Crank, no start

[102030405]

Hey guys,

I have a 90 EX-R that's been sitting for a few years (ran perfectly fine before) and am now unable to get it started. the Engine cranks but no start. was hoping to get some ideas on things to check. I'm not really a car guy so I have done most things I have read here and on google. some things are tough since I'm doing this alone.

EDIT: bought a used OEM distributor off ebay, just waiting for it to arrive.
pulled the distributor cap and cleaned contacts and ohm'ed the connections (measures correctly).
new battery, plugs & cables.
Cleaned grounds I was able to see.
checked all fuses in both locations.
checked pressure at fuel rail (seems to be none)
replaced fuel filter
roughly 10 liters of new gas
sprayed carb cleaner in the intake but I think since I'm alone this won't work. (no spark)
main relay was fixed 10 years ago and still seems to operate correctly on bench. correct voltage when tested.
bypassed main relay to force pump, still don't hear it and seems to be no pressure.
can't hear fuel pump but I'm doing this alone so hard to hear with the beeping when I prime it.
car is also on somewhat soft ground so hard to jack up and pull tank, but I'm really wanting to do this as a complete last resort.
no ECU codes showing up, but not sure if this would throw a code.
TCU codes thrown:
1: long blink (not sure what this is)
1: Faulty , Disconnected or shorted lock-up solenoid A
2: Faulty , Disconnected or shorted lock-up solenoid B
3: Disconnected throttle angle sensor
4: Speed Sensor
5: Console switch
7: Shift Solenoid A
8: Shift Solenoid B

Thanks for any suggestions/tips.

[F22Chris]

Are you testing pressure before or after the fuel pressure regulator? This should be done before the regulator.

Are you sure you have spark? Did you use a spark tester, or take one out to ground and see?

Try putting battery voltage directly to the pump, not through jumping a relay. This could be a lot of things, but since you have no fuel pressure, I'd go with that after you verify 100% you have spark.

[102030405]

Are you testing pressure before or after the fuel pressure regulator? This should be done before the regulator.

Are you sure you have spark? Did you use a spark tester, or take one out to ground and see?

Try putting battery voltage directly to the pump, not through jumping a relay. This could be a lot of things, but since you have no fuel pressure, I'd go with that after you verify 100% you have spark.

I was trying to check it at the filter but couldn't get it off so I tried after the filter where it connects to the fuel rail? (passenger side) watched a video on youtube since I didn't have access to a pressure gauge.

when I bypassed the relay I took it out of the connector, then jumped pins 1 (battery), pin 3 (ECU/injectors) & pin 7 (fuel pump). so that should have put 12v directly to pump? if not, how would I do this without dropping tank?

as for the spark test, I was not able to complete this at the time since I didn't have the tools to do this alone.

[F22Chris]

You don't need tools to check spark. Just ground the plug and turn over the engine.

Make sure you have spark before you do anything else.

[102030405]

Sorry, when I said tools I just meant something to ground the plug while I turned it over. I will grab a wire clip to perform this test tomorrow before I continue with anything else.

Thank you for the advice.

[F22Chris]

You can set the plug on metal (valve cover, exhaust, literally anything metal) and have somebody turn it over for you

[102030405]

So I was finally able to get a friend to help me out with a few tests.

no spark & fuel pump isn't working. checked all my fuses again just to be sure, all good but they have a fair bit of oxidization on them so I'm going to grab a bunch of new ones from work.

My friend did ask me about some kill switch in the car ? he said some cars have some sort of safety switch that will shut off power to the fuel pump and some other stuff in the case of a hard impact, not sure if the Accord has one of these. can't remember what he called it.

not sure where to go from here.

[hiptech]

Try this leave your door open while starting the car. When your cranking the engine make a fist with your left and hand continuously pound on the left side of the dash that is normally hidden when the door is closed.

If it almost starts it's a bad main relay. Normally these begin to fail as the weather heats up but yours may have died completely. It's possible you might get it running (temporarily) by vibrating it with your fist... or not but it's worth a shot.

LOL it might make you feel better if nothing else

[SOHC-FTW]

So I was finally able to get a friend to help me out with a few tests.

no spark & fuel pump isn't working. checked all my fuses again just to be sure, all good but they have a fair bit of oxidization on them so I'm going to grab a bunch of new ones from work.

