94 honda

I have a 1994 Honda accord EX, I bought it brand new it hat 185000 miles... Driving at 60 MPH running good and the engine just shut down with no warning of any kind. Would not restart'' had it towed to work and it sat for 6 hours. started right up and took me home (25 miles) Next 2 days OK small trips to store 1-2 miles, going 10 miles. next trip 10 miles and half way there engine just shut down again, waited 2 hours and went weny 2 miles, waited 1.5 hours wen 1 block had it towed home...5 days later drove great for 25 miles...anyone have any clues????

tech8

It could be various reasons; such as the main relay, ECU, etc. This link has some info. regarding the main relay and some other things. The main relay many times can be repaired just be re-soldering some of the cracked solder joints.

Honda Acura Starting Problems Repair Guide, Main Relay Locations

Also, as cars age, things like capacitors start getting blown or leak in the ECU. More and more instances of bad capacitors are being found lately in older cars (on this sub-forum and the Civic sub-forum). People sometimes just replace the bad capacitors and or resistors and be good again.

94 honda

Thanks I will check the main relay, could it be heating up and then shorting out? Would that just shut the car off with no warning

tech8

The main relay normally won't cause the car to just shut off. Other things can cause it to shut off without warning (see that previous link which mentions some other things).

The ECU can also cause what you describe. See these other recent Civic threads where they found bad capacitors in the ECU:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...oblem-3351472/

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...-help-3351516/

94 honda

What about the fuel pump?

99stockcivic

that sounds like the ignition switch might be bad. To test this, start the car, and simply wiggle the keys around in the lock to see if it turns off the car. If it does, replace the switch. Very common in our cars.

Railroader

I have a 1999 Accord that would just shut down for no reason, would appear to lose all power, would not restart right away on some occasions, turned out to be relay/switch that went under the dash on the steering column, had it replaced under warranty, then had to replace it again myself a short time later.

tech8

Usually if it was the ignition switch, the car can be restarted immediately. The OP cannot immediately restart; so, it probably is not due to the ignition switch.

The youtube video has good testing and replacement instructions if it was due to the ignition switch.

MAD_MIKE

When the original ignition switch in the '95EX failed, it did not allow for a restart. Key had to be held in the no mans land of II(ON) and III(START) to keep the car running.
It wasn't the contacts burned out, one of the tabs that held the plastic ignition switch broke off and another was fractured. 320K+miles and 25years will fatigue fail 'good' parts.

I would suggest looking into the ignition switch first.