If I didn't see it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it.

My wife wanted to go to the library today, so she went into the garage to get in the cartogo on her merry way,but she immeidately came back into the house and said "the car doesn't start right".

Needless to say, my interest was piqued, so we went back to the garage and I stood in the garage doorway while she tried to start the car. Here is what I saw and heard:

Attempt 1.Car started instantly, but quit within 1 second.
Attempt 2. Same as 1.
Attempt 3. Car started instantly and continued to run, but when car put in drive, engine quit instantly.
Attempt 4. Same as 3.
Attempt 5. Car started instantly and continued to run fine while in gearand she left.

She came back home a short time later and reported that on the way back from the library theengine suddenly quit on her as she was making a turn. She stopped the car and it started right up again and then came directly home to give me some royal Shiite. (You know, I can't figure out why my wife gets ticked offat me when soemthing goes wrong with the car. Obviously, she should be getting ticked off at the car. After all, I did not break the car, and she's the one who's always driving it, so SHE must have "broken" it. Therefore, it is I who should be getting ticked off at her. But that isn't the waylife works, is it?)

It's been a nice cool day here in Edmonton - outside temp around 61 F.

My wife got back in the car as a passenger, andI drove it out of the garagefor a good test drive. We drove around for 30 minutes and the car ran perfectly.

I've read all the DIYtroubleshooting threads, but our particular symptoms don't seem to match the description ofthe ignitor, coil, spark, master relay, fuel-pump or fuel-filter problems.

The car was not warm when my wife first tried to start it and when it finally ran continuously it certainly was not yet warmed up. (The whole series of events in the garage did not last more than a total of1 minute.)

But there definitely is an intermittent problem andI do believe it is an ignition problem rather thana fuel-supply problem. For example, if the fuel filter were plugged, or the fuel pump were faulty, how could I drive around for 30 minutes with theengine running perfectly?

But maybe I'm all wrong and it is indeed anfuel systemmalfunction.

Of course the problem is that it is intermittent and this will make it more difficult to diagnose, so I thought I come here and describe the problem and maybean HAF memberhas had the same symptoms and a solution to them.

So, has anybody had their car behave in this exact way? If so, what was the cause?

Thanks.

 

I know TexasHonda experienced an intermittent feul delivery/spark delivery gremlin that he has referred to several times, but I don't remember if his symptoms were the same or if he ever figured out exactly what the problem was. Hopefully he'll get on here and comment. In the mean time, I'll look around for it on the forum.

 

I've never seen that personally.... did the car sputter at all or just die? If it sputtered and died I'd be leaning towards a fuel issue. If it just died I'd go towards electrical.... If it's the latter of the two I'd almost want to think it's an igntion issue. Does your wife have a lot of extra key chains or added weight to the keyring? If it does it again I'd start the car then try to hold the key forward (to the point just before it starts) and see if it stays running. Also, go outside, start the car and jiggle the key around and back/forth (in the on postion) and see if the car dies.

And tony at this point and time in your life I thought for sure you'd know that everytime ANYTHING goes wrong it's your fault. Just because she drives it all the time doesn't mean a thing. I think you need to fix the issue while she "helps" then goes inside and cooks you a nice meal.... *L* I wonder if our wifes are related.....

 

Yikes! Thoseare fast responses! Both of you must have the HAF window open all the time!

Thanks for answering though.

nasty, no sputtering whatsoever. I'll try that key thing as soon as I can.

My wife is back out on the street with the car, so, for my own sake, I hope that our trusty, faithfulAccord doesn't die on her again. Needless to say, I've got my fingers crossed. She's got a cell phone and we've alsogot a big Yamaha Venture Royalemotorcycle sitting at the ready in the garage, so if something does indeed go wrong, I can jump on the bike, rescue my wife,and no doubtget Round II of a well-deservedass-kicking!

 

If it turns out to be the igntion or once you have the issue nailed down you should ask her what it's worth (beyond the obvious "I won't be mad anymore" benefit...) before you repair it.... Also, if you repair something shortely before bedtime it puts them in a good mood and lessens the chance that something else can occur that night to put them in a foul mood....or so I've heard....

 

My wife returned and said the car ran perfectly.

Whew, that was a close one (for me)!

I tried the key shaking/positionthing and everything appears fine.

I also tried one of the basic troubleshooting tests - the one where you turn the key to ignition ON and then push down onthe brake, put the car in D, turn the key to full start, move the gear lever to N, the car starts. Immediately after start, very quickly, whilestill holding the key on full start position, move gearlever back to D and the car should continue toidle. Well, the car did indeed idle,so therefore, although some of the ignition switch symptoms do indeed match some of what's happening to our car, I do not think that the problem is the ignition switch.

However, if the car behaves tomorrow moring as it did this morning, I'll try some of the other easyignition switch troubleshootingobservations and tests.

 

You know, I just thought of something with respect to the ignition switch.

There was some mention made of the possibility of the original switch lubricant somehow fouling the contacts over the years. Maybe when the switch is cold the lubricant prevents proper contact, but after you've put it through it's paces a couple of times the metalof the contacts and the lubricant itself warms up a bit and then everything's hunky dory.

The problem is that this theorydoes not explain why the car stalled on the road - long after intitial start-up.

 

your cap and rotor are tight? Coil wire is tight? Is your alternator and/or battery dieing on you? Intermitant battery cel issue, once it gets running and gets a charge from the alternator it's good? Just random thoughts here since as you said inconsistant issues are hard...

 

sounds like the electrical part of the ignition switch to me as well,,
like Sir said,,,,,,start car if it dies immediatelly restart but hold key just barely off the start position ,, if keeps on runing that's the problem ,, by the way if that's what it is you can replace just the electrical portion , around $ 60-70 dollars at dealer .. and if it is that and you need help on how to replace it ,,,, Holler ..

 

One possibility to consider is some trash in the fuel tank. There is an inlet screen to prevent pickup of trash, however if enough trash gets picked up, the fuel delivery will be disabled. Once you stop the fuel flow, the trash may fall away from the inlet screen and car runs fine until the trash accumulates again on the screen. Some years ago my brother had exactly this problem on an 86 Accord. A new fuel pump, inlet screen, and cleaning the tank fixed the problem.

My recent fuel pump problem doesn't match your symptoms. The car would run fine, if it would start, however on occasion the fuel pump would refuse to initiate pumping. Sometime later it may/may not restart. I found you could get it to restart by repeatedly hammering w/ voltage. Car never died while driving. It took me some time to figure out what was happening because the symptoms closely matched Main Fuel Relay (MFR), and problem would sometimes not appear for weeks on end, and then pick the most inopportune moment to leave you stranded for hours.

I would suggest checking for fuel pressure when no-start occurs. You can crudely check by cracking the fuel pressure access bolt. If you don't get a substantial spray of fuel when you crack the bolt, lack of fuel is likely the cause of no-start. It could be MFR, fuel pump, or trash as described above.

One check I used to check for power to the fuel pump was to rig a "tell-tale" light in the front where you can see it everytime you start. Light should come on for 2-3 secs and go off if the starter is not turning. If light never comes on during starting, power is not getting to the fuel pump; suspect MFR.

This problem may take patience, something I've found that wives don't have in great reserve for cars that fail them. They want them fixed; chop-chop thank you! I get the same impression you did, that somehow this failed car is my fault and if I didn't continually repair old, high mileage cars, we wouldn't have these problems. I try to point out late model cars sitting alongside the road to highlight that all cars fail at times. Sigh, I can't say w/ any honesty that I've made a lot of headway on my spouse.

good luck