My friend did ask me about some kill switch in the car ? he said some cars have some sort of safety switch that will shut off power to the fuel pump and some other stuff in the case of a hard impact, not sure if the Accord has one of these. can't remember what he called it.

not sure where to go from here.

It's called a mercury switch which the accord doesn't have, though I would recommend checking the grounds on the thermostat housing to see if mice or rats have chewed on em. Also the main relay is a good possibility as well.

[102030405]

Try this leave your door open while starting the car. When your cranking the engine make a fist with your left and hand continuously pound on the left side of the dash that is normally hidden when the door is closed.

If it almost starts it's a bad main relay. Normally these begin to fail as the weather heats up but yours may have died completely. It's possible you might get it running (temporarily) by vibrating it with your fist... or not but it's worth a shot.

LOL it might make you feel better if nothing else

It's called a mercury switch which the accord doesn't have, though I would recommend checking the grounds on the thermostat housing to see if mice or rats have chewed on em. Also the main relay is a good possibility as well.

Thank you for the suggestions.

I will check the grounds, there is a lot of mouse poop in the engine bay but looking at the wiring, nothing has been chewed.

I have bench tested the main relay and it operates properly according to the documentation I found online. I also sent power directly to the fuel pump and still nothing. as mentioned before, It has been repaired before and all solder joints were repaired and still look good. I work in an automotive electronic assembly plant so I have some nifty tools to check for solder defects/bad joints.

[hiptech]

The only other thing I can think of are the fuel injectors. Several years ago I went through something similar and someone here suggested I look at the injectors. So I found a place that rebuilds them and after I reinstalled them it all worked great.

I tried the main relay, dropped the fuel tank to replace the pump, fuel filters, etc. Looking back now I'm still surprised the injectors were the root cause but they were...

[F22Chris]

So I was finally able to get a friend to help me out with a few tests.

no spark & fuel pump isn't working. checked all my fuses again just to be sure, all good but they have a fair bit of oxidization on them so I'm going to grab a bunch of new ones from work.

My friend did ask me about some kill switch in the car ? he said some cars have some sort of safety switch that will shut off power to the fuel pump and some other stuff in the case of a hard impact, not sure if the Accord has one of these. can't remember what he called it.

not sure where to go from here.

Start by making sure there is spark. So check the ignition components (distributor, coil, wires, plugs, etc.). Once you have spark, then work on fuel.

The thing your friend is talking about is a mercury switch. Those are mostly on fords. It's a little red button hidden in the trunk or dash usually. Honda didn't use them though.

[102030405]

SO I have done some more tests and checked some measurements on my distributor and all checked out as good (according to some info I found online), however I didn't check to see if I was getting spark from the coil as I didn't know how, apparently I can just put 12v directly to the coil?. I'm going to buy a test light this weekend as it will help me with these tests I'm doing alone.

I also determined that I am getting TCU codes and have no idea if this has anything to do with it, but from what I read elsewhere on this forum, a TCU issue wont cause a no start. there is a lot of information to read about this topic in a sticky so I'll be doing that this weekend.

Codes pulled:
1: long blink (not sure what this is)
1: Faulty , Disconnected or shorted lock-up solenoid A
2: Faulty , Disconnected or shorted lock-up solenoid B
3: Disconnected throttle angle sensor
4: Speed Sensor
5: Console switch
7: Shift Solenoid A
8: Shift Solenoid B

I am also just getting the Solid CEL when trying to pull a code so if I am correct, this is normal when no codes are thrown.

[sonikaccord]

To check spark, roughly, take your spark plug boot and place it near the valve cover grounding screw while cranking the car. You should see and hear a blue-white spark.

Also, have you tried starter fluid yet?

[102030405]

To check spark, roughly, take your spark plug boot and place it near the valve cover grounding screw while cranking the car. You should see and hear a blue-white spark.

Also, have you tried starter fluid yet?

I have checked spark with a spark tester, I get no spark.

I also tried starter fluid but that didn't do anything because I have no spark.

I'll update my original post to add the things I did in my other posts.