I have an automatic 1990 Accord. My car started acting up a few months back. I would be driving along, and the car would just shut off. Radio, lights, and the lights on the gauges would still work, the car just wouldn't start again. Check engine light stayed on for about 5-10 minutes, and when it finally goes off I'm able to start my car again. It would seem to do it after the car wasn't driven for a few days (like the weekend). I've heard of people having these problems when their car is hot, mine seems to do it when it's cold.

After it did it a few times I took it to a shop to run a diagnostic on it. Guy came back and said my timing was off (it wasn't). I asked if there were any codes thrown and he said no. At the suggestion of my boyfriend I changed the main relay. The old one didn't look too good, we figured it was that. That was a month ago, and this morning it did it again. I didn't even get a block from my house.

I've searched here and found somewhat helpful things, but not with my specific problem. I love my car. It's my first and has been, up to this point, a reliable car. Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

Did you put in a new main relay or one from a junkyard??? If its a junkyard one it may not be any better than the one you took out...they are simple to fix.

 

Was new from Honda.

And I know you can fix a main relay by fixing the solder on it. It was durring the week, and I didn't have time to do that. Getting a new one was easier for me (boyfriend works at Honda).

 

Have you read "91 honda not starting" near the bottom of the page? There are some pretty good diagnostics posted there.

 

might be distributor

 

Yea I saw that. It's actually the only topic that seem to have suggestions for a problem close to mine. Even though his problem was the car not starting while mine is the car dies while driving, then not starting. I'd like to know what's making the car die first. It's pouring down rain right now or else I'd go check a couple of things from that post.

While I was stuck this morning, I listened to the car when I'd get to the second click and didn't hear the little whirl of the fuel pump. At least I think that's what that is...

My Dad and I changed the cap and rotor for the dizzy earlier this year, but it could maybe be the dizzy itself then?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by V!olet &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yea I saw that. It's actually the only topic that seem to have suggestions for a problem close to mine. Even though his problem was the car not starting while mine is the car dies while driving, then not starting. I'd like to know what's making the car die first. It's pouring down rain right now or else I'd go check a couple of things from that post.

While I was stuck this morning, I listened to the car when I'd get to the second click and didn't hear the little whirl of the fuel pump. At least I think that's what that is...

My Dad and I changed the cap and rotor for the dizzy earlier this year, but it could maybe be the dizzy itself then?</TD></TR></TABLE>

V!olet,

Nice to see a girl interested in car mechanical things. No, it doesn't sound like the dizzy or cap itself because 3 out of 4 cylinders is enough to start and run and engine rough. A dizzy won't kill all 4 cyl, but the coil/igniter might. A bad coil will usually go intermittent first. Which means it will die anywhere, anytime and you might or might not be able to start up again. When the coil (my '90 has a coil, not igniter, goes out fully, then the car will turn over and never start, since there is no spark.

Is your car running at all? If it is, when it dies, pull any of the spark plug wires, stick a wire (paper clip will do) in the wire terminal, hold it close to the engine to be a ground point, turn on the ignition and see if spark jumps from wire to ground. If it does not, then change the coil. You could check all 4 spark plug wires to be really sure. But if it dies like that and there is no spark, then it is the coil.

You already changed the main relay, so it should not indicate the fuel pump electrical connection. If it is the fuel pump itself, you would have had it die on you already.

Let us know what happens.

 

I asked my Dad about the car today, he owned it before me. He said he had the same problem, and in the end got the igniter changed and that fixed the problem. He said it was about two years ago.

My car is running, just kind of nervous to drive it anywhere. I have a mental list of things to check if the car dies again. I'm hoping it doesn't, but I'm never going to have peace of mind until I fix it. The last time this happened before today was almost exactly a month ago.

Since it seems to happen randomly, would I have to wait until the car dies again to be able to check for a spark?

Thanks for the replies everyone. I really, really appreciate it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by V!olet &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I asked my Dad about the car today, he owned it before me. He said he had the same problem, and in the end got the igniter changed and that fixed the problem. He said it was about two years ago.

My car is running, just kind of nervous to drive it anywhere. I have a mental list of things to check if the car dies again. I'm hoping it doesn't, but I'm never going to have peace of mind until I fix it. The last time this happened before today was almost exactly a month ago.

Since it seems to happen randomly, would I have to wait until the car dies again to be able to check for a spark?

Thanks for the replies everyone. I really, really appreciate it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
V!olet,

That's it. That's the item. In my car, there is a coil, in some models, there is an igniter instead. They both serve the same function, in providing a high voltage to arc across the gap of the spark plug. As I mentioned earlier, when it first starts going bad, the defect will be intermittent and random. Sooner or later it will get worse and happen all the time or almost all the time. Save yourself from anxiety, buy a new igniter of good quality even a Honda OEM (the one your Dad got should not have gone out in 2 years, but some of them do), and replace it before you get stuck in a really bad spot, like the middle of a speeding freeway. That's scary. Call around for price, might be around $50 aftermarket up to $100 for Honda OEM. My original OEM coil lasted 11 yrs, and the aftermarket replacement is still going strong since 5 years ago.

Yes, for the car owner, the test will have to be when it fails.

However, some parts houses have testers that will test coils/igniters. Call around, some charge, some do it for free, some do it for free only if you buy the replacement from them. Then ask your Dad to run down to the parts house for you or with you.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for your help Mangotreemechanic. I was a little nervous about posting on here. Was kind of expecting someone to tell me my headlight fluid was low or something...

I'm just going to go with OEM (boyfriend's discount). I don't trust any shops around here that would have the part because they're constantly trying to screw me over. That's why I'm trying to fix it myself with a little help.

I looked at a Haynes manual for my gen, and they have an exploded view of the dizzy assembly for 90-91. It says there's an igniter and a coil. Would I just replace the igniter, or both the igniter and the coil? I just want to make sure I get all the parts taken care of.

 

V!olet,

You're right, on your model you have an igniter and a coil. In this case the igniter signals the coil to release the high voltage which then creates the spark. So the question is which one. Here is some info from other sources:

If there isn't any spark, move your spark tester to the coil tower to rule out plug wires, cap or rotor. If you still don't have spark, you have a bad ignition coil.

To check the igniter itself, you will need a scope. The igniter terminal of the igniter will have a 10-volt reference voltage. The computer will ground this terminal when it receives a pulse from the permanent magnet sensor in the distributor. The ignition coil produces spark when the igniter releases ground from the negative terminal of the coil. By probing the igniter signal and coil negative you check the input and output of the igniter. If there is a good igniter signal and nothing at the negative side of the coil, the igniter is bad.

The main relay will give you the same symptoms as a bad coil or a bad igniter. A main relay usually only fails when the weather is really hot. You might have a hard start every now and then, but not enough to really cause you any concern, but when an igniter or a coil fails, the car won't start at all until it cools down and that will be a major concern. *** end of other source ***

Testing everything would be good. However, the coil is the one that creates the spark, so I am guessing that, since your car runs but shuts off randomly, that the coil is starting to go bad. If you could borrow a known good coil, and run it in your car for a while, it will indicate whether your coil was good or bad. If the engine dies with the known good coil, then you know it is the igniter. Let us know which way you want to try, or maybe you could do the full test.

 

How is your car running? Has the problem been fixed? Let us know.