accord auto 6 cyl loosing power while driving

it is actually a 4 cyl.. not a 6 sorry . anyone have this issue? a friend of mine said there are known issues with oil deposits on the distributor is this common and symptomatic of this issue? I am out of warranty and I will not pay over 500 to have honda corp fix it.. is it complicated? anything special to do or just mark and replace the distributor?
more details:
first began not starting.. thought it might be the connections on the battery terminal they were hand turning loose.. replaced and formed a real tight connection but then it began to stall and resume while driving.. with more driving and some weeks it has begun to stall and then restart .. now it takes a few more tries before it will restart.. I need to resolve this before I am stuck on the road side... thanks for any comments

What year is your vehicle, how many miles?

What is the maintenance history?

What are the conditions of your distributor cap, spark plugs, wires?

Sam

99 and 118,000 miles
completely maintained up to last service required which was a tuneup about 300 miles ago..
no warranty anymore so not paying what they want to fix or repair.. i also had the distributor cap off today no oil residue there.. clean and dry...

I beleive I have narrowed the problem down to the main relay. I will post back in a couple of weeks to notify if this resolves the issue. if I dont get back here then figure it is solved and i forgot to get back on to inform..

99 and 118,000 miles
completely maintained up to last service required which was a tuneup about 300 miles ago..
no warranty anymore so not paying what they want to fix or repair.. i also had the distributor cap off today no oil residue there.. clean and dry...
What did they do for tune up? Wires? Spark plugs?

When you remove the distributor cap you look for:

1. Red residue (bad bearing)
2. Oil (which you did not find).

How dose the distributor cap look inside? All contacts suppose to be clean of carbon deposits (rotor included). The inside walls should be free of carbon deposits as well.

Good luck,

Sam

What did they do for tune up? Wires? Spark plugs?

When you remove the distributor cap you look for:

1. Red residue (bad bearing)
2. Oil (which you did not find).

How dose the distributor cap look inside? All contacts suppose to be clean of carbon deposits (rotor included). The inside walls should be free of carbon deposits as well.

Good luck,

Sam

the distributor looks new nothing unusual about it.. clean dry and intact.. well we have replaced the main relay since there was stalling while driving was hoping it would resolve all issues.. well it resolved the stalling while driving issue but not the starting issue..
Car starts and dies right oout sometime fires right up but most often it take about 3 tries before it will stay started.
they did a regular tune up required on waranty I figure just the plugs.. was gonna just replace plugs and hope it takes care of the start up issue.. but I am thinking it is more something to do with the security system at this point..
now the vehicle is no longer covered by waranty.. so reluctant to take it back to the dealership.. I am certain the problem started after the tuneup which leads me to beleiev it was something due to the tuneup since the car was perfectly fine prior to the tuneup..
we may have to fall back on them to resolve this issue..

oh btw .. the stalling issue was resolved. but now it starts hard .. takes 3 or 4 time to start each time it dies out fast after turning over.. I think the main relay resolved the issue with the stalling but the starting part is still present.. I am going to try some high actane fuel injecter valve cleaner as I was told that this car is know to build up deposits in the valves which will cause the tough starting issue.. hopefully after a tank of 2 of gas it will go away...

the distributor looks new nothing unusual about it.. clean dry and intact.. well we have replaced the main relay since there was stalling while driving was hoping it would resolve all issues.. well it resolved the stalling while driving issue but not the starting issue..
Car starts and dies right oout sometime fires right up but most often it take about 3 tries before it will stay started.
they did a regular tune up required on waranty I figure just the plugs.. was gonna just replace plugs and hope it takes care of the start up issue.. but I am thinking it is more something to do with the security system at this point..
now the vehicle is no longer covered by waranty.. so reluctant to take it back to the dealership.. I am certain the problem started after the tuneup which leads me to beleiev it was something due to the tuneup since the car was perfectly fine prior to the tuneup..
we may have to fall back on them to resolve this issue..
I do not think security system has anything to do with intermittent starts.

Still some questions here:

How does your distributor cap look inside (see post # 5 for details)?

What did they do for tune up if you still want to replace spark plugs? By the way spark plugs should be NGK brand. I do not remembert the exact numbers.

Fuel injector cleaner will not hurt but carbon deposits on valves cannot be treated with it. May be couple of SeaFoam treatments.

You may have a clogged fuel filter or bad injector, but I would do simple things first.

Good luck,

Sam

Sounds like a bad ignition switch to me. We've replaced a bunch on those Accords for stalling issues. There was even a recall on certain car for bad ignition switches. Fuel pressure regulators are also common on those cars.

I do not think security system has anything to do with intermittent starts.

Still some questions here:

How does your distributor cap look inside (see post # 5 for details)?

What did they do for tune up if you still want to replace spark plugs? By the way spark plugs should be NGK brand. I do not remembert the exact numbers.

Fuel injector cleaner will not hurt but carbon deposits on valves cannot be treated with it. May be couple of SeaFoam treatments.

You may have a clogged fuel filter or bad injector, but I would do simple things first.

Good luck,

Sam
by clean and dry I meant inside.. new looking... not old metal contacts are clean and no residue..
I am going with bullshifter after reading MANY MANY threads on here relateing to the start stall issue.. it appears that even if the recalled ignition switch has ben replaced that it is most likely needing replacement again and again.. BAD PARTS HONDA...i intially thought it was the ignition switch but I was informed that it had been replaced .. so moved on with trouble shooting.. with no avail...so now going back to first thought...
I will post back in a couple of weeks and let everyone know if this resovled it.. thnx
going to pick up switch and install it today...

also there is nothing indicating this vehicle has a fuel filter.. I have checked with a number of places they all say N/A.. .. so what the fuel filter is a dealer item?? what is with that..
also I will use seafoam prior to doing the next tuneup I beleive in that stuff after it fixed my aunts car from being overhauled last year.. saved her like 500.00 bucks..

Have your converter checked it could be stopping up

well I am going to presume that the issue is solved at this point since after replacing the switch I took it for a run around town with 6 different stops and starts with no issue while driving and or starting.. now there is a 3 day long trip planned starting tomorrow after noon.. so if I do not post back before sunday assume that this means the problem is no longer an issue,, if I do then we have something more to look into... so the switch appears to have been the primary reason for the starting and stalling issue..

the fuel filter is in the tank and you don't want to drop that one. I think that is the where the whole rear frame needs to be removed.

the issues was in fact the ignition switch going bad again.. so every 70,000 miles give or take everyone with an ACCORD will have to keep this in mind ....replace ignition switch when you have issues with starting and stalling .. and slight hestitations.. here and there...