Hi, new here and hoping you guys might be of more assistance than my 2 mechanics have been so far! I've got a 1999 LX automatic sedan, 130,000 miles on it. Recently (past 5 months) I noticed that it was running fine but would occasionally seem to stall at speed and then instantly restart itself, as in the engine would drop to 0 rpm, the car would lurch, the maintenance required light would flash, and then it'd restart itself and drive normally. This progressed into occasionally dying and not restarting while coasting at low speeds, and then it became trouble starting to the point that I couldn't get the car to start and not stall without giving it full throttle and holding the revs at about 1,500 rpm for a few moments.

I took it to a mechanic who did the usual, he changed the plugs and air filter, replaced my ignition coil, cleaned out the throttle body, and threw some fuel injector fluid in the car. I'd also gotten a check engine light for the first time that day, so he scanned it and got a code for what he said was "low fuel circulation", didn't catch the number, and he said it would clear itself. It did, the problems seemed to be fixed, but then the car started stalling again as if nothing had been done.

A few days later, the car's water pump fails so I had it taken to another mechanic I've used who replaced that along with the timing belt and whatever other belts he thought were worn. He didn't have any idea why the car was stalling beyond what the other mechanic tried, so I said I'd just deal with it. The car felt fine, but then I noticed something new. Whenever I put the car in reverse now, after he replaced the pump and belts, the car has a very odd vibration through the wheel and pedals, coming from the front of the car, that goes away as soon as I shift back into neutral or drive. It definitely wasn't there before and I can't imagine what it is, any ideas? It doesn't lead to a stall, it just feels rough, and only in reverse or sometimes right after starting the engine. Also, the check engine light is back on though I haven't had a chance to scan it and it wasn't on before I took it in to have the pump done.

If you guys have any insight into A) what causes my stalling, B) what the "low fuel circulation" code means and if it has any relation to the stalling, and C) what is the vibration I'm feeling and is it something I should be worried about?

I talked to another mechanic friend who mentioned something about having to mess with an engine mount to replace the water pump and maybe that would cause a vibration if the guy messed that up, but it seems very odd that it would only happen in reverse...

 

Stop by an autozone and get the actual error code.

Is your car an automatic or manual transmission?

Can you get the car to stall out by shaking the key when it is running?

 

If you lose and regain spark when driving it will restart without cranking the engine. A little strange the reason I know that. I used to work with a guy that would turn the ignition off at speed and then turn it back to run and in the carburetor he liked to pump the gas before turning the key back. It gave a backfire out of the exhaust. Thank God we are only young once.

 

I figured when it dies at speed it restarts itself because it has enough inertia in the driveline, while at lower speeds it just dies. I'm just afraid it will happen while crossing a busy street or something. I've read here that my era Accord had problems with the ignition switch, so I'll give the key jiggling move a try and see what happens. Any other ways to know if that is the issue besides shaking the key? Also, PAHonda, it's an automatic.

 

Another question I've had floating around in my head- Does the car suddenly stalling as it has been cause any long term damage to the motor or transmission or anything? Obviously it's not "good" for the car, but is it significantly shortening the life of some components under the hood?

 

Tough to answer that question. Probably not too bad, unless the stalling is particulary violent. If it feels just like you turned off the key, then the only bad thing would be stalling you in a position to be hit by an on-coming truck.

 

Not to keep harping on about my problems, but the mention of the '99 ignition switch recall got me curious about that problem and I've done some more reading on it... I don't know if the fix was done, but apparently that doesn't matter as it would have replaced a defective switch with the same switch, but newer, so it could have gone bad again. Anyway, while driving today I tried jiggling the key to see if it'd cut out, and eventually it did, but when it did the check engine light and the maintenance required lights came on, which apparently shouldn't happen if it's just the ignition switch causing an electrical cutout. I've read that the main fuel relay could be a culprit here, keeping in mind that I've had the throttle body cleaned and new plugs installed, or could it be a clogged fuel filter? As I said in the first post, it will only start if I give it full throttle while cranking the engine, otherwise it'll stall out almost instantly, and even then once it catches it'll sometimes stall as soon as I put it into gear.

Anyway, that's the stalling problem- Anyone have any idea what the vibration I mentioned could be? To rehash quickly- I had the timing belt and the water pump replaced, and once that work was done the car developed an intermittent, nasty vibration when I start the engine and when it's in reverse that feels like it's coming from the front of the car.

Just to make it easy, it's a 1999 Accord LX sedan, 2.3L vtec automatic.

 

The warning lamps WOULD come on, just like they should when you turn off the key & then turn it back on.