Friend just bought an 88 Accord EXi 4-door Automatic. He has no internet so I have the honors.

He says there is an intermittent "rattle" from the distributor which sounds like a pre-ignition ping. He says when this happens, the tach needle jumps up as long as the sound is heard, although there does not appear to be actual increase of engine rpm. At idle the tach jumps 500rpm and a highway speeds it will jump from 2,000rpm to 5,000rpm. Each episode last about 3 seconds. He says the sound seems to be coming from the distributor. When the sound occurs the engine looses power. There is also a problem with cold starting.

So the obvious questions are:

How are these symptoms related?

Is the tach electronic or mechanical drive?

Thanks in advance. Hope someone can shed some light on this issue.