Odd symptoms started happening a few days ago..

1. tach began to flutter in 2nd gear for not more than a few seconds, but long enough to realize I lost engine power for a moment. NOTE: it did not, however, feel like the cluch was slipping (newish clutch).

2. Last night I was unable to turn the car over during start up until the 4th or 5th try. This never happens!

3. This morning radio was on but no sound until about 30 minutes into my commute. Then blamo! sound!

4. This morning during my commute, while in 3rd gear, tach dropped and I lost engine power for about 15 seconds..then came back.

What the heck is going on? Hopefully you Honda GURU's can help. Is it electric? Help please, thanks!

 

A good possibility is a failing keyswtich. The switch might cause the symptoms you describe. You could try wiggling the keyswitch to see if you can reproduce the problem. New keyswitch is an easy DIY and replacement is <$50.

good luck

 

well, I appreciate the suggestion. I tried it out while I was driving and shaking the key did nothing.

Just to add..... a few more symptoms happened today.

I was idling in a parking lot for about 5 minutes and all of a sudden the engine just died. I was able to restart the car just fine...but...something is not right

Then, a few hours later, i got into my car and she wouldn't start. She would crank and crank but not catch. I shut her off for a minute and then poof...she started...

any more thoughts? thanks guys.. good to see some of you are still on here helping u s out after all these years.

 

During the episode of cranking & cranking, it would be good to check for lack of fuel vs. lack of spark.

You might check for loose/dirty/corroded pins in the multi-wire plugs just outside the distributor.
And loose/dirty/corroded bundle of ground wires at the thermostat housing.

 

Hey Jim,

So how can I check between the two? It does feel like it's not getting fuel but I'm not sure how to be certain. Aside from the hard start....while I'm driving it will just bog down all of a sudden (as I feel loss of power and watch my tach drop). A bit of scary feeling when on the highway.

Should I just replace the plugs so to eliminate that as an option. They are about 3 years old at this point.



Hmm, where exactly is the thermestat housing.. Jeeze, it's been so long since wrenching under my car hood....I've been a bit obsessed with working on old suzuki motorcycles for the past 3 years I've let my car go a bit. I do have a manual, but it's not with me at the moment.

Thanks for all the help!

 

Bogging down while driving suggests a fuel problem. But maybe you have more than one thing going on.

I guess during an extended episode of cranking & not starting, you could plug a spare sparkplug into the wire & try cranking & look for spark. Or you could carry around a timing light & clamp it on while trying to start. My experience suggests that whenever you're actually prepared to check that stuff, it'll start up every time...

New plugs can't hurt, except for the wasted cost if that doesn't fix it.

You have a 4-cylinder, right?
Thermostat housing is towards the back. Follow the LOWER radiator hose back towards the firewall. It goes to the thermostat housing.

 

I'll check this out. Out of curiousity, Why or how would dirt or debre to the wire harness cause bogging or start-up issues.

Any chance a clogged fuel filter may be causing any of this?

thanks so much

 

I think one or more grounds for the ECU is bolted to the thermostat housing, along with a bunch of other ground wires. That can become loose, or sometimes the connecting lug comes loose from where it's crimped onto the actual wire. No ground, no power, so the ECU switches off.

Just covering possibilities for you to rule out.

Fuel filter can cause the bogging, but can't cause the flaky radio stuff. When several things get flaky, which "shouldn't" be related to each other, I automatically suspect loose ground connections.

 

Reading your post, you have several things going on: engine dies, no turn-over, turn over no start, radio off - any of these imply a different electric circuit: ECU, fuel pump, starter, radio. Any bunch of ground wires that are corroded or loose - ie not making good electric contact - and are part of the circuits listed above can cause what you have.
You tried the keyswitch - which controls everything, now need to get detailed and check ground points for corrosion/looseness, fuse box connectors/wiring, relays wiring at the sockets.
A good start point is your #2 - no turn over - that should be easy to duplicate (I hope), and may actually be the keyswitch... Being intermittent you need to remove some trim and wiggle on the wires, etc.

 

thanks Jim,

I'll take a look and follow up!