(not sure if this belongs here or in the DIY section, let me know)
Hello,

Have a 1999 Accord EX 4cyl automatic. Starts fine at the beginning of the day and runs smooth. After driving for a while, maybe half an hour, it will stall randomly. Usually when it stalls, it will either be waiting at a red light, or having just downshifted, like taking a slow turn or another situation where my foot is not adding power. It will typically start right back up after pulling over, and drive fine. After extended periods of driving, it will suddenly stall, and then not want to start for 5-10 minutes. Then will drive for a while fine, maybe stall again and start fine. The stalling is abrupt, like the power has been cut. I have done the basic troubleshooting mentioned on tegger.com, ECU test, The ignition switch test, PGM-FI Main Relay test, and it passed those basic tests.
I then moved on to this section Car is fully-warm, stalls suddenly while driving, then won't restart unless you let it cool down for a while Here it suggests either the igniter, or the coil is bad. I already popped open the cap, and the rotor and points looks fine, no visible arcing damage anywere either. I don't have a dwell meter or voltmeter to do these tests, though I do have a 12v test light. What should I do at this point? Will the tests using the test light help my situation (intermittent problem that only happens when warm) I know the ignitor and or coil are working some of the time. Should I spring for a voltmeter to do the more advanced tests, or is it a safe enough bet to just replace the coil, ignitor, or both? Any advice are much appreciated.
Thanks
Paul

 

This is the right forum.

Can you get the car to stall by shaking the key when you are driving? That would indicate a bad electrical portion of the ignition switch.

Stop by autozone and have them scan your PCM for error codes. Post any codes on here. Also have them check the battery, just to rule that out as well.

I would suggest to replace any maintenance items if they are due soon (dist. cap, rotor, spark plugs, maybe the spark plug wires).

Also check that all ends of both battery cables connections are clean and secure.

You will have to pinpoint the problem when the car stalls and doesn't start. No starts are due to lack of spark or fuel.

When you turn the key to the II position (and leave it there for a second), the fuel pump should turn on for two seconds. It is a faint whirling sound from the back seat. Train your ear for that sound. If that sound is missing, then you know its fuel related.

Next, a timing light will help for the spark. Hook it up and try to start the car. The light should flash. If it doesn't then there is a problem with the ignition system. We can probably suggest some more detailed tests to verify which component.

 

The car won't stall from shaking the key, so I figure its not the interlock.

I recently replaced the battery, which didn't fix much. Connections are clean. The cap and rotor were replaced about 4 years ago.

I'm not getting any check engine light, so I assume there won't be any error codes to check (true?)

I do hear the fuel pump running at position II.

Car starts strong and runs smooth, until it starts to get warm (after about 1/2 hour) and dies sharp and sudden, like the power was cut. When this happens the first couple times, I can restart it fine right away. Later after running longer, when it dies, it will not want to start. The engine turns over well, but won't restart at all (pistons don't fire). After about 5 minutes of letting it rest, it will startup and run fine. Maybe will stall once more before I get home, but start back up ok.

I am leaning towards this being an ignition system problem (igniter or coil). If so, can you recommend which of these tests , to try in my situation, or maybe something else?
Thx
Paul

 

My distributor cap and rotor should be changed 4 years or 60K miles. Check when your owner's manual for the proper interval. Replace those items if they are due.

If the problem continues, then you can start looking at the ignition switch, ignitor, and the coil.

 

When THIS happens, do you hear the fuel pump when you first turn the key?

Even if the pump runs, that doesn't prove the injectors are firing. Have you checked whether it's spark vs. fuel? You could probably be prepared with a spare sparkplug, so all you have to do (when this happens) is pull off a wire & use the spare plug to check for spark.

 

I have a '98 4 cylinder EX having the exact same problem... except mines been going on for a long time now and I haven't done anything about it until now when I have to.... Not knowing nearly enough about my car I assumed it was my throttle and put in a can of BG throttle cleaner and it ran good for a week... but then it started doing it again, even worse. I now believe it's definitely heat related because I have a drive that's about 30 minutes from home to work.

Before the cleaner, I was getting about 5 minutes from home and it stalled... I'd have to let it sit for 4 or 5 minutes then it would start back up. Co-incedentally... when I put the cleaner it, it also rained here all that week and was much cooler... so I was getting all the way home without any difficulties.

When the rain stopped however, it started cutting out again.. I seem to get to work ok, when the cars been sitting all night and cool... but when I drive home, and it's been sitting in the sun all day, I'll almost always stall out about 5 minutes from home.

I have an appointment to go in and have diagnostics done to determine what the final problem is for Monday July 20th. I'd love to hear what your outcome was, and I'd be more than happy to post my results once I find out what's going on with mine.

Great forum... and thanks,

JimmyNice

 

My car is running great now. I went to Autozone and told them I was looking to possibly replace my coil/igniter and ICM, and asked them to print out instructions for testing and replacing those parts. I bought a voltmeter for $20 and did the tests (very easy, even for novices like me). The parts failed the test, so I replaced them for $170 total. No problems since then. I definitely recommend doing this before paying a lot of money to have a garage try to diagnose it. Removing the parts and testing them takes about half an hour, depending on if you drop your tools or screws that you remove . be careful taking off the bottom left screw of the dist cap, it is deep and hidden, there 3 screws, 2 that are visible, and then the tricky one. Good luck.

 

Shmzr, thanks for letting us know.

Jimmy, Welcome to HAF. If you feel like checking things for yourself, the first thing is decide whether it's lack of fuel vs. lack of spark.

 

Thank you Jim & Shmzr (hope I spelled that right... trying from memory, can't see your post after I logged in)

Actually through your forums, talking to the honda mechanics prior to taking it in and additional online research, I determined it was my ignition switch which I never... ever would have guessed... because I though I was getting lots of spark... Engine would turn over, starter was fine, just when I let go of the key, it would die immediately.. wouldn't keep running. Which led me to believe it was a fuel issue.

The 98's & 99's had an ignition switch recall, and while my serial number didn't say it had any pending recalls, the honda mechanic they do a ton of them on the models from those years. He also told me the way to tell if it was the switch, was that after it stalls (normally I'd have to let it sit for 4 or 5 minutes before attempting to start again), I should be able to start it immediately if instead of turning the key and letting it spring back, I held on to the key and rolled it back slowly instead. He said if the turned over engine keeps going, it's your ignition switch.

Also this forum pointed out in it's switch test, that if all the lights on the console die when it stalls, it's likely the switch.

So, again, no money out of pocket at this point I drove it around on lunch, then pulled over with my lunch and waited for it to stall. Took about 20 minutes of driving/idling when it stalled. Console lights all when out, even though my satellite radio (powered from the cig lighter) kept playing. I tried the key, started right up, rolled it back... and the engine kept going. I let it stall 2 more times that day with the exact same results.

I didn't feel hugely confident going into my steering column, I toke it into Honda the next morning (they were the only ones who had the switch on hand, everyone else was 3 days to order it in and for a $10 difference, I thought the mechanic who helped me deserved the work) and they installed the switch for me. That was Friday morning... hasn't stalled since.

One thing I am noticing though is still and occasional dip in power while I'm driving... doesn't stall or anything... just a little dip in engine thrust.

I was talking to a clearly much more knowledgable car guy hear at work and he asked me when I changed the spark plugs last. I ashamedly had to say not since I bought it from Honda 4 years before (and about 100k ago) So I guess I'm going to do that first... and possibly swap out the distributor cap and coil... hopefully since I put in a whole new clutch and timing belt last fall... I may have a little break with out repairs after that.

Thanks again for all your assistance, both with direct response answers and with your information in your system tests you have for reference.

This board was an excellent find.

Jim

 

I used to have a 1998, & I think the spark plugs were on a 100k-mile schedule for replacement. Check the plug wires too. Usually Honda factory wires last forever, but you never know.

Start a completely cold engine, in complete darkness. Look for arcing from the plug wires, sometimes it's just a dull blue glow. That would indicate the insulation is breaking down. Spray with water from a windex bottle to make it more visible.