M-EJ1

Anybody have any experience with this type of problem? My car likes to die randomly, sometimes it will die while I'm on the highway, and I can just pull over and start it back up, sometimes it won't start and I have to wait for a while before it will start. Sometimes it will die, then it will start and run rough (most likely from fuel being in the cylinders) and die as soon as I start to drive it. Sometimes it will die and I won't be able to start it at all for hours.

Can anyone confirm that this sounds like an ECU grounding problem? Also, could there be another cause, such as a failing coil or something? I replaced the plugs, wires, cap and rotor some time ago but it's been running fine for quite some time since. Could a weak battery OR a loose ground terminal on the battery cause something like this? The battery is rather weak and goes dead after a few cranks if the car doesn't start right away, so I'm planning to replace that later, but I'm also pondering the loose terminal idea. Does this sound likely?

Anyway, my car is a 95 civic EX coupe.

Anyone have any ideas?

1hottEG6

Can u feel the car dying before it does, Meaning do the lights dim and then it shuts off? - that could be ur alternator

JimBlake

Could be either one, or flaky wiring from ECU to distributor, ECU to injectors, ECU to ???.

If it was caused by a weak battery, I don't think you'd be able to start it back up. If the battery were low enough to make the ECU/spark/etc. quit; then it wouldn't hardly have enough power left for the starter.

Do you get any CEL fault codes? That can help narrow it down.



[Modified by JimBlake, 12:21 PM 3/17/2003]

M-EJ1

Nope, lights do not dim... which probably means it's not the battery losing juice.

I guess I need to just get in there and check all my grounds, but I don't know where to start. Where does the ground on the wiring harness for the ECU and engine terminate to the chassis?

I don't get any CEL codes specific to this problem, the engine just dies. All lights and accessories work, and the starter works to crank it over, the car just won't start.

Tegra

I had a similar problem on my 90 teg, and it was the fuel pump relay. Sometimes it would start fine, then randomly it wouldn't start, and I would crank and crank and it would finally start. After awhile it got so bad, that it too started dying while I was driving. After I had to tow it home once, I decided to get it looked at, and thats what it was.

JimBlake

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by M-EJ1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... Where does the ground on the wiring harness for the ECU and engine terminate to the chassis?</TD></TR></TABLE>My Helm manual does an OK job showing where they are, but I don't have a '95 Civic. Hope you hear from someone who does. Don't overlook breaks in the other wiring - it might not be a ground.

scatuli

sounds to me like a ignitor module