"Michael Pardee" (michaeltnull@cybertrails.com) writes:
> "||" <sl@npspam.com> wrote in message
> news:xrOxd.28627$Yh2.13043179@twister.nyc.rr.com.. .
>>I have a 1987 Honda Accord, manual transmission and a carburetor engine.
>> Yesterday I drove off from my home and in less than 50 feet the car
>> started
>> to jerk, jerk and jerk. Then it came to a stop. The engine turns over
>> but
>> it does not start. What do you think might be the problem? What should I
>> check?
>>
>>
>>
>> Lex
>>
>>
> First question: has the timing belt been changed in the last 100K miles or
> so? I suffered a timing belt failure on the road in Mercury Capri once, and
> that is a good description of the symptoms: a couple surges and I coasted to
> the side.
>
> Otherwise, I'd suspect ignition. Fuel problems tend to be a "softer" death
> than ignition, which feels like turning a switch off (or on and off). But if
> the timing belt isn't a suspect because it has been changed, a spray of
> starting fluid into the carburetor - be sure to put the air cleaner back on
> to ward off a fire - will tell you if the problem is fuel or ignition. If
> the engine runs on the starting fluid, I'd look at the fuel pump (does the
> '87 have the notorious main relay, which would be a strong suspect?). If
> not, look at the spark.
>
> Mike
>

When was the last time the distributor rotor and distributor cap changed?
Hondas from the 80's need to have the cap and rotor changed when the spark
plugs are changed. I was stranded once (after farting and bucking my way
home, car died in the yard and would not start) when I skipped the cap and
rotor change when I changed my plugs once on an 1987 carb Accord. The
rotor had failed after about 45000 miles. It had a crack in it and was
shorting the juice to the distributor shaft. SOB... the car behaved like
it had ice in the gas. Weather conditions at the time were prime to
produce ice in gas lines. 3 hours of trying to figure out what the hell
was wrong, I swapped in an old rotor (the one I took out 45000 miles
before) and VARROOM the sucker started!

New rotor, cap, and oil change (oil diluted from the flooding) and I
was back in business.


M.A Stewart

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