i have a 94 accord lx. the car has been dyin on me. and i dont really know what to do next. i changed the fuel filter and all that good stuff. got a new main relay. then when it died tonight, i checked for spark when it wouldnt start. so im thinkin its gonna be the igniter, but i dont know where its at. anyone know?? thanks guys...you have been helpful in all my stupid car drama
Do you have spark? I can't tell for sure from what you say below.
Did we eliminate the coil? If not, how old is the coil in your Accord?
From my experience with my 91 Civic, when the igniter fails, the car flat out won't start again. Whereas the coil will allow starts for awhile, dying intermittently.
The igniter is underneath the distributor cap, mounted on the distributor housing.
Are you trying any of the online manuals or online parts sites that have drawings? Once one gets the hang of how they're organized, they are very helpful. If you can't find something in either of them, tell how far you got, then ask for pointers. That's how a person learns. :-)
So go to autozone.com 's free repair guides, and you will find the procedure for removing and probably drawings or photos of where the igniter is.
Also, try
"ballinjefe22" wrote
dont really know
good stuff. got a
spark when it
but i dont know
helpful in all
My daughter's '93 Accord stalled a few times in the month or two before the igniter failed, but of course I have no way of knowing if it was the igniter doing that or not. It didn't do it any more afterward, but I also replaced the tune-up parts at the same time.
Mike
"Michael Pardee" wrote
say
in
fails,
will
or two before the
it was the igniter
Yes, I think I've seen reports of this before.
All I can think of is that electronics do fry. Could they do so gradually, so as to allow intermittent operation? Given a number of design features, I don't see why not. I just don't know the principal failure mechanism of why igniters fail. I'd certainly be googling for why transistors fail, first, 'cause I'm thinking it's not a solder joint problem with them. It's more an electrical transient problem, based on commentary on how a bad coil can mess up a good igniter, the presence of the capacitor to reduce electronic noise going to the igniter, etc.
But it may take someone very attuned to how his/her car feels to notice these things. I think a lot of DIY-ers and master technicians would agree one can hear and feel a weakened battery upon starting.
Unfortunately, the one time my 91 Civic's igniter failed, back in 1997 at about 91k miles, I don't recall if the car was running well or not in the preceding weeks. I was too busy with work, etc.
Changing the igniter every 90k miles, if one is feeling financially flush, has occurred to me, though. (I think some igniters have lasted a lot longer, based on reports here, though.) Or do as I think JB does: Carry a spare with tools in the back of the car after about 70k miles.
Intermittents were very common in the "epoxy" power transistors when they appeared in the '70s. Apparently the thermal expansion of the epoxy was more than the lead could handle, and *poink* (technical term) it would open up - normally base-emitter so it wasn't obvious whether it was the base or emitter lead doing it - until it cooled again....
In spite of the potted design of the igniter, I don't think that's what's happening. The potting epoxy was refined to stop the *poink* problem. In any event, thermal intermittents in potted transistor modules are not very common any more.
Junction transistors typically fail in two ways; the collector develops a hot spot that goes into thermal runaway and shorts collector-emitter, and then if the current is too high it opens the emitter lead like a fuse. But it could be a lower level stage is being weird.
Mike
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