I recently bought a 92 honda accord ex and it has been giving me starting troubles. In Dec, the mechanic figured it out a the distributor problem and I got a new one put in. But a month and a half later.. again it won't start. The mechanic again thinks it is the distributor or the computer (after diagnosis). After reading the forum topics on this car.. I wish I had come here before.. 91-93 Accords seem to be having starting troubles. Mostly the culprit being the distributor or as others have said the Relay.. Mean while that is one thing I haven't got checked. Or rather the mechanic didn't mention about. So is it possible for a supposedly new distributor to stop working again? Also new coil wires, cap and rotor have been put in
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viv

Not sure on yours but how many miles exactly. I'd check into the timing belt if its a lot.

Mine's got just 111200 miles on it. What is the approx price for a new distributor? Last time I got a new one, the dealer charged me just 150$ - Is an used one been put?

Ohhhhhhh that many miles I would check into the belt first if it has that many, they always seem to slip or break easy. He probably just put a distributor cap on it and not much else, a distributor if new might run you $200 but I'm not too sure on hondas

New Civic distributors go for about 400$. Stuff that causes Hondas not to start are usually Ignitor Unit in distributor and Main Relay. Maybe first time only the Ignitor was changed? Anyway, do try to resolder your Main Relay, it helped me a lot, and it helped my dad see that I was willing to take the car back in shape. Also, that one fix made my dad not sell the car :) So I kind of vowed that I'll spread the word about main relays in hondas :)

On a side note, do change the timing belt... I heard they're supposed to be changed every 80k miles... bad thing about having a timing belt break is the interference nature of Honda engines, meaning that if the belt breaks, your pistons could hit the valves, causing all kinds of troubles in your engine, much more expensive then changing the belt itself.

Even here in Croatia having a shop change the belt wasn't THAT horrible. 35$ for the belt (NIPPARTS) and about 70$ for the change which included changing the water pump, which you should do if you're already changing the belt, because it's right there when you take the belt off, and you're also safe from the pump failing and eventually causing overheating.

Thanks crocivic and briggsdude. I shall take note of what you both have said. Meanwhile just got a call from dealer saying car starts now (after changing the distributor) - although I am still skeptical - he said the same last time. I shall have the relay and timing belt checked.
viv

Yeah its good practice to replace the timing belt though even if it looks fine, one day you'll be driving along and bump clank clank, belt broke :(

This is another question: Where is the "relay" that controls the ECU and the fuel pump?