dead ignition on 89 accord, what do I check?

[timber_cruiser]

My 89 Accord just died. I got it towed home and checked the ignition with a timing light. I have nothing on any spark plug, or the main wire from the coil when I turn the engine over. I previuosly replaced the coil, cap and rotor with new parts.

Any suggestions on what to check?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[russiankid]

Did you check all of the wiring going to the coil?

[Oldblueaccord]

Pull the cap off and see if the rotor turns when you crank it over. It not the timing belt is broke. Its possible the coil is bad or the distributor is not sending it a signal to fire.

wp

[timber_cruiser]

I did just check the rotor. It turns when I crank the engine. I had replaced the coil a few weeks ago when I started to get this ignition problem. The car died intermittently, now totally dead. When I checked the old coil, it had a bad secondary (?) when I checked with an ohm meter. After putting in a new coil it seemed to work fine for a few days.

I have been reading through past threads on distributor problems, and still trying to figure out how to check if it is bad.

Could it be the ignitor? or ECU? What do I look for in wiring to distributor? All the connections seem clean and tight.

By the way, I have a carburated engine with auto transmission.

[Oldblueaccord]

If you have an Ohm meter there some test in the book on the ignitor and other parts. Im not sure what wiring that could be bad but if its intermintant there could be a loose or maybe frayed wire connected to the coil possibly. Also inspect the insides of the distributor pull the plastic cap off and look in there. The shaft bearings may be worn out.


wp

[88Accord-DX]

Check that new coil primary & secondary. Could also be the pick-up, the igniter or radio condenser too.

[AccordB20A]

make sure teh back/yellow wire has power when u turn teh key on

[Hauntd ca3]

most hondas use a magnetic pick up in the dizzy dont they?
just had a nissan thru work with similar symptoms
but they have an optical set up
might be worth swapping dizzies if you have a spare good one just to narrow things down

[LX-incredible]

What did you replace the stock coil with? My guess is that you fried the ignitor. Hook a test light between the blue wire from the dizzy and a positive. It should flash when the engine is cranked.

[timber_cruiser]

I replaced the coil with a stock coil I bought from NAPA. It was the same coil from what I can tell, looks exactly like the old one.


So I am going to check the ignitor. I have the dist model with the internal ignitor. It is easier to replace just the ignitor, or the entire distibutor from a salvage yard?

Thanks to everyone for all the replys, and advice...

[02GTP]

check the main relay, its pretty common on these cars.