was driving to longwood last night and with very little forewarning it lost power then completely died. it felt like the car was missing, but i don't believe it to be an ignition problem. i inspected the plugs last week and they seemed fine. i believe it may be a fuel pump or fuel pump relay. any suggestions?

 

You could conceivably have one of three problems
And you can check two of them this way:
1) As suggested by deserthonda in other threads:
Pull off the large plastic air inlet tube from the Throttlebody and spray Carburetor Cleaner (doesn't need a whole lot) into the Throttle body. Crank over the engine.
If it starts, it's fuel delivery related. If it doesn't it's ignition related

I would suggest a second check because there are several things you haven't volunteered: Milage, and when was the last Timing Belt replaced?

2) Confirm the ignition is working by taking an old (spare) spark plug, attach it to one of the spark plug leads, lay it against the valve cover and crank over the engine. Someone watching the plug should note a white/blue spark bridging the gap. If you do, the ignition works. If it doesn't.....

3) Pull the distributor cap and verify the distributor turns as the engine cranks, if it doesn't; you most likely blew the timing belt.

P

 

well the car has 127,xxx on it. the car will start but it won't run. as sooon as i get the car started it will die, but it starts just fine. i can hear nothing from the fuel pump when the key is in the on position. this is why i think it's fuel related.

 

if car starts and dies imediatelly sounds like an ignition switch issue,,,,,,,,,stat car up but dont let go of the key just back it off just a bit see if car stays running

 

won't that tear up the starter? the car was running when it shut of. the rpm's dropped in a staggered way, and i tried applying more gas and it just kept the rpm's up enough so as not to die. then it finally just cut out from under me. it had been bucking a bit on the drive west. origonally i was thinking ignition, but i've dealt with honda distributors going bad, with that the car wouldn't crank at all almost.

 

if car stays running just a bit then do as P_Adams suggested ,, my test is ONLY if car starts and dies as soon as u let go of the key ,,

 

Does the engine sound to be cranking over faster than normal?
P

 

remove the oil filler cap , have someone crank car over , chk to see if the rockers arms are moving , ( going up and down ) ,if not u got a broken timing belt

 

car sounds perfectly normal during start up. will try the oil cap thing, also going to attempt the carb spray-trick

 

*UPDATE* got the car home (after a $524 tow)

car will start and run. when you put the car into anything other than park or neutral it will hold idle, idle will droop then car will start to shudder and car will shut off. car then starts back up normally and while in park the car runs fine. car is an auto. i guess that rules out the fuel pump relay. still wondring if it might be the fuel pump. any ideas?

btw thanx for the help thus far. you guys are a credit to the forum..

 

Clogged fuel filter......?

I've got one question, with it in neutral, will it rev normally?

What I'm trying to determine (seperate from the chafe (so to speak)) your problem thru questions cuz we could be looking at several things that can cause these symptoms.
These we know
1) Fuel is present (to the point the engine will run (of a sort)
2) Ignition is present (to the point the engine will run (of a sort)
3) Engine has compression

What we don't know
1) Fuel
a) Sufficient pressure (yes, fuel pump)
b) Sufficient volume (fuel filter)

2) Ignition
a) Sufficient secondary voltage
b) Correctly timed*

3) Mechanical condition
a) Valve timing (timing belt slipped, retarding valve timing (imminent belt failure)
(reduced vacume)
*Ignition timing retarded (dist driven by cam)

4) Exhaust
a) Collapsed converter (exhaust restricted)

This is what we're up against

P

because it came on very suddenly, I'm inclined to 1) agree you may have a fuel pump / filter problem but 2) we shouldn't dismiss the possibility of a timing belt failure.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DoC-JoneS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">*UPDATE* got the car home (after a $524 tow)

car will start and run. when you put the car into anything other than park or neutral it will hold idle, idle will droop then car will start to shudder and car will shut off. car then starts back up normally and while in park the car runs fine. car is an auto. i guess that rules out the fuel pump relay. still wondring if it might be the fuel pump. any ideas?

btw thanx for the help thus far. you guys are a credit to the forum..</TD></TR></TABLE>

so let me get this right , car starts and idles fine , revs up fine as long as the car is in park or neutral correct??? but as soon as you put it in drive it dies???

 

well i think the first order of business is to replace the fuel filter. as the car was running in park the motor reved fairly freely (no more so or less than normal) and it was not untill i put the car into an actual gear that idle was comprimised. i am leaning more towards a fuel problem as i began to smell fuel while in drive. also stepping on the gas actually seemed to flood the engine out. i also have a bad No. 2 oxygen sensor, i believe this has something to do with the current problem. the car began to get poor gas mileage right before she cut off.

 

fuel system didn't seem to have alot of pressure. almost have the filter off. will repost after i get the new one in.

 

make sure lockup is properly functioning on tranny cause if it is engaged all the time car will stall when you put it in drive.

 

any way to check it? the tranny was doing fine before this happened.

 

If the trans converter is locked up and has not released, the engine will stall immediately when put into gear. Just the same as if you set the e'brake, had the car in 1st and popped the clutch; instant stall.

P

 

well finally got the fuel filter installed (what a PITA). car started after a couple tries at repressureizing the system. ran fine for a trip around the block but the idle was very low. parked it and the car went dead after idling for about 30 secs. was making alot of puffing noises and was missing very badly. any suggestions guys?

also the exhaust was very hot. more than likely due to the 02 sensor.

 

does the engine idle and revs smoothly in park ? or does it puff and miss in park as well??

 

revs okay. at first it reved just fine and idled ok. towards the end it idled really rough and would be very hesitant to rev. it would miss, reve mis mis drop rev higher then even out then dive again.

 

chk engine lite on ???

 

has been since i got it. last time i checked it rear o2 sensor. going to check again tomorrow.

 

I am not sure about Honda trans but on MOST 4 spd auto's all you have to do is unplug the the electrical connector and if the problem goes away, then you know it is the lockup not releasing

 

really don't think it's the tranny...

 

so far have changed out:

fuel filter
spark plugs
distributor cap & rotor

and now she will idle but is missing VERY badly. looking into timing