Honda Car Forum

93 Accord EX standard. Motor started sputtering right at 3400 rpm, and wouldn't rev higher than that, even when I revved it out of gear in the driveway. It was as if the computer was confused, and had changed the rev limiter. The code that flashed was 4, "crank angle", so the manual says. My mechanic said that's because the dizzy is going bad, and offered me a swap out of one of his wrecks. Of course I had to turn the car off to read the code, and when I started it again, the problem was gone, and the mechanics said, Don't worry, it'll be back. And they were right. Problem occurs sporadically, and I just pull over, cut it off, restart, and drive on with no problem.

So OK, maybe I do need another dizzy. But what's really going on here? Anybody know why the car cuts out badly at exactly 3400 rpm, and then runs fine after you turn off and restart? It's crazy, and my gut feeling is, it's some easy-to-fix problem that doesn't require a different distributor. In fact, my gut tells me that switching the dizzy won't solve the problem, it'll keep happening.

An update, folks...

Code 4 actually says "CKP Sensor", which is the crankshaft position sensor. Some kinds of sensors operate in the distributor by means of little lights and sensors that read the lights, and the computer knows exactly where the crank is from these lights. Now I need to find out how to replace this sensor. I guess the mechanic was right, and prolly swapping the dizzy will solve the problem. But I wonder if it's cheaper to replace the sensor.

Mechanic was right, on the earlier model Accords, the CKP sensor is integral with the distributor and can't be replaced. Only swapping out the whole distributor will work. Later models, circa '95, have CKP sensors in different places than the distributor, and can be replaced.

I know it's odd, that I asked and answered my own questions. But this is a forum, and the info might be useful to someone else somewhere down the line, so it was worth the time to post it.