Hi. I have a 1990 Honda Accord that hasn’t been starting. My father and I used to listen to car talk before he passed away and though I’m not a car guy I really enjoyed the show and the community seems friendly, so I thought I might turn here for help.
The electrical system -seems- to be working. The key can be turned to the on position and it beeps and the shoulder belts move into position and all that, but when trying to actually start the car, it continually cranks but doesn’t catch and fire.
We called a mechanic, and they came out to fix the problem, but it seems that every two weeks or so, the same thing happens and we have to call the same mechanic to get him to come do a warranty repair. He’s been nice about it so far, comes out promptly and of course fixes it again without a charge. However, he has done this I think four times now at regular intervals. The first time he claimed it the power module, which was replaced. The second time, it was a connector to the module backing out, which he replaced. The third time I believe he replaced the whole thing again. The fourth time he claimed it was a seperate connector that he ‘didn’t see’ that had been backing out that he replaced and put a zip strip of some kind around to attempt to hold in place.
Well, it’s been about two weeks and it won’t turn over again. Obviously, we are getting tired of having the car unexpectedly just stop working and the mechanic is probably about as tired of fixing it. I’m happy to provide any additional information that might be helpful but I’m not an expert on vehicles (basic maintenance is about the extent of my know-how) so please assume I’m an idiot when posing any questions to me. 
Anything would be a help right now. I know you’ll probably say to shell out to go get a diagnostic but calling our budget shoestring right now would be generous, so if we can avoid that it would be preferable.
Thank you for your time.
The next time the engine refuses to start, get out and remove the gas cap. while listening down the filler tube, have someone turn the ignition switch to the RUN position. You should hear the fuel pump run for a second or two and then stop running. If you don’t hear this, the problem might be with the fuel pump relay. Which is located under the dash, above the drivers left knee.
Tester
If you are getting a CEL or SES sign light on the dash, take it to Autozone and have the code(s) read and post them back here so the pros can better help you.