TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

Couple days ago I was pulling in to our lot at work and thought that because of the recent rain, some water dripped in to the Cap/Rotor and shorted it out. There's a bit of a dip coming in and later that day the car started perfectly so I figured it was a logical answer, the water had dried out.
I got home, took the cap off, everything looked okay, put it back together and now today happens...

Pulling in to the lot from a different entrance that isn't as steep and no rain, I'm in Neutral coasting down the lot when suddenly the engine cuts out and dies! No hesitation, nothing... I wait a minute, try starting it again, sort of stumbles for half a second but then starts back up like there's no issue.

The only recent work was that back at the start of September 2018, I replaced the coil that had failed. While I was at it I replace the cap/rotor and wires. Is it possible one of those is faulty? I can't figure out what's causing this... Help!

zeroptzero

Do you work at Area 51 ? sounds odd that it happens as soon as you pull into work, lol.

When I was on the S2000 forums I often read posts of guys having engines that stopped running for no apparent reason, I believe it was heat related where a certain module or relay overheated and shut things down until it cooled off. My guess is that you have some module or relay that is getting too hot and is shutting down the engine, not sure which one or where ?

wunfstgsr

Sounds like your coil, try a new one

TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

It shut off on my way home for the first time!
I emailed the company and they're sending me a replacement coil as I'm leaning that direction as well.
I'll make sure to post an update once I've installed it.

Thanks guys!

TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

Replaced coil, still shut off, no change
CEL is not on steady but I was able to pull a code. Because it's not on steady, Manual says it's likely an intermittent issue, which I guess it is.

Code 15 - Ignition Output Signal
I pulled the Main Relay but I don't see any obvious cracked solder as some of what I've seen suggested

Any other ideas? Most of the troubleshooting I'm finding regards a car that can't start, not this random shutting off.

zeroptzero

might be a bad ignition switch.

TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

New update...
Upon closer inspection, I did see a tiny ring around one of the posts inside of the Main Relay, a youtube video I watched said that was sufficient enough to cause issues like this. I resoldered the post, took it for a test drive, no change... I timed it this time, seems fairly consistent that after 7min it shuts off. I then waited 45sec and it started back up.
HERE'S THE KICKER!
I kept driving it assuming it would die again within 7min, I drove for another 10min then left it idling for 5min for a total of 15min, and it never shut off!
So frustrated...

Repair manual says to reset the ECM, I went ahead and did that, we'll see what happens tomorrow to/from work. I also have a jumper cable ready to test for spark next time it dies on me, assuming that it will.

wunfstgsr

Code 15! That's the ICM inside the distributor! when the go bad they do exactly whats happening to you, try taking the cap off and pinching the 3 small plugs that go on the pins on the ICM sometimes they get loose. If no luck you need to replace it with a new one and or try a new distributor.

tamboo

the airtex icm i bought at rockauto fo $40 has been doing well for 2 years or so.
even came with thermal paste which is a must.
lots of pricier units out there. i always keep a spare coil in the car too.

tony_2018

Thermal paste? thats new. I've never seen one added to the ICM. Interesting..

wunfstgsr

Yup I put that on mine years ago, they get hot and go bad, the thermal paste protects it.

TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

FIXED!

Replaced the ICM about a week ago, I've driven maybe 10times on it and haven't had any more trouble! Wohoo!I bought a super affordable one off of Ebay, about $15. I will warn you that if you buy it, the back plate on mine came a little long and I had to use my dremel to trim it back some to fit on the heatsink. If yours comes this way, reach out to the company and ask for some kind of refund for your time
Hope this can help someone else!

jdmark1

iTrader: (2)

That's good that the issue is fixed, but I wouldn't expect a $15 ICM off of Ebay to last very long so don't be surprised when in a year form now it goes bad again.

TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

Came with a 10yr warranty.
I buy cheap stuff all the time and those products works great, if this fails while I still have the car I'll try to remember to post here. I kept the old one to get me out of a pinch.

wunfstgsr

Couldn't you use the original/OEM back plate?

TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

I think you're confusing the back plate of the ICM, with the heat sink. The holes on the heatsink did not line up with the holes on the backplate of the ICM, that's why I had to trim it to make it work.

wunfstgsr

Ahh yes this is correct happened when I ordered one from ebay years ago lol

TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

Well, it lasted about 2 years ~5,000 miles. Because of Covid I wasn't driving much. I first ordered another cheapie off of Ebay, I was mislead by the pictures and it ended up being the same black generic crappy one from before... It didn't even work after install!
So I ditched it, went to Autozone and bought their Duralast version. It didn't line up with the backing plate perfectly so I had to sand it down on the cement a little to fit, but it feels heavier and the build quality is much better. Set me back $60, at least it has a Lifetime warranty!

I was able to get about a 20% discount on it though, bought a used giftcard through CardCash! Definitely recommend going this route, I've seen the discount as high as 30%.

Anyways, just wanted to update and potentially help someone out!

wunfstgsr

Did you use thermal paste on the heat sink?, it gives extra protection and will probably last longer.

TheIVJac|{al

iTrader: (1)

I did consider that, but I don't think it came with it OEM so I just made sure there was no gap between it and the heatsink/backing plate. If you have some handy, I doubt it would hurt to add a little dab!

JustinphiNguyen

Mine would do the same for a long time. I kept having to change batteries and alternator. Turns out it was an issue with the after market car alarm system or the aftermarket stereo. Took them both out change a few fuses the car started running like it did before.

JamesHatkins

I had a problem with the contacts, maybe they are not securely fixed, well, or not a high-quality coil. On my second car Ford 5.4, looked at the review of the coils here coils for ford 5.4 I use ENA coils, the engine size is quite large so fuel economy is just as important, quick start and Misfire reduction normally save fuel.

tony_2018

I was able to locate someone selling the hitachi icm. Bought two since Honda no longer sales it. Keeping a spare for the future.

fj40fax

I have a 1990 with the 2.2 that suddenly died one day. It will start just fine, go to the high start RPMs and then drop down straight to dead. No amount of throttle can keep it running. After an extensive search I figured it had to be the Ignition Control Module so I grabbed one and put it in the distributor, and it worked... for about 2 days and it did the same thing again. This time I noticed that if I bumped to the start position the RPMs would raise again and I could keep it going a second or two longer. Holding the key in the on position does not keep it from dying, only if I engage the starter again. Jiggling the key does not change anything. Oddly, I got it to stay running for a bit if I could get it into gear fast enough, but it would run very rough like it had a misfire. I replaced the entire distributor hoping that it was a bad coil, but that did not resolve the problem either. Does anyone know what controls the ICM?
Thanks,
Fax

POSonda

This same exact thing happened to me. Back 4 years ago, I had just rebuilt the engine, the rebuild and everything went as planned, no issues at all. Then one day as I was heading to the store, i pulled into the parkibg lot and my engine completely shut down, happened about 2 or 3 times afterwords. Everytime it cut out I started it right up, started everytime. The day this occurrences it was raining as well. Since then it never happened again.