1988 Honda Accord turns over but will not start.

JBW1426

MEMBER
1988 HONDA ACCORD

Electrical problem
1988 Honda Accord 4 cyl Wheel Drive Type unknown Automatic 170000 miles

firstly I want to say thanks for this service you guys are offering. I really is great to car repair laymen like myself.

I have a 1988 accord lxi that was running fine 4 years ago. It had to sit due to title problems and during that time, part of the car was flooded. The engine was not covered in water, but probably a good bit of the underside. On to today. Everthing is all dried up now and I have replaced the battery, spark plugs/wires, distributor cap, rotor button, fuel filter, fuel pump and ignition fuses (40A) and the car will turn over but not start. I tested the ignition coil per haynes manual, and one of the resistence checks failed (the manual says if any tests fail, replace it but I havent done so yet). I am not getting any spark from the plugs (screwdriver to plug test) but I am getting a spark from the ignition coil ((screwdriver to high tension terminal test). Every now and then after I have attempted to start the vehicle, one of the cooling fans comes on with the key off! And my rear lights stay on when the battery is connected, thus I have to disconnect it when I stop working on it. My main concern is the fact that it wont start and I mentioned the other issues in the event that they have something to do with that. I hope you guys can help me. I am truly stuck at this point. Thanks in advance for your help.

2 Replies

BRUCE HUNT

MECHANIC
3,753 POSTS

If there is voltage from the coil to the distributor it is a distributor issue. The brake light would be a switch on the brake pedal that is possibly corroded from the wet conditions and I would suspect the wet for fan issues as well. However, if the a/c button is on the fan will come on but a sensor might be the culprit causing the fan to come on. Sensor could be sending a false heat temp and causing the fan to start.

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Wednesday, September 30th, 2020 AT 11:18 AM

JBW1426

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Yay! I got it started!

The problem was either the timing, the battery or both.

1st, I took of the distributor cap and the crankshaft cover and turned the crankshaft until the the pointer point at the line to indicate top dead center (TDC). Then I jump charged my battery that had died down greatly, due to me leaving the positive terminal connected after disconecting the negative (unles there is something killing my battery because it doesnt take long, like 10 minutes for the battery to not even want to turn over). I kept trying to start it until it sounded like it was going to start and then eventually it did after several tries!

It still sounds good after all this time. I took it for a drive around the block and was reminded of another problem: cv joints clicking. Ill get that soon.

As far as the brake lights, I didnt get to that one. I might have make an error in my original assessment and it might not be the brake lights, but just the rear lights. But I will see tomorrow, hopefully.

As far as the fan, I didnt get to that one either. But im assuming it works when I need it most to work, because it kept coming on while the car was warming up. But I will get to that one tomorrow, hopefully.

Im just so happy that it actually runs again!

I intend to donate tomorrow, as I said that I would when I got paid.

Again, thanks for all your help. I really do appreaciate it and will be referring anyone that is interested to your website.

Look out for the donation and I will post the results of the other problems soon.

And again, thanks.

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Wednesday, September 30th, 2020 AT 11:18 AM