I have a 1999 Honda Accord and have had problems starting lately. It fires fine, I can hear the fuel pump coming on but it will only start after several minutes of persistant trying. When started, the engine sounds weak. I've checked the spark plugs and they're all ok. By pulling one ignition cable at a time, I've relaized the cylinder no 2 is not firing. I can hear the clicks on the cable but the engine sound the same with or without the ignition cable.
The cylinder is not getting fuel, spark or compression. You have already checked for spark on that cable and it appears to be good. Pull the spark plug and see if it is damaged. You can also switch spark plug and cable to another cylinder and see if the miss travels with the plug and or cable. If so, you'll know its the spark plug/cable that is bad.
You can check for fuel by listening to the fuel injector to see if it clicks. Use an automotive stethoscope or a long screwdriver--put the metal end of the screwdriver on the injector and the other end against your ear and listen to the injector while the engine is cranking or running. You should hear it click for each time it pulses fuel.
If both fuel and spark are good, then you are probably missing compression in that cylinder. You (or a mechanic) will need to pull all the spark plugs and do a engine compression test with a compression test/gage set. Lots of things can lead to poor or zero compression including: broken piston rings, burned/stuck/broken valves, cracked cylinder head or engine block, cracked pistons,etc.
Because one cylinder is "dead", the engine has to work extra hard to start and run against a cylinder that is dragging it down. If you find low/no compression in that cylinder, you will probably have to remove the cylinder head to correct it. A big expensive job. It may be cost effective to replace the whole engine with a rebuilt one.
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1995 honda accord four cylinder engine turns over and has fuel pressure, but does not have spark at the coil or plug
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