Michael Pardee wrote:
> This evening (yes - Christmas eve) my daughter's '93 Accord LX (225K miles)
> suffered a short bout of engine failure. She described it as surging a
> couple times when she tried to accelerate, then the engine died when she
> braked. I quizzed her about the tach and she was clear it was jumping rather
> than swinging with the engine. It didn't start right away, but would sputter
> occasionally and eventually lit off as though flooded (which it probably was
> by then).
>
> The Main Relay and ignitor are each about a year old (but both are NAPA
> aftermarket, since the car insists on breaking down on Sundays and
> holidays). The timing belt is 4 years, 60K miles old. My son and I replaced
> the radiator about 2 weeks ago, so I am wondering if we stirred up evil
> spirits in the process of that. He bled the system carefully, but a leak in
> the lower radiator hose attachment may have let air in. I haven't done a
> visual inspection yet, but will in the morning.
>
> What comes to mind? Ignition switch? Some particular underhood wiring?
> Distributor? Something I'm forgetting? She is committed to driving to San
> Diego in a week or so and I'd sure like to sort this out by then.
>

I wonder if the problem is electrical in nature, because the RPMs were
jumping around wildly.

Since the tach and engine timing both get their signal from the crank
sensor, I'd also look in that area.

Remco