Car won't start after my first short drive of the spring

[wherm]

Disconnected my battery tender, car fired up faster than it ever has. Pulled out of my driveway and realized gas needle was on E. I drove through town 25 mph and all seemed well. Got to a 35 mph zone and noticed a little hesitation when pushing the gas pedal. Turned onto the highway and acceleration was rough. The car would shake when stepping on the pedal. I was hoping it was just the old gas. I filled up with 91 octane and purchased a car wash too. The car started up fine again as I drove away from the pump. While sitting in the car wash it started acting up a little, so when the wash was done I decided I should just take it home. On the drive back home it ran pretty rough, best description I can come up with is that it sounded like a WRX, or STI. I took my truck into town and got new plugs and fuel system cleaner. When I got back I started the accord and popped the hood. I pulled the top front plug wire off the distributor and the engine died. I put it back on and the car hasn't started since. It just cranks and cranks. I pulled each plug wire off and cleaned the connections, changed the spark plugs, disconnected the battery for a while, still won't run. No CEL, I don't know what else to try other than new plug wires.

Any thoughts?

[dj_ender]

Sounds like a bad igniter.

[RyanD]

i agree. something in the dizzy is not happy

[Losiracer2]

or it also could be your tube seals leaking so bad that the plugs are drenched in oil.

So check that as well.

[RyanD]

or it also could be your tube seals leaking so bad that the plugs are drenched in oil.

So check that as well.

but he said he replaced the plugs

[wherm]

Yes, new ngk plugs. The old plugs still looked Ok. I had a similar problem once about six years ago and it was plug wires. I had put new ngk wires on and they crapped out on me in no time. I put my crane cam wires back on and it fired up. Been running those same wires ever since, about 9 yrs total. I'm gonna pick up a set of wires today and see what happens

[dysfunk]

Definitely sounds like an igniter, i recently went through this issue.

[wherm]

I tried all the local parts stores and no plug wires in stock. I ordered some, so I'll get back with the results.

[Losiracer2]

but he said he replaced the plugs

the plugs don't have tube seals on them. They're these O-rings underneath the rocker arms that get hard and brittle, which then leaks oil into where the spark plug wires attach to the spark plugs, causing the misfiring in some cylinders.

Since the plug is drenched, the distributor can't transfer the spark to the plug.

[dj_ender]

the plugs don't have tube seals on them. They're these O-rings underneath the rocker arms that get hard and brittle, which then leaks oil into where the spark plug wires attach to the spark plugs, causing the misfiring in some cylinders.

Since the plug is drenched, the distributor can't transfer the spark to the plug.

The point Ryan was making is that the OP replaced the plugs, but he didn't mention finding oil on them.

[wherm]

The point Ryan was making is that the OP replaced the plugs, but he didn't mention finding oil on them.

correct.

Maybe I assume too much... I should have told you i have a 95 H22A obd I, if that would really even matter. Ignition and stuff is pretty similiar I believe.

Update: I got plug wires today from autozone. Still no go. I'll be the first to admit I'm no engine mechanic. What I know I got from this forum. So I started with the small stuff, spark plugs and wires, and made sure I'm getting fuel. Got all that, but no spark. I removed the spark plugs from the head and plugged one of them into a wire. My wife cranked the engine while I held the metal threaded part of the plug on a nearby ground bolt, and there's no spark. (Is this the correct "ghetto" way of checking for spark?)

I also went through all my fuses and they are all fine.

Unless anybody thinks I did something wrong, or didn't check for spark properly, I'm moving on to the distributor. I'm gonna search for some threads on here about changing it out, and probably read through my Helms manual.

Should I be replacing the entire distributor assembly, or just the cap, or what? I'm guessing the whole distributor...

[dj_ender]

Just the igniter in the dizzy, most Autozones can test them for you.

[wherm]

I picked up an igniter, seemed easy enough. Pulled the cap off, but now I can't get the rotor off to remove the dust cover and access the igniter. I removed the phillips screw holding the rotor on, but it won't budge. What am I doing wrong? I'm about to blow a gasket here!

Thanks

[mtnbikaah]

It just pops off. They like to get stuck. Keep pullin'!

[wherm]

Well, got the rotor off, in pieces...

Went and bought a new rotor. So now I have new plugs, new wires, new rotor, new igniter, and a car that still does not run. What next? Cap? I don't know what to do.

I just can't believe that all this is happening, all I did was pull the number 1boot off the cap while the engine was running. It died immediately, and hasn't started since.