Help! RPM's dropped to zero and died, now the car won't start

[RustBucket93]

OK, bear with me here, it's going to be a long story.

My 93 Accord LX began to sputter below 2500rpm but was fine above that RPM. It stalled out once or twice, but would start back up after a few minutes of cranking.

Took her home, pulled the plugs, and they were covered in oil. Found out this was due to the spark plug seals. So I changed the upper plug seals and valve cover gasket. Also, due to an oil leak and a missing lower screw on the distributor cap cover, the rotor button was covered in oil/grease and the contact points were all corroded. So I replaced the dist. cover and rotor.

Fired it up, and it still sputtered below 2500rpm.

I had a bottle of Seafoam handy, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try some. So I sucked a 1/2 can into the PCV vacuum port and produced a good smoke signal. Fired it back up, and it seemed to run about 75% better. So I dumped the rest of the can into the fuel tank and drove around a bit. After a while it went back to the same old problem. So I parked it for a while and drove my truck. I figured maybe the EGR ports were clogged and causing the stuttering since the car has 308k miles on it.

Skip ahead one week to today. I decided to go to the gas station and fill up the tank. Car started right up, and was running normal. After a few minutes the problems re-appeared and it stalled out on me. After a minute or 2 of cranking, it fired back up. Drove it home, and on the way there, while coasting downhill at about 35mph, the RPM's DROPPED to zero, while the engine was still running and I was coasting in 3rd gear. I gave it gas but the engine did not respond, nor did the tach come back to life. As I got to the bottom of the hill and began to go uphill, the car died. I sat there and cranked and cranked and cranked for several minutes, until finally the battery nearly died. The motor sort of stumbles while I'm cranking it, as if it's trying to fire up, but is not getting a good spark.

What the heck is the problem? I don't think it's the EGR anymore. That wouldn't cause it to not start and all of the sudden drop the RPM's to zero while I'm still driving!

I have no idea where to start. Could it be something electrical? Distributor? What? Please help, gas for my truck is killing me.

[VRDrvr]

Have you checked your plugs?

Checked for spark?

Can you hear for your fuel pump going on as you turn the key to the "on" position?

I would first pull your spark plugs and check the ending. Depending on the condition of the ends you may need to replace them. Then try and start your car with everything reinstalled, if nothing still remove 1 spark plug/wire and reattach the plug to the wire and ground the plug on the block or something and crank the car; if no spark its probably your ignition coil.

Check your haynes or chiltons for directions to test to see if thats the bad component.

Sometimes that "cleaner" can make the engine work harder especially combustion components due to it needing to burn off the gunk and may need higher spark/heat inside the combustion chamber (my theory ).

Try these and let everyone know .

[kidd262]

i think your distibutor is running out.
I had the same thing before.

hope it will help.

[Tone-us]

I don't know it kinda sounds like a main relay? IF its been a while you might want to replace it.

[RustBucket93]

How do I test the distributor and the main relay? Where is the main relay>?

[ai2t]

ahem.. i think its time for an engine swap

the car has 308k miles on it.

i think i hear that h22 revving in ur favor hehe

[alb_accord]

yeah go for a H22. the car is talking to u man. lol.

to check for spark. take of the spark plug. insert a screw driver in. and make sure the screw driver makes contact with the car chasi.
tell someone to try to start the car. now. when he start the car,,, if u see any sparks coming out of the screw driver then ur distributor is ok. if u don't see any sparks then u will need to fix the distrubutor.

i don't know how u check for the main relay. my main relay didn't work when it was hot outside. if the weather was cool it would work. if the wather was hot then i won't work. lol

[RustBucket93]

The H22 may be calling my name, but my you can hear the wind whistling through my empty wallet.

I'll check spark and report back.

[RustBucket93]

Ok, did some testing.

Rotor cap spins while cranking.

Did the old screwdriver in the plug wire and grounded it. No sparks. Tried 2 plugs.

No voltage in the plug wire while cranking. I put the positive test lead in the spark plug wire, and the negative to the negative battery terminal. No spark while cranking.


Tested spark plug wires for resistance and they all had resistance.

So....new distributor? Someone said AutoZone can test distributors? Will I have to have the timing re-set after removing the distributor?


Thanks!

[h22sparkle]

you may have to just to make sure but make sure the distributor is flushed in properly or else youll snap the teeth that goes inside the camshaft. The camshaft will snap em off. I think its your coil it may be your distributor or your coil. I dont think youll have to set the distributor if it died out on you .

[Fearit22]

Well just hope it's the coil and not the distributor. You are looking at $2-300 just for the part.

[h22sparkle]

if it is make sure it has a 1 year warrantee atleast just incase id check the coil first.

[RustBucket93]

Been doing a lot of reading. It's either the coil, the ignitor, or the distributor. $110 for the ignitor, $90 for the coil, and $150 for the distributor. I'll have to check these parts before I replace them. I've heard mixed stories on which part is bad, so I have no clue. Even heard stories that the parts tested good but they were replaced and that fixed the problem. Boy is my head spinning right now

[kidd262]

ok. my experience about this distributor is wen i check in side the distributor, some part are melt. So if the distributor are the problem, just change it with new one.
Other wise, check your check engine light. what is the code appear on ECU.

Chowww

[Cactus]

There are 2 things that could be wrong with your car. Either the distributor is bad or the ignitor is bad. Since it sounds like you have a multimeter you can test them out. I'm not sure where you need to stick the probes, though.

Start with whichever component is first in line (I think it is the ignitor). If you have no voltage coming out of the ignitor, that is your problem. If you have voltage coming out of the ignitor, move on to the distributor. One of those two components is shot. My bet is on the ignitor. I had a very similar problem and it was the ignitor.

If you aren't sure how to do this check by yourself, a shop should be able to do it for you in about 10 minutes and tell you difinitively which component is malfunctioning.

Oh yeah, and your car is not running if the RMPs drop to 0. It will keep moving until the kinetic energy in your car is disipated, but 0 RPM = not running.