It’s probably possible (but I don’t know how to do it on your car) to pressurize the fuel rail, disable the fuel pump, then pulse each injector a certain number of times, then measure the drop in fuel rail pressure. That would be proportional to the amount of fuel output by the injector. If you do that for all four injectors, the drop in pressure should match pretty closely for all four injectors. That would be one possible test to consider. That’s called an injector balance test. It wouldn’t show-up a problem where all injectors matched each other, but all injectors output an incorrect amount though. But that wouldn’t be a common failure mode. Usually you’d do something called a “noid test” first. That means using a specialty test light to verify the injectors are being electrically pulsed during cranking. Google “noid light” for example.
You were correct in saying that resistor box seldom fails…true. That hasn’t stopped me from having a few spares. lol
Remind me again what issue we are trying to solve at this moment… Are we at the point where you can spray start fluid into intake and she fires up…runs a moment and dies? As if we still have no active fueling from injectors? Is that where we are?
I’m trying to recall… who is responsible for fuel… I believe the distributor is with cam position, yes it is… the crank sensor is what indicates triggers spark which also communicates w distributor.
I can see in your list no new distributor… they fail all the time… as per my first response, I wasn’t kidding in listing the top suspects in an Accord no Start… I’m still not kidding… Now ifun only you could test it… you would need an oldie but a goodie…
The OLD SCHOOL Actron CP9087 sensor tester… it tests hall effect sensors, coils all sorts o crap…and I used to use the hell out of it when your car was much more common… It wouldn’t hurt to get you one of these… just for fun…cheap thrills.
Do youre checks and verify what you will… but know, and know for sure…if your distributor is out to lunch…you’re screwed… no fueling, crappy spark…no start, I promise and brother they failed ALL the time… So much so I kept a known good one handy just to save time…and save time it did… over n over again.
The Distributor brother… I’m telling you…I am HIGHLY suspicious of your distributor. Do you have a buddy with a running 95’ ? Invite him over…
Starting fluid doesn’t get it running. I’ll hear it pop like it wants to fire up, but not quite turning over.
The only testing I’ve done related to the distributor is the spark test you suggested. Here’s the video I took of each plug, hard to tell if they are blue or not:
Just watched video… You have a bad ignitor inside the distributor… AND or the coil is cooked. You can Ohm test the coil… and or trigger it yourself and test but… That spark is inadequate for your vehicle of that I am 100% certain… You will literally HEAR your spark if its firing correctly… Snap, snap, snap.
Now… who is responsible for this… the coil or the distributor which houses the ignitor… Imho… the coils last a long long time and it is usually the distributor causing all the trouble… but coils do fail. This being 2019 for God sakes your coil owes you nothing if its oem.
If this were in front of me… I would do the distributor 1st… coil second… But I would Ohm the coil also, I dont like guessing, so in the end I dont guess.
My opinion… Distributor… then coil. Like I said…its nice to have a buddy with a working 92-95’ and yank his to see… but… these cars arent as common as they used to be. They used to be everywhere.
Thanks for checking it out because I couldn’t determine how good the spark was. I don’t know anyone with the same model of Accord but there’s a pick and pull yard I go to and they have a few of these cars, I could get the whole distributor assembly for about $10-$15 (I juts have to pray it’s functional).
Only problem with that is… These cars ARE KNOWN TO SMOKE Distributors. You might get lucky, but in this instance about $125 will get you a new unit.
Used introduces too many variables… we are trying to weed those out… not add more. New, otherwise you dont know whatchagots
True and I really don’t want to waste 2 hours of my time in 100 degree heat in a junkyard for something that may or may not work.
One thing about junk yard parts I’ve learned - if it’s an item that must work in order for the car to operate (starter, alternator, distributor, etc), the part will usually still be good. Generally, when a car is junked, it’s junked because something major and expensive broke (trans, engine, head gasket), but it was driven right up until the time of the Big Bang. So in your case, you need a distributor. Most likely the scrap car’s distributor is ok. Unless it was scrapped because it had a bad distributor and the previous owner couldn’t figure it out, which doesn’t seem likely. Just an observation from pulling parts over the years. But it is a gamble.
Re: spark test vdo
The color of the spark is a little more orange-ish than I’m used to seeing, but I doubt that by itself would prevent starting. The main thing I notice is the spark isn’t repeating like I’d expect to see. You should see — spark, spark, spark, spark – in other words repeating at a constant rate during cranking.
In the case of this Accord…which were very well known for distributor failures and not much more actually. It would be a gamble, been there done that back before I believed in the “Smarter not Harder” technique of repairing vehicles.
I cant knock anyone for trying, as I have done the same thing myself in my youth. I can’t be bothered with it nowadays…my time is becoming more valuable to me. Perhaps because I am acknowledging that I have less of it all the time… lol
Do as you please, but I strongly suggest a new item, especially here…
I have a new distributor on order, it arrives tomorrow. If that doesn’t work, it could only be the fuel injectors being clogged or the starter. I have fuel pressure, new gas, I have a working fuel pump, a working ECU. I feel like I’m closing in on it.
Can the injectors get dirty enough from sitting to cause the car not to start? Also it was mentioned that it could be the starter but would I be able to get any activity from the distributor if I had a bad starter? Just asking questions so I know which what the next course of action is.
Suggest to replace the distributor and post back if that doesn’t get it running. Clogged fuel injectors? Anything’s possible, but seems unlikely. I don’t recall anyone here ever posting their car wouldn’t start b/c the fuel injectors were clogged. Poor performance under certain conditions, yes, but not a likely cause for cranks but won’t start. When you sprayed starter fluid into the air intake path, did you spray it directly into the throttle body? Or did you spray it into the air-cleaner intake path?
I tried both ways with the starter fluid. I would hear it pop like it wanted to fire up but it wouldn’t turn over.
That’s another reason to proceed with the distributor replacement first.
Well, I replaced the distributor with a new unit. No luck…still won’t start. I’ll post a video shortly.
Well that stinks. Does the spark look any different? I assume not… Will you be trying the coil next as Blackbird suggested?
I didn’t have a chance to check the spark but I replaced the entire assembly (pictured): image|333x499
I know nothing about Honda’s. Does it have a separate coil, or is that bulge on the side of the distributor the coil?
I wonder if the engine could’ve jumped time at some point? Although, I assume you’d still get a strong spark if the timing were off. I guess?
I’m thinking this is over my head at this point!
Did you ever have the starter tested? I wonder if the starter was really weak if it would affect the strength of the spark…
You don’t have to answer all my questions. I’m mainly just throwing ideas out there.
No the coil is built in. Haven’t had the starter tested…guess I was doing that last since the original owner said she had it replaced already.
Aside from that new Distributor… The ignition Coil is also suspect, but like I said you can Ohm that part out, in my experience doint an Ohm test yeilds inconclusive results… I could swear I had a bad coil at one point and did the test and it checked out OK, and yet… in the end, I needed a new ignition coil. Since your coil is a separate stand alone unit it could be suspect as well.
On other Accords with known Distrib failure as a common culprit of no starts… the coil is internal to the Distrib, so you would get the whole shebang when you bought a new unit… Unfortunately…in your instance this is not the case. SO… How I would go about this? New Distributor, test…and hopefully you are running again… if not… the very next part to buy or seek out used would be the coil.
Sorry I cant be more exact than this, if it was an all in one unit, you would have it covered, but dems the breaks sometimes kiddo.
Good Luck and let us knowski