engine.

I already know it's not getting spark. I've tested it several times. Plus with the camshaft not spinning while cranking that's pretty much a dead giveaway that there's something wrong with the timing belt.

When I crank the motor, it does sound very abnormal. But it doesn't crank slow, it cranks fast. Sounds like there's no compression and it's a whirring sound. It's not too much of a whirring sound, you can tell there's compression from what I think I can hear. I'm wondering if the valves are stuck halfway open.

I really hope I didn't bend a valve. The car would not be getting a new motor and would probably be scrap. This would just mean I now have three cars sitting in front of my house that don't run. Worst of all, I don't have a driveway, so it's my three dead cars sitting on the side of the road, plus the three other cars that we have that do run (Ma's car, Dad's car, and bro's car)

It definitely sounds like you have bent valves.

wow i did not know that!about the pistions being at mid range?
Learn something new every day! and when on the Forum you learn something more!

That bit about all 4 pistons being at mid-stroke is for in-line 4-cyl engines. I had to look up whether the '95 LX coupe was offerred in V-6, and it wasn't. Otherwise, it's very important to say whether you have 4-cyl or V-6 because they may as well have been completely different cars.

Well it was the timing belt and no valves appear to have struck... all that aside I took the ignitor out (ignition control module) and completely forgot the order of wires that it went in. Anyone know this off hand or could tell me where I can find out?

I take that back... I have bent valves. Cylinder 2 had no compression, and cylinder four is about 50 pounds low :/

Well, if and when the new/rebuilt head is on.....1-3-4-2 should be the order to the plugs, if that is what you were asking.