I have a 99 Honda Civic with just under 90K miles on it that won't
start. This first happened on Sunday morning - it started fine but
when it reached idling speed, it quickly died. Ran for 1-2 seconds at
the most. Now it doesn't start at all, and when I turn the key it
sounds like the starter is fine, maybe running a little faster /
louder than before.

I've heard and read about a lot of different things it could be. My
first thought was the fuel pump. I have never changed the fuel
filter, because it doesn't appear in the manual's maintenance
schedule, which I thought was a little bizarre. My inexperienced mind
thought that a clogged fuel filter would put undue stress on the fuel
pump, so it's got to be the pump right? I took the fuel filler cap
off, and listened for the fuel pump to turn on while my wife turned
the ignition, and I couldn't hear anything except the starter. Of
course, I'm not sure what the fuel pump would sound like if it was
actually running though.

So I almost went out and picked up a fuel pump and filter, but I
decided I'd call a few mechanics first. The first one told me he
doubted it was the fuel pump. He thought it was the timing belt.
Another mechanic that I've trusted for years told me the same thing,
but he said it could also be the distributor cap / rotor. Today I
called a dealer and they said (first, that they doubted it was the
timing belt at 90K miles - good thing, I've heard a lot of horror
stories about timing belts breaking on interference type engines). He
told me to try checking the distributor cap for moisture. I plan on
doing that tonight.

Any thoughts on what else to check?