Honda Car Forum

Hello,
I am brand new to this site, but belong to a couple other simalar sites. My problem is my 91 Accord sometimes starts sometimes does not, its been towed a few times, and the coil inside the dist replaced, over $200, the mechanic told me to wiggle the wires to the dist next time it happens if it does and it did. My 16 yo Daughter drives this and I can't have her wiggling wires all the time especially here in Maine! So I rewired the dist. doing away with the plug. It worked for a while, then the shop told me the dist. was bad, so I replaced the whole dist. and it ran after I replaced it and thought my troubles were finished. Well again no start. (no fire) Just thought I post before I have it towed to a another shop. Thanks in advance, Kim

has anyone changed the "main relay"? Intermittent no start problems are caused by this part going bad most of the time. It can cause a no spark or no fuel situation because there are two relays housed in it. Also, there are so many poor quality parts out there for distributors. When you changed the distributor did they change the whole thing with an aftermarket? Or just swapped internals over. If the car has the same problem then maybe they used some of the parts over again in the new distributor. If its all new and the problem is the same then you need to go somewhere else. Is the ground wire loose on the thermostat housing..check that too.
jason
Honda & Acura Auto Repair – Lewisville and Hurst, Texas

Jason,
Thanks for the reply, yes the main relay was replaced a couple of years ago as the original owner had the same problem, as well as the distributer also afew years ago when he had it. He is a good friend of mine so I know the whole history on the car which actually is not much as it has been a very dependable car. He bought it new in Hawaii, then drove it from Ca. to Maine back in 2001 or so that is when the first dist was replaced. Anyway it has 155K on it now and I replaced the whole distributer myself with a aftermarket off Ebay. Before that the coil inside was replaced at a Indy shop with the part being from NAPA. I went over to the car yesterday and it started, it took a bit of cranking and my Daughter did not crank it very long as her Mother told her not to. So it may be fine now, just needing plugs to help the long cranking. Where is the main relay? I will alos check the ground wire as you mentioned. I really need this fixed and dependable as it once was as it is the perfect car for the kids. Also it is the first and only Japanese car I have ever owned and I see why Honda sold so many of them, it does everything perfect!! Thanks again, Kim

make sure you used NGK OEM plugs (ZFR5F-11). Sometimes when it gets cold those cars can flood easily--especially if someone moved the car a short distance without running it. That can be overcome by holding the pedal down and cranking for awhile. Let her know that to crank in 30 second intervals--actually quite long--is fine. The main relay is mounted under the dash on the driver side directly above the "cruise control unit". also, I have had a lot of bad luck with aftermarket distributor parts so you may want to change them over time. The coil is manufactured by Bosch and has the letters TEC stamped on the plastic. It is the only reliable one. The igniter should be brown and have NEC stamped on it. Hope this is helping.