The car has run perfectly every since that incident I first posted. Amazing.

I received a PM from a member who said that his wife's 92 had what sounded to him like the exact same problem as our's. Here's what he said:
"She would be driving, then all of a sudden the engine would die with no warning (no sputter, jerks, coughs) and she would have to pull over to the side of the road. Almost always, it would start up immediately, and she would go on her merry way. It might run well for a couple of weeks, days, hours, then the problem would show up again. Very inconsistent. I replaced the fuel filter, dis-connected the main relay and re-soldered board, even tried a new igniter. None of this solved the problem. The last thing I tried, was to buy a new ignition module (small electronic board that sits inside the distributor assembly). I was tempted to try it myself, but decided against and had a mechanic do it. The car has been running fine ever since."

He also suggested that I read the OBD code, so today I shorted the two-wire blue-colored service connector plug, turned on the ignition and watched the "check engine" idiot light fllash 1 long and 5 short -indicating a code of 15, I believe. It repeated the identicalpattern at least four times before I turned the ignition off andremoved the paper clip from the connector. There were no other codes.

From this site http://www.troublecodes.net/honda/hondadtc.shtml I matched the code 15 with an "ignition output signal" malfunction. (I guess it's a malfunction.)

Any idea what typically causes code 15? Would a failure of that ignition module cause it?

Thanks.

BTW, what is the difference between the ignition module and the igniter?

 

My contact told me that code 15 is what he saw on his wifes car, too. He says that since he replaced the module two years ago,the car hasn't had a problem.

Here's some more information I found on code 15 and the ignition module:
http://cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?p=1034901

I've never disassembled the distributor on our car (aside from checking the rotor position when I did the timing belt job). Where exactly is that ignition module located in the distributor? Is it easy to replace? Is it self explanatory?

Thanks.

 

Its held in by two bolts and there are four wires plugged into it. Just take off the dist. cap and you can't miss it. Keep track of the order of the wires. You can download the manual for a 91 from hondahookup.com/manuals and it has the wire order on there.

It should take you less than ten minutes to replace.

 

Thanks!

Because I'm a tightwad,I'd like to be absolutely certain that the ignition module is faulty. Any way to test it outside of the car? I suppose the thing is "tested" every time theengine runs, or doesn't run, right? If theengine starts and runs,then the modulemust beperfect at that time. If the car doesn't start, or the engine quits on the road, at that instant it must bemalfunctioning.

Rather than replace part after part, maybethe ideal thing for me to do would be to bone up on how to replace the module (so that I can do the job very quickly), buy the module and keep it and the receipt in the car, put the necessary tools to do the job in the trunk, wait for as long as it takes for whatever it is that's faulty to fail completely, and thenreplace it when it fails - maybe evenon the road. (Wow, Back to the Future of my youth.) If the car then starts, the old module was indeed bad and we're on our merry way. If the car doesn't run with the new module, we get a tow,I return the module, andI'm back at diagnostic Step 1 - but this time with a car that won't run, and,in that case, the problem will no doubt be easier to diagnose with certainty. I just hope the car doesn't konk out in the middle of some two-lane bridge at rush hourwhen it'sminus 30.Even though I might be able to replace the module in 10 minutes, I could end up on the receiving end of a severe case of road rage.

(Speaking of my youth - this is a remarkably similar situation to the plot of the movie2001: A Space Odyssey - when the astronauts retrieve a criticalmodule of the antenna. HAL says itis about to fail, but Command Central says their identical computer tells them that HAL is wrong. After retrieval, themodule tests good, but HAL says it's going to fail, so he tells the crew tojust put it back in there and let it fail, andthen replace it when it does. I hope our situation turns out better than that crew's.)

 

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/No_...m_52217/tm.htm

This should be what you need.

good luck

 

Yes, that's probably a good test, but the first sentence says "Engine won't start?", so I assume that what follows should be done if the engine doesn't start or run, and our engine seems to berunning perfectly.

Maybe I'll do the steps anyway, just to get some familiarity with the hardware.

 

There are some tremendous deals on eBay for complete distributors - supposedly OEM. Locally, I'll probably pay as much for the OEM igniter as the complete, supposedly OEM,distributor on eBay.

Does anyone have the Hondapart number for the distributor inour 92 Accord LX?I still have not examinedour distributor closely,and my wife is gone for a few hours with the car, so I'm not even sure if it hasan internal or external coil.

Is it a TD-31U or a TD-52U? Both claim to be for a 92 F22A.

 

Well, my wife is still not home, but I remembered that I photographed the dist in my timing belt post.

I'm pretty sure that's thecoil that the yellow arrow is pointing to.

Because the coil is external to the distributor, I'm not at all sure the ignition module is in there, either, even though it sure seemslike it should be there.

So ......... is the igniter inside the distributor on this external-coil type of distributor?

 

Ignitor is inside the distributor, remove the rotor, remove the cover and Voila' there is is ,, it has 4 wires going to it

 

Thanks, desert.

BTW, is the distributor one of the parts that you recommend be genuine Honda, or is aftermarket OK? Here's the one I'm considering:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...60973&rd=1
This eBay distributor is going to be about the same money I'm going to spend locally for just the ignition module alone, even including shipping. That's why I'm tempted to buy it. But if your experience has shown youthat aftermarket distributors are not reliable, I'll certainly buythe genuineHonda ignition module.

What do you think?

(Either way, I'm not installing anything until I determine with certainty what's amiss, and that means waiting unitl the symptoms reappear. Too bad cold weather is just around the corner for us People of the LongWinter.)