1998 Accord LX Distributor

[JeffKeryk]

The (almost) perfect Accord 2.3L 4 banger was dying sporadically; I had replaced the ignitor module; it lasted a month.
Recently is has been solid.
I ordered an Ebay distributer a month ago. The car lives in Woodland (near Sac), about 130 miles away.
Stabbed it today. Boy she purrs now. Let's see if we are OK.

This was my folks car; purchased new. Always serviced. When my Dad passed 2 years ago, I gave it to an old friend, a single mother.
All good.

 

[SatinSilver]

Fuel pressure regulator is a weak point on these. Had a 99 with a weird idle like it was going to sputter out. Intermittent code was thrown but forget which one at the moment. Something to remember down the road. My aunt still has her 02 LX gold sedan going strong.

 

[grjr]

Ignition systems on 90's Hondas are a weak point, luckily they are easy as pie to service. I've been through the same issues with bad ignition control modules and coils. Make sure your rotor, cap, wires, and plugs are still good and that you don't have oil from a leaking valve cover gasket set on your plugs.

 

[JeffKeryk]

The basics of this car are pretty much perfect. It has always been garaged and serviced properly. The new distributor came complete; the NGK wires have maybe 50K; the NGK copper plugs have 20K. All the gaskets are good, including the valve cover plug seals.

I appreciate your help. I will double check next time I see the car. Ya never know...
I do have an extra valve cover gasket set in the garage somewhere...

 

[doublebase]

I owned one of these for almost 20 years (maybe 17 years), put just under 300,000 miles on it. Great cars!

A few known issues to take a peak at, the biggest one being rotting front cradle. The design flaw is that the AC evaporator drain is routed directly INSIDE the cradle, rusting them out. Passenger side. This is big because it’ll put holes right into that cradle right where the control arms are welded to. I’d take a peak under there.

The transmissions where a problem, but they’re not if you service them and don’t beat on them.

And I too experienced idle problems when I got up around the 250,000 mile mark. Could never really figure it out...thought it was the idle air control but it wasn’t.

But what a great car...I drove that thing through 17 horrific New England winters...up and down highways, up and down mountain roads, hills, snow, rain, salt, sleet. Just awful driving conditions five months out of the year. Usually loaded with the wife and kids. I loved that car - it was my first brand new car and quite honestly, I kept it so long that I figure I saved $50,000 in the long run. Paid off my house 20 years early, bought another, rented out the other. That car probably changed my life. Lol.