My daughter has a 1989 Accord LXI Coupe with A/T and about 166,000 miles. The car has always started up very easily, but has had a low idle problem that I have never been able to fix. Lately it will start fine then develop a stuttering problem with poor performance. After the engine warmed up and was turned off for awhile, it was very hard to start and keep running. Now the car will not start at all. I can smell fuel after cranking, and I am getting spark to at least one of the plugs. I have recently removed and cleaned the throttle body and idle adjustment screw thoroughly (this helped initially), changed the spark plugs, both oxygen sensors, coil (was showing a high resistance), ignition control monitor (failed test at auto parts store). I put in a spare main relay and that did not make a difference. It doesn't sound like it wants to fire. Over the past 3 years I have replaced: fuel pump hanger unit, fuel injectors, fuel pressure regulator, IACV, main relay, alternator, battery, timing belt, accessory belts, ps pump, motor mounts. Please help point me in the right direction. Thank you.

 

Do you have any stored codes? The ecu in under the drivers seat and from the rear of that you can look at the led and counts the blinks when key is on/pos II.

Can you verify all four plugs are getting a good blue spark.

 

There are no codes and I do have a weak spark on all but #3 (no spark at all). I took an old spark plug from this car, attached it to the wire, and held on an exhaust manifold bolt.

 

Pull of the distributor cap and make sure the contacts inside look good. Also inspect the rotor.

 

The cap contacts look good. I did lightly sand them and the rotor a few weeks back. The last day the car ran it stalled many times and my daughter had to limp home at a very slow speed. It then died and would not restart.

 

You can test the tach signal to see if it is weak or not present which would indicate a bad ignitor a.k.a. ICM.

You may also want to do both a compression test and a draw down test. Potential causes could be the head gasket or intake manifold gasket, but I would check the tach signal first.

 

I have already replaced the ICM. I tested the resistance on all four plug wires and the coil wire. Two of the plug wires had no reading at all. I replaced all wires and have spark at all four cylinders. Still it just cranks away.

 

Update. I was able to get the car started, and it ran great up to and including running temperature until I put it in gear and backed out of the garage. It then continued to sputter and felt like it was missing. It especially felt like that under load and seemed like it would stall at stop signs. If I sit in neutral and hold it at 1500-2000 rpm it feels fine. The exhaust did smell like the engine was out of time. I will check this, but I don't think this will help with the missing. Advise?

 

I'd check the timing belt to be sure it hasn't slipped/jumped. You can pull the upper cover for the timing belt - you have to loosen the vc to slip it off. Set/spin the engine to TDC #1 using the marks on the trans flywheel - there is a hole or a plug covering the hole right below the dist towards the front of the car where the engine and trans meet.

Once you have that lined up, look at the cam gear - upper cover removed - and verify that the cam gear marks are lined up - UP mark on is up and the "hash" marks are level with the head.

Just for my own info - what color is yours? I've had several 3rd gen's over the years. The only one I have left now is an 89 LXi 5 speed coupe (2dr).....almost just like yours

 

Maroon. I had an identical car to this one years ago, and it was a 5 speed like yours.

I pulled the valve cover today and everything is in line. The car went back to a crank and no start status again. I spoke to a mechanic and he feels that the ICM/Ignitor has failed. He said that the aftermarket ones don't holdup under load. He uses only a genuine Honda part for this application. I took the part back to Advance and they are ordering me a new one for tomorrow. Advance is around $93.00 with a lifetime warranty and Honda is about $200 plus shipping. Worth the gamble for one more time since it is an easy fix.