rjudem

My 1993 Accord stalled on 2 separate occasions and would not re-start, immediately after exiting the highway. The first time, I had to replace the distributor and ignition coil. Afterwards, I drove the car for a couple of days without any problems, but then it stalled once again right after I exited the highway. This time the ECU fuse had blown. My mechanic tried but could not determine what caused the ECU fuse to blow. With a new fuse, the car has been driving OK around town. However, I need to fix the underlying problem because I want to do highway driving with confidence that it won't break down again. Any suggestions on how to diagnose this problem, and what the root cause might be? I assume it's something that's not obvious, because I trust my mechanic performed all the basic tests. I should add that I love this car and would be thrilled to drive it for a few more years. Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

TejasNW

If you are only blowing fuses at (which is a good thing. the circuit is protecting itself) highway speeds, then I would suspect a current surge at high rpms/load. That would indicate that the altenator is involved.

Have you confirmed that it is highway driving that does this? grab a few spare fuses and test the theory. If it is only doing it on the highway the only variable I can think is the alt., unless there is some strange short that only happens when decelerating from high speeds. If the Alt is spun up at high RPM and then the engine slows on the ramp it is having a current spike. I would start there.

rjudem

It turned out to be the wire going to oxygen sensor. This wire was intermittently rubbing up against the drive shaft. Eventually the insulation got stripped off, causing a short. The problem only manifested itself while exiting the highway, because sharp braking moved the wire forward and up against the drive shaft. At other times, the wire was just dangling.