lakers6902

wat up, quick question
car: 94 civic dx
engine: d15b7, standard tranny
problem: when i drive the car will sometimes turn off by itself and everything on my gauge cluster will go off, like no power. then about 10 seconds later the cluster will light up and i can start the car again. starting to happen frequently now. started last week.
sometimes when im warming the car up the engine will just shut off and when i try to start it right away, the engine will start but turn off as soon as i let the key go back into the 'on' position. i was thinking maybe alternator? but im not a genius at cars so thought id ask you guys first before i do anything.

thank you!!!

ek4h

it might be ur Distributor check that too

wrx-killer-Sti-eater

iTrader: (1)

check that key switch?

B serious

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wrx-killer-Sti eater &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">check that key switch?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That might be it....but why would the lights in the cluster go out.

Most likely a bad ground. If the grounding strap from the trans to the chassis gets loose or corroded, this will happen. Also check the grounding strap(s) from the valve cover to the core support. Then check your ECU main ground at the thermostat housing. Check those and clean em and make sure they're tight.

lakers6902

hmm interesting, thanks guys.
i was gonna take my alternator in to go get tested but at pep boys its 20 bucks so dunno if ill do it.
but yea the other day the car shut off in traffic, and i hadda hold the key at the start position and than drive the car off the road, then i kept tryin to start it and it would turn on, then off. every time. but wen the cluster lights turn back on then the car will start and stay on. if the cluster lights are off, the car will start but shut off right away. ive narrowed it down to that so now i somewat know wat to do when the car shuts off.

o yea, FYI
cel came on twice alrdy when im on the freeway but when i turn the car off and back on the cel stays off and wont come back on again.

cimo463

sounds like an ingnition switch to me...like its getting a bad conection.....I know there are some recalls with ingnition switchs...but im not sure about your year...call ur local honda dealer and ask them..they should be able to help ya out

Hawkze_2.3

Yea, that's not the alternator. If the alternator is bad or goes out you gradually loose power because it just starts draining your battery.

Probably the ignition switch like has been said

wrx-killer-Sti-eater

iTrader: (1)

if you have the parking light on does the parking lights go off too? Like the battery was unpluged.

lakers6902

yes the parking light goes off too
like as if the battery was unplugged

i turned the heater on once wen i was warming up and it happened, and the heater turned off too as well until about 10 seconds later it turned back on and the cluster lit up again then i could start it

mikeycivic

not to thread jack but I have a similar issue on my 00 em1, my car doesnt die but when I am driving and I go to down shift, when I push my cluth in my cluster lights get really dim. Battery is 2 years old but alternator is OE, any suggestions

cimo463

Now your problem sounds like an alternator.....cause when u push the clutch in the rpm's go down and a bad alternator wont work good until high rpms

lakers6902

so this is a mysterious problem
that we will ponder for years to come

my poor car

cimo463

Its ur ingnition switch.....if ur cluster lights are going off and then back on like u turned the car off then back on then the contacts in the switch are bad...i have seen this tons of time on older hondas

lakers6902

thanks for the help
any idea on the cost?
or an effective way of testing this?

cimo463

well ingnition switch shouldnt run you real high expecially something older...if you know what your doin you can crack open the switch and clean the contacts...but that will only fix the problem temporary...I recomend just puttin a new one in

lakers6902

got a new ignition switch from the junkyard today, hadda get the whole cylinder and electrical part though cause wouldnt split it, only 70 bucks though. no part store only sold the electrical part for my year for some reason....
anyways, yea it was just the electrical part, i ended up keeping the same lock cylinder and just put the new electrical part only and now it feels like i just swapped in a k24

cimo463

HaHa Well glad your back on the road man!

blu eg22

You may want to check into gettin a new main power relay. They tend to go bad esp. if your car has been sittin in the sun alot. If I drove my car for a while in hot weather and stopped somewhere, I would try to turn it on and it would cut off a couple times and finally after lettin it sit for a minute or two it would turn right on. Since I got the new relay I haven't had a single problem. And I drive a 94 lx model and everything electrical in my car would turn off just like your car is doing.

lakers6902

interesting...
and on a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest
how hard is replacing that?
the ignition wiring took me like 4 hours, haha. but i hadda re-do the wiring for the alarm so it took me a while longer.