The USA Accord EX 4-cyl has the F23A1 engine, which is the most common that year. The valve cover has VTEC embossed on the top. I used to have a 1998 4-door 4-cyl auto-trans and that's the engine it had.

I remember seeing the non-VTEC F23A5 engine in the factory shop manual, but now I can't find for certain which version of Accord has that engine.

The F23A4 engine is ULEV-VTEC, and I think it's in some of the California spec cars. It has a different exhaust manifold & distinctive ribs across the heat shield like the attached picture.

 

The FSM doesn't really spec out which body or version gets the F23A5 engine, as it could be had in both the DX and the LX. I guess the easiest way to determine whether or not you have a F23A5 would be to look and see if there's a VTEC solenoid which would be located in the left (passenger side) rear corner of the cylinder head, next to the EGR valve when looking head on at the engine bay. Or like Jim mentioned it having VTEC on the valve cover. I know my 97 Accord LX non-VTEC engine just says 16 valve on it (it's an F22B2 engine).

I've got a 99 Japan built F23A4 in ULEV 5 speed Accord LX, while my wife has an Ohio built F23A4 AT ULEV in her Accord LX. Both cars are very similar under the hood, except my 99 does not have the ABS unit in the left (drivers side) front corner of the engine bay (it's nice and open there). However, most of the items under the hood (like the air filter box) use a different manufacturer between the 2 cars. I would have to guess then that her LX is also a ULEV ABS car as some of the Honda parts sites call out.

 

You guys really know your stuff. Thanks..I did what someone told me, and look at the engine block under the upper coolant hose..and there it was..
the most common type engine number. stamped into the aluminum
F23A1---

I bought a bafx product-OBD11-diagnostic interface,
to get the trouble code's , Yet I had already pulled the fuse to clear the code's, So even though I'd driven to the senior lunch twice, the code's didn't come back yet....I used the free auto doctor ubd2 software...So far it's not that impressive....It'll show the code and clear them...it does show some other stuff, yet I've still got to lean how to make it do stuff for me...I'll most likely have to pay the ten bucks to get the upgraded version...yet I'll keep looking at the utube vid's till I can know for sure...
Again thanks for your help...

 

Keep in mind that some codes require "3" cycles before they show up. I've ran into that with the EVAP code I have on my 99. I'll clear it, and drive some place shut it off, go do something, then fire it back up go somewhere else and shut it off, then when I restart it and drive about a mile it'll pop back up again as a code.
In your case you might need to drive it some more, and see if it comes back up. If it doesn't, you might be good to go. But if it comes back up, you'll have to do some more digging to find the problem.

 

Troubleshooting in the FSM usually incorporates "clear it & see if it comes back" somewhere in the procedure. That's the way to find out if the error code is anything recent. Sometimes a code that remains stored from 6 months ago sends you on a wild-goose chase that has nothing to do with the present problem.

And some codes are more complicated than just "3 cycles". More likely they need a particular set of circumstances to occur, like having to idle for x minutes, or a certain number of excursions up to some speed.

PS Cutter... Cute signature. I have to be careful what I post, someone might remember it after 4 years

 

Well, I was looking thru the off topic forum (all148 pages), as I was bored and it was cold and wet outside. I was trying to find some idea of/if there was a common mileage for when AT's would start failing. The problem I found is there isn't a given. It can be as short as 40K, or as long as 300+K. But then I came across your post (that I added to my sig line) which might explain why some don't last as long as others do.
I mean as smart as the engineers at Honda are, I can't for the life of me believe that Honda would offer an automatic trans that would be defective, AND continue to offer it for more than 4 years after introduction. It just doesn't make sense to do that, especially a company known for high quality vehicles.

Sorry OP for getting off topic or hijacking your thread. Back to your problem/issue.
Personally I'd just drop the idea of trying to use a 97 distributor in your 98, and just try and track down a 98 or 99 distributor for your F23A1 engine. I'd look on car-part.com for 1. You might find one cheap enough that's semi close by. Or even check RockAuto.
Like Jim and I mentioned above, some codes require different circumstances to cough up a code, while others will do it immediately. It just depends on which code comes up.