sartac

Good day, I have a new-to-me HX Civic which dies sometimes when taking off (so far) and will not restart for a few tries. Then it's fine.

The issue doesn't seem to be related to temperature, as it cut out yesterday when leaving work (cold start), but also died this morning when arriving at work (operating temp). It threw a CEL after purchasing and driving home, a Vtec malf code. Yesterday was when it started cutting out, IIRC, and the code was cleared last night. But it did the same thing near work this morning, and the CEL is still off.. The vtec code may have been oil pressure related, as the oil was about half a quart low when purchased.

When this occurs, the engine will start for a second each time and die. Holding the throttle doesn't prevent or slow this action. The dash lights turn off normally when starting and stay off when it dies. There is also some light rattling at cold startup, which may be valve clearance. The engine has right at 200k mi of use. Runs fine normally and doesn't make any noise.

I suspect a position sensor, but could use further suggestions. It's unclear to me whether there's a single cam position sensor as part of the dist assy, or if more is involved. Looking for a decent service manual now, preferably the factory. Maybe an ICM or ECU issue? Other thoughts are fuel pump or ign coil, but this doesn't seem heat related, and the engine does start for a moment each time in crap mode.. just won't stay running, and then it's back to normal after a few moments or tries.

Thanks!