As the subject says, my 91 Accord won't start. I am getting no spark to the plugs. I have 12 volts to the distributor, and the coil and igniter tested well enough to at least run. I tested them with my small digital tester. I had about .9 - 1.0 ohms of resistance in the igniter, 2.2 across the coil's + & - terminals, and 11,000 ohms from the + coil terminal to it's secondary winding terminal.

I had a bad distributor cap and rotor, which would build up corrosion on the terminal inside. When the car wouldn't start I could take a piece of ultrafine sandpaper and clean the terminals and it would start right up. That didn't happen much, and when it normally ran flawlessly and got excellent mileage. This last time it wouldn't go so I bought a new cap and rotor - but it still wouldn't fire.

I am trying to get some insight into what normally or even possibly fails on these cars before I start handing the parts stores chunks of $$$ experimenting.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

perk

Better if you have Haynes or Chilton manuals. Both provide checking procedure with multimeter.
I suggest find same igniter just for check.
Other possibility is ignition coil. But coil can produce poor spark even if broken (some shorts inside).
Oh, forget, check fuses and related connectors before.


:smokin:

I have a Chilton's manual - that's what told me what to test and what numbers I should get on my multimeter. I also checked all fuses, etc. and found nothing wrong. Like I said the igniter and coil test OK, or at least good enough for the car to start and run, but I have NO spark.

perk

If you like 100% shure it is not Igniter or coil, yor should check some wirings.
1. Signal from Engine Control module changing level when you attemt start the car. Did you try get codes from ECU? May be igniter sensor bad or ECU don't have signal from other sensors like TDC?
2. "Grond" of ignition coil grounded through under dash fuse/relay box.

3. Or some how ignition switch bad. I just hear about such "trick". Engine crank but not start.

Use alcohol and eraiser unless hardly corroded.

:2cents:

look inside the distributor for a small capacitor, these melt internaly and cause such problems, about $5

check under dash fuses !!

Most likely needs a coil. Remove the coil and take the metal back off the coil and look to see if there are any hot spots on the coil. These coils are bad about failure, especially if platinum plugs are used or if the plugs are badly worn.

Craig

I do have Bosch Platinum 4's.

My Chilton's says I the coil is supposed to have 0.6-0.8 ohms between the + & - terminals >>> I have 1.0

I am supposed to have 12,800-19,200 ohms between the + and secondary winding terminals >>> I have 11,800

Doesn't seem like enough to prevent it from starting. I don't see any hot spots.

The fuses are all good, and there's no capacitor in the distributor.

perk

Is your starter solenoid good? Does the sleeve slide in and out easily? Does it make any noise when trying to start? Does it turn over? Are your plug wires good? Pull the boot off the plug, and slide the boot back until you see the metal end, carefully hold the end near the plug, and have someone turn it over, sounds scary but really not, if your careful. Do you see fire from the end of the wire to the plug? Is your main starter relay working?

have had similar problems, thought it was the coil, wound up being the distributor.

- Nathan

perkidelic did you ever get this resolved? I am interested in what you found out.

Check the main relay. Sometimes the solder points crack. Main symptoms are it will start when cool, but not hot unless you wait a while.