wambus

I have a '92 Accord, 4 cyl., auto. It shuts off sometimes, and will not restart. but sometimes it will. Sometimes you have to wait a long time, sometimes not. I smell gas, which tends to rule out the fuel system as a culprit. I need to use this car while my oldest is doing a head gasket job on his car.

Some history now, I think.

The car was purchased modified. It had a substantial stereo in it, and may have had other electrical modifications which were removed before we purchased it. It also has a transmission problem which can usually be rectified by disconnecting the battery. The problem is that the shift indicator light on the dash stays on in D4 but also wherever you have the selector. When this happens it also will only work in a couple of the gears and will downshift suddenly.

I suspect that the alternator has suffered some damage from the stereo electricity consumption, and I know that the battery is weak. I charge it every night before I will use it (might as well have an electric car...)

Can anyone help me find a cheap fix to these problems? The cutting-off problem is the most important, but it would be nice to be able to drive on the freeway... When my oldest is done with his car and I can have my truck back, this thing is being donated for the tax write off (such as it is), so I don't want to invest a lot in it.....

Thanks in advance

[Modified by wambus, 10:31 PM 12/12/2001]


[Modified by wambus, 10:32 PM 12/12/2001]

ForcedAccord

So you said it does turn over?

weekendracer

A friend of mine had a problem with his '90 where it wouldn't start sometimes. I don't remember if it ever stalled out on him, but it might have. We were thinking it was something in the ignition, but it turned out that it was the fuel pump relay which is located under the dash on the driver's side (not sure exactly where). From what he heard this was a common problem for accords of that generation. He changed the relay, and it has been fine since. The relay was cheap to replace, so i'd say it's worth a shot.

ArchAngel Sabastian

what kind of stereo system?

if your using a high power amp and subs the stereo system
could be pulling to much power from the alt/battey and is cuaseing your car to die
try discontcting the extra power wires from your batter for the stereo and see if this helps any. also take it to a local parts store and have the battery and altenator checked to see if they are charging and keeping charge


[Modified by Sabastian, 3:04 PM 12/12/2001]

CardDealer

Modified by CardDealer at 3:32 PM 11/16/2006

4doorH22

My guess is that one of the major electrical connectors is bad. It's probably the altenator connection. This would explain why it sometimes starts and sometimes doesn't, and also dies randomly. When a rusty or bad connection heats up, it can either open (make contact) or close (lose contact) your entire electrical circuit.

jdm92accord

I have a '92 also, and I had a very similar problem. I would be driving and the car would just shut off for no reason while I was driving. When this first started happening, it would take just a short rest before I could start it up again. Then after this kept on happening for a while, it would take longer before I would be able to start it up again.
What my problem was, was the ignition control module in the distributor. I was able to get the module for about $50. My problem was solved after I changed the module. Hope this helps if you haven't fixed it yet.

urbanlegend21

it is the ignition control module in the distributor like jdm92accord said.....cost like $30 bucks from the dealer

wambus

ForcedAccord - Yes, it turns over quite nicely!

Weekendracer - We thought that it might have been the relay very early on in our ownership of the car, but discounted that - I can't remember why now, but during this current problem you can smell gas....

Sebastian & schlit - The system is gone now. Everything in the trunk was stolen, and I have removed the rest for possible re-use in the new ride. It was a potent system, and my son added to it. We put in a single capacitor which helped with amp cut-out, but I suspected that all this electronics was over-taxing the charging system. The car would cut off often, and had regular transmission problems. Once the system was partially jacked, the car stopped cutting off. Go figure. Next car gets a heavy-duty battery and maybe a beefier alternator before we add any system components!

Dave - the alternator connection you are talking about; do you mean the plug on the alternator itself? I will look at the connections to check for problems.

9dm92accord & Urbanlegend21 - I had a GM car with a hard start and no re-start problem which turned out to be the ignition module. I'm liking your idea, especially since one of you had teh same problem. My car has been suffering this more frequently. Yesterday it was started twice, and both times it ran for less than a minute before it cut-off. It would not restart.

BY the way, there is an object on the fire-wall behind the intake. It has wires coming out of it, as well a vacume lines. One line points straight up. the hose is not there. Is this important? I had not noticed it missing before....(and can't find where it may have been connected at the other end...)

The transmission issue is still puzzling me. Is a sensor bad? Is the computer malfunctioning on its own?

Thanks for your time! You all have been very, very helpful. I hope one day I can repay the favor!


[Modified by wambus, 2:13 PM 12/13/2001]


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