Greetings,

After putting my engine back together after replacing the cylinder head, the car has no spark. I believe that the new coil is bad after checking it with a volt meter and will try to replace it tomorrow, but I would like some suggestions for other things to check if that isn't the only problem. During the cylinder head replacement, I also replaced the exhaust manifold, fuel filter, spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor, coil, thermostat, pcv valve, oil filter, and timing belt and oil pump. The car is a 1993 Honda Accord LX with a F22A1 engine.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

How did you verify no spark? When you tested the coil with your volt meter, how did you determine that it failed?

 

I verified no spark with a timing light which I know works. I will be using either a spark tester if I can find one or a screwdriver to test it again tomorrow.

For the coil, I'm supposed to get .6 to .8 ohms between the A and C terminals and I get 0.0.

 

For the resistance test, make sure you have your meter set to the proper resistance scale. The auto-range on some meters isn't as large as the meter's capability.

Check for power to the coil (blk/yel wire, I think). You can also use a test light and test the signal wire to the coil. A test light from the signal wire to ground will flash when testing.

 

That's a pretty low resistance (0.6 to 0.8 ohms) for normal inexpensive multi-meters. If it were open-circuit that doesn't display 0.0 but that's a more common way for coils to fail.

 

I've used two different meters, one very cheap and the other used by a mechanic (unfortunately, the mechanic is unable/unwilling to help, son of a bitch!). Not sure how good that one is, but it's got at least 3 times the selections my cheap one has. Both meters get 0.0 on the ohms setting for both the new coil and the old one which was still working when the timing belt broke.

Using the screwdriver test, I'm not getting spark from the coil to the distributor. I suspect I'm not getting power to the coil, but I don't know how to check and I don't know where else to check at this point.

Thanks for the responses so far and any further suggestions would again be greatly appreciated!

 

How would I check for power? How would I use a test light? I'm not very knowledgeable about electricity. Any help and/or links to explain these procedures would be very much appreciated. I'm going on almost two months without my car and it's getting very difficult to find people willing to lend me vehicles!

 

After further online research, I don't remember detaching or reattaching the ground on the thermostat housing (coming from the PCM? which may also be known as the ECM and/or the ECU?) I checked fairly thoroughly and didn't find anything loose or unconnected. Does anyone know where this ground comes from so I can hopefully find it and reattach it?

 

There is a pic in this link to the main ground on the 4th gens - it is labeled wrong when it come to "which" hose - as you know the lower hose goes to the T-stat housing.

Troubleshooting ECU Symptoms.

There is also some good information on the ignition system.

 

After some more testing today, this is where I am with the car. I believe the problem is either with the ignition control module or the ECU.

All the fuses I checked are good.

When retrieving the codes, when I jump the service connector, the CEL stays on and doesn’t blink, which seems to indicate the ECU is bad?

The ECU ground on the thermostat housing wasn’t connected, so I connected it.

When I turn the key, I get a click, the CEL goes on and off and I get a second click. I also can smell fuel, so this would seem to indicate the main relay is working as is the fuel pump?

One thing I noticed is that a lot of diagrams and pictures show a backup ECU fuse under the hood in the right upper corner when looking at the fuse box from the front of the car. I have a spot for a fuse but no fuse. No one works on this car but myself and I haven’t removed any fuses except to replace, so it’s probably been like this for several years. Is this a problem?

Following the tests in the link poorman212 provided and the following link, Honda Acura ignition (no spark) troubleshooting tutorial - How to, I do not have spark at the sparkplug or coming out of the distributor or coming from the coil’s output port. When I do the igniter input test, the test light lights up at blk/yel wire on the coil input and at the blk/yel wire on the igniter input and lights up at the wht/blu wire on the igniter unit. For the coil and igniter test, the test light lights up when you turn the key but goes out when the engine cranks and doesn’t blink. This would seem to indicate the igniter is bad?

One thing I noticed is that according to that link, if the igniter is an OKI brand, I should immediately replace it. Guess what brand mine is? The article also recommends either NEC or HITACHI. I can’t find either in this area, I am assuming I would have to go to the dealership? Anyone have any views on ignition control module brand names?

This is as far as I’ve gotten and I won’t be able to work on it again for at least several days.

What do you guys think my next step should be? I can get a used ECU from a local junkyard. The one in the car is already a used one from the same junkyard after the car got flooded right after I got it. I can get an ignition control module from the local auto parts stores, but it won’t be the brand recommended unless I can get it at the dealership. And, I’ve spent enough time and money on this engine, I would like to be sure one or the other or something else is the problem before replacing it.

Thanks again for the help!