mjf6866

the other day, i went to pull my 89 CRX Si out of the garage on the way to an autox event and it started and ran fine for a good 30 seconds, but suddenly died as i was backing out of the driveway (no, i did not stall it )...started back up after a few mins and idled fine for 3 or 4 mins but just died again while at idle. tried to start back up immediately and it would just crank and crank and crank. let it sit for a little while and it fired up again, let it idle for a while and again, the engine died. eventually got it started again and revved her a bit and that seemed to be good...well, got about a mile down the road and it started bogging and died again. let her sit for a few mins and it eventually started back up. when it fired, i revved it out of frustration, ran fine and it didnt miss a beat all day until after the event when i was getting ready to go home, i went to start it and it just cranked and cranked again....until i tapped on the main fuel relay and it started. i know what you will say..."its gotta be that then", but my experience with the main fuel relay going bad in my old car was that when it was cold it started up all the time and ran fine until the car was shut off when hot and you try to start it again after its hot, like at a gas station or something. in this car, it died while it was cold, while at idle and while driving down the road...can that still be the relay...or what else should i be looking for? fuel pump? fuel filter? had a full tank of fresh gas in it too. the other thing i dont get is that it ran flawlessly the previous two weekends with no hiccups. any help would be very much appreciated! dont know if when i was tapping on it, it just fired up by luck. it did run a bit rough for a few seconds then leveled off and got me home no problem.

edit: forgot to mention its got new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, battery, and alternator.

thanks

fcm

Sure sounds like the PGM-FI Main Relay, it is a common problem, and an easy fix,

Unplug the relay and slid the circuit board out of the case and re-solder the connections.. 94

mjf6866

thank you...so if the MFR goes bad, it can cause the car to die while driving too?

any chance it could be an igniter?

fcm

If the PGM-FI Main Relay fails, it can fail in a few ways, turn off the fuel pump, [engine will run for a bit and sputter out as fuel pressure drops off] if it is the fuel injector relay the engine will cut out right away, [no power to the injectors] both symptoms are normally intermittent or poor connection so current is low so pump will not work as well and/or injectors will not have enough power.

Do the repair and see if it solves your problems. 94