Hey guys, I have been helping a friend fix her '99 accord V6 automatic. Over the last month or two it has started stalling randomly, sometimes it starts back up and sometimes it doesn't. More recently, it doesn't start back up.
The stalling has started happening more and more frequently and now its quite working right altogether.

We tested the battery, 12.55v, she cranked it unsuccessfully a few times-12.05 volts.
We put on a brand new alternator-still no start.
New battery right after the alternator-starts, but heres the kicker! It goes straight to 2300rpm and stays there, pressing the brake to shift out of gear makes it jump up to 2500rpm. Pressing the gas will make it stall a while at 2800-3k then fall back to 2300. Oh, and now it is locked in park. Before changing the battery and alternator the revs and shifter were fine.

We let the car run for a bit (in park..), shut off and on a few times to check different things. I check the brake booster hose and the throttle cables. Well then we circle back to square one, no start...it tries then gives out. I unplugged the negative cable for a couple minutes, then after plugging it back in it started right up, but again back up to 2300. Turning the ac on drops the revs to 2K.

Before the stalling got so bad I checked the battery voltage several times and the auto parts store tested the battery and alternator. She even left the car with the mechanic for a week and it didnt stall once for him (he put about a 100 miles on it too!).

Ive worked on all sorts of cars-Swedes, Itallians, American, Asian...the usual suspects. Ive never had a car develop new problems like that after fixing two (seemingly) unrelated issues.

Im stumped, why was the car constantly stalling and what could we have done to have locked the shifter and turned the revs up?
Why won't it start up sometimes?

No check engine light or warnings.

Thanks in advance, Aaron

 

You might want to have a look at this link. http://www.gvrdeu.org/Honda%20FSM/Ac...0SM%20Supp.pdf This is the 98-02 Accord V6 FSM. It actually covers the entire car, as some of the V6 stuff is different from the I-4 cars. I only have 4 cylinder 6th gen Accords, so I'm not much help. But, my first thought is the IACV is either dirty (causing it to hang open), or has an air pocket, that's causing the high idle. As for the shift lock, I'd look for a blown fuse, or a bad switch, possibly out of adjustment. These cars actually have 3 fuse boxes, 1 on the passenger kick panel (right side), 1 on the driver's side kick panel (left side), and 1 under the hood. I hope this helps.

 

You have a lot going on at once with this car.

When you turn the key to start up the engine, does the starter motor always spin the engine?

 

Yes it always spins the starter. I didnt get out to check anything else out today, im hoping too tomorrow.
It always tries to start, it just doesn't catch.