Do any of the forums on Honda Tech have a certified Honda mechanic to ask questions ? I have a problem that noone has been able to answer and I really need to get my car running. Any help to find some professional help is greatly appreciated.

 

I'm not "certified", but I should be...I've been building Honda's since I got out of H.S. in 1996. 11 years experience should count for something lol.

 

Ask away and someone (maybe not a certified Honda mechanic, but someone that knows things) will aswer.

If your looking for free repairs or online answers r us well.......

I used to be an Acura master tech, but that doesn't mean I can diagnose your problem over the internet.

If you really need it running, take it to a repair shop and spend the money, if you want to fix it yourself and need some help we are all glad to help.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Super Chicken &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ask away and someone (maybe not a certified Honda mechanic, but someone that knows things) will aswer.

If your looking for free repairs or online answers r us well.......

I used to be an Acura master tech, but that doesn't mean I can diagnose your problem over the internet.

If you really need it running, take it to a repair shop and spend the money, if you want to fix it yourself and need some help we are all glad to help.</TD></TR></TABLE>
You have a very valid point here. We can give you advice and information for you to learn how to work on your car, but if you're just starting out and need the car running, better to take it to a shop.

 

Then help me. I have a D15 in an 89 Crx and it will just shut off while driving. It will buck a few times and then cut off. Poping the clutch doesn't work, it is like you have cut the igntion off. I have swaped the main relay, replaced the coil, ( which seemed to cure the problem for a while ) had the ignitor tested and tried everything else that I can think of. I have a new alternator and a good battery but most of the time you have to turn the ignition switch several times before it will attempt to crank. I am getting a code 1 now but when this problem started I got no codes. Any help to get this fixed is appreciated, I'm at the point now that I just want to get it running and sell it!

 

Your point is well taken. I just like to try and figure things out and fix them myself besause if I can do the repair then I may be able to help someone in the future who has the same problem!

 

maybe try a new ignition. it sucks cuz you'll have two keys but atleast it will work. you said you have to turn the ignition a few times befor it will start again, probably the key cylnder.

also check for any alien wiring under the dash, like an old alarm or something. some of the older vipers and cliffords used a ignition kill on there alarms, it used a relay to operate and come to find out the relays couldn't hold all the current runnign through them all the time, and alot of them brunt out. wich caused something like your experiencing.(sorry for not using spell check). checking the wiring in a ef is about as easy as it gets. pop off the fuse box cover under the steering colum. it opens up room to see all the ignition wires. just look to see if any of them have been cut or anything.

 

It could be your pick up coil inside your distributer that would mean swap out your distributer. When you have a bad pick up coil it does many different things surges, makes your rpm's redline at low rpm's,car turns off when cools down turns back on,mis-fires,affect's timing, pretty much like the ignition coil. Inspect the splines inside the distributer check for any obvious damages or wear-n-tear. It's also a possibility that the ECU could be defective. If you can make it to a local diagnostic specialist it could save you $$$ but your car has to be in running condition to be able to perform the inspection. If you have to keep turning your key over and over to get it to crank and you just here a click each time that means your starter motor is sticking and needs to be replaced. If you have a hard time cranking your car hit the starter with a pipe or hammer and turn it over, this usually gets the starter to turn over. Clean the battery terminals,battery post, starter contacts, alternator contacts. You want to make sure that you will have a good contact cause corrosion is what interrupts the charging system. Use a wired brush to do the cleaning makes it easier to clean ----------&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Good Luck!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wood 1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Then help me. I have a D15 in an 89 Crx and it will just shut off while driving. It will buck a few times and then cut off. Poping the clutch doesn't work, it is like you have cut the igntion off. I have swaped the main relay, replaced the coil, ( which seemed to cure the problem for a while ) had the ignitor tested and tried everything else that I can think of. I have a new alternator and a good battery but most of the time you have to turn the ignition switch several times before it will attempt to crank. I am getting a code 1 now but when this problem started I got no codes. Any help to get this fixed is appreciated, I'm at the point now that I just want to get it running and sell it!</TD></TR></TABLE>

First code one is O2 sensor which will not affect your running in the least (at least not that you will notice.

Second and most important you have an intermittent failure of your (?)!
My first guess would be the main relay, but you say you've already replaced this (did you put a new one in or just a different one?) and you've tried a few other things like the coil and had the ignitor tested.

It sounds like an ignition switch (the electrical portion, not the mechanical part) but I need to know what the lights in the instrument cluster are doing to know for sure. When it dies are any of the lights coming on or does everything just go out? If the lights stay on then I would think main relay or fuel pump wiring etc (does it die or sputter then die?) If the lights just go out then it's probably the ignition switch or the main power supply (big fuses in the under hood fuse box) or something in that vein.

Good luck and let us know whats up.

 

i think the pickup coil = tdc sensor ,cyl sensor and, crank sensor on hondas. They all throw a check engine code if they arent working. A controll module will sometimes test good and then when it is hot it will go into an open circuit. iv'e had this problem a few times.
Ive also had a prelude that when the computer was cold It would hold the injectors open all the way. talk about hard to start and hard to diagnois. we ended up putting it in a freezer and then plugging it in after it was frosty to figure out what was going on. so not actually having the car in person sitting in front of us makes it a harder.

can you borrow a ignitor/controll module from someone?

 

You mention testing your ICM generally known as the ignitor , does this mean you havent replaced it? becuase if you havent I would. In my experience as a honda technician ( when it is a spark issue ) its very common for the ignitors and coils to fail most the time it is without warning and it will absolutely not start unless 1 or both of these components are replaced , and other times its intermittent the car runs great till it gets hot while your driving down the road . Ive even seen a bad ignitor cause problems on a cold start but as the car warmed up the car ran like it was brand new lol . Also someone mentioned it could be the electrical portion of the ignition switch . usually if this is true you can jiggle the key real lightly and the car will cut off well atleast all the ones ive seen that are bad. anyway keep us posted on what you find kind of curious whats wrong with your ride . Most people find it hard to understand its hard for us technicians to diagnos cars over the telephone or even in these chat rooms but we do offer good advise


Modified by Hondasmo at 9:13 PM 1/20/2007

 

I know it is hard to diagnose without the car and I appreciate all the suggestions. I tried a different main relay, not a new one and replaced the coil. The problem started gradually with the car cutting off but starting up immediately. Astime went on the cutting off became more frequent and it somertimes took many tries to restart. Now the car has died again and will not restart. It will just click when you turn the switch (several times) and then it will eventually turn over but not start. I replaced the coil and the car ran find for a few days and then the same sequence of events occured. I can hear the fuel pump prime but I just realized I haven't checked spark, I'll do that in the morning.

 

Super Chicken, The lights you are talking about, are they the warning lights? If so, they do not come on when the engine shuts off.

 

i am having the exact same problem as you. exactly.. the way you described it is the same way i described it in this thread.. https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1858195

i have also done all the same stuff as you, igniter, coil, alternator, good battery, re soldered main relay, and i am still having the same problem. i think it is my ignition, because just as you described, i can put my key in the aux position so radio is supposed to come on, fuel pump primes, dash lights come on, but it is intermittent. sometimes the lights will come on, and sometimes they wont.
i can try to start the car, turning the key to the start position, and if the aux lights and everything weren't on, they then come on, and the car will crank and start. sometimes it will start and run, and sometimes when i let the key fall back to the run position, the car just dies. it has to be something to do with my ignition, but i am not quite sure what parts i need to replace. it seems like a new tumbler would be unnecessary because what could go wrong with it mechanically. i have no idea about the key ignition though. im also not throwing any codes, and no battery light, just like you.

the suggestion about wiring is interesting, because the previous owner of my car had a radiator fan switch wired up under the dash.. it is still there and i use it because my fan is not currently thermostatically controlled, but i wonder if that switch has something to do with it, because it does turn on and off with the car.. although it could just be hooked through an extra switched power spot on the fuse block.

 

in my eg a while ago if i shut my car off it wouldnt start and i would get out pop the hood and hit the distributer with a hammer, not to hard and swear it worked every time, then i put an msd ignition and coil in and it worked fine

 

my bet lies in an ignition switch failure

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danmdevries &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my bet lies in an ignition switch failure</TD></TR></TABLE>
I would say it's either that, or ignitor, or main relay. Just because you swapped the relay doesn't mean the newer one isn't bad too. EF relays are notorious for headaches...try taking the cover off yours and resoldering all the connections and see what happens, and replace your ignitor.

 

I used a known working main relay from one of my other cars. I'm going to look at the ignition wiring today. It kind of scares me because the previous owner added JDM power windows and power folding mirrors- lots of wires in front of the fuse panel!

 

i had a bad o2 cause my car to stall and then not start for 10 min , it was reading lean causing the injectors to stick wide open , just a thought since you do have a o2 code

 

I am certified tech and had the same problem on my own eg, when I put a new coil in I missed one of lock washers on the screws for the power wires, the screw bottemed out just before it got tight. the wire connector was barley loose and the car would cut out sometimes, dies sometimes, then restart before I could trouble shