New to the forum/honda's. My son's fiance has a 91 Accord DX that is currently having a no start problem. Here is the background.

High miles (over 175000), she was driving the other day and it just stalled. After 5-10 minutes, it would start, she could drive a few miles, and again it would stall. I read alot of threads in this forum and went to the troubleshooting site linked in this forum, and the symptoms led me to believe that it was either the coil or ICM. My time is limited due to work hours, so I just replaced both, and now I have a no start. Wants to turn over, but its almost like the timing is off 180, although I know it isn't. Followed Chilton manual for wiring of the ICM, so I'm sure its correct. I know the distributor will only seat one way, so I'm trying to figure out what else it could be. I'll be checking the ignition switch today when I get home from work, and of that's good, where to go?

She works, goes to school, and hauls around my grandson, so her car needs to be in top working order. Any advice/assistance would be greatly appreciated. JB

 

A couple of things to check:

A '91 model Accord had a BIG problem with distributor sub assembly failure. This failure resulted in ignition timing problems. If you want to be able to trust this Accord, one of the most important things to do is use only Genuine Honda Ignition parts. Use no Aftermarket Ignition Parts.

Take the cap off of the distributor and see if their is a brownish dust inside. Also check to see if the rotor is snug on the distributor sub-assembly shaft.

If you have aftermarket parts on this vehicle in these places, start with the following from you local Honda dealerand order as these part numbers only to save money. If they refuse to sell you these exact part numbers let me know.

Genuine Honda Part # 06301-PT3-A10 Distributor sub assembly. This part is a great deal. It is a new dist. sub assembly, cap rotor, and ignitor and is very reasonably priced.

Genuine Honda Part # 30510-PT2-006 Ignition Coil

I have owned a shop, Accurate Automotive, that exclusively specializes in Honda and Acura and we have been in business for over a decade. We have replaced a ton of the these. The main thing to remember is that you absolutely cannot trust aftermarket ignition parts on a Honda product. From the distributor to the spark
plugs needs to be the OEM.

One final note, make sure that all of your wiring in the distributor is snug (including the + and - coil wires underneath the capare secured with those special screws.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Ed Brian
Accurate Automotive
www.accuratecars.com

 

I don't see any diagnostics to check for spark or fuel supply. The absolute first step w/ any no-start problem is determining whether spark or fuel supply is the problem. One simple way to check for spark and fuel at same time is to spray fuel (throttle body cleaner or starter fluid) into the open throttle body intake while someone turns the engine over and see if a brief start/run is achieved. If YES, you have spark and no fuel, and if NO, you have fuel and no spark.

good luck

 

Didn't do any checks, because it was running the day prior, and I assumed that spark/fuel were present. Will check tomorrow and see for sure. Am also going to put the origional parts back on and see if I can get it to start at least. If it does, then what do I need to do to chase down the stalling problem?

Thanks
JB

 

It depends on whether the problem is fuel or fire. If fuel is problem, the Main Fuel Relay (MFR) is a prime suspect, but find out what's not working before buying more parts.

good luck