'91 Accord suddenly stopped

My 1991 Accord, driven by my daughter, suddenly quit running. Just like the
key being turned off, with no warning, no dash lights came on, no odd
noises, nothing. It will not start, but cranks normally. I had it towed
home. I looked through the oil filler cap hole and saw where the camshaft
sat by way of a mark on the cam casting. I cranked the engine just enough
to reposition the crank, and checked the cam again. It had obviously
turned. But I suppose, a few teeth could have sheared off on the belt
allowing it to slip, so still not sure if the timing belt is the problem.
When I turn the key on, I hear a hissing noise near the fuel injection unit,
for a few seconds, and then it stops. As an aside, my daughter hit
something on the freeway which dented and depressed the plastic rocker panel
on the passenger side. Is there any fuel line that runs through there?

What next steps can I take to determine why the car will not start (and quit
so suddenly)?

Thank you,

- Phil

 

Phil,

I had the same problem with my 91 Accord EX about in May 1997. I was stopped
a stoplight and the engine just quit on me. Turned out to be a bad
distributor bearing that created so much metal filings that it ended up
shorting out the components inside the distributor housing.

Remove the distributor cap and look to see if its clean. It may be your
problem.

BTW... Honda actually picked up the tab to have this repaired to the tune of
$665 back then even though it was out of warranty. If it is your problem you
probably have too many miles on your car to catch the same break.

I also don't think your timing belt broke. If it had you probably would have
bent some of the valves which certainly would have created lots of noise and
excitement when it happened.

Scooter

 

Hi,
Do you have spark?
Tony

 

Probably the "ignitor" in the distributer. See if they have one at the
parts store, find it on the distributer (take it out of the car) and put
the new one on. Mark the location of the dist. on the block before
removing it. bob

 

Hi,

I pulled the distributor cap, and all I found was the usual gray powdery
stuff around the plug terminals inside the cap. Did not look so unusual to
me, but if those kinds of deposits are not normal, then you may be onto
something. I'll clean the cap and try to restart. I did pull a plug lead,
inserted a drill bit inside it and cranked the engine for evidence of spark
against the engine. Nothing. So it looks like the ignition is the problem.

- Phil

 

I pulled one plug lead, inserted a snug fitting drill bit into the lead, and
then put it near an engine metal part (1/4" away). I cranked the engine.
No spark at all. Pulled the distributor cap. Cap inside had some grey
powdery residue around terminals. Cleaned that out and will try restarting,
but those deposits do not look so unusual. But, will see by trying to
start.

- Phil

 

Usually when the distributor bearing starts disintegrating, a reddish
brown dust is found everywhere inside the housing. Also a high pitch
screeching noise (similar to a noisy fan belt) comes from the distributor,
which at least gives some warning. I replaced the distributor housing
myself a few years ago at 100k in the wifes 92 Accord. Convinced Honda to
pay for the part and I would do the labor. It's not that hard of a job.
You do have to remove the ignitor and reinstall in the new housing. The
thing is, you don't know for sure if the ignitor is good. It sounds like a
new housing replacment may be in order. If so, consider replacing the
ignitor too.

Honda had a safety recall years ago concerning the defective bearing I
believe made by Nachi (SP?). Do a google search on Acccord distributor
bearing failures and you'll get plenty of hits. If you're not the original
owner, maybe a Honda dealership can access their main database for TSB
history records of the car using the VIN number. Just a thought...Good
Luck

 

You might have a bad coil, or igniter, or distributor. All are fairly
common on that car. The distributor usually will have a check engine light
before it fails, and under the cap will be lots of red dust. It also could
be as simple as a bad rotor.

 

Phil,
I agree that the igniter could be the source of the problem. I also advise
replacing the distributor cap unles you have done it recently. I also
advise replacing all of the easily replac. parts inside the distributor.
It's also possible that the timing belt or chain is broken. You can check
this by taking the distributor cap off. While your daughter cranks the
engine--see if everything is turning normally and operating normally
inside the distributor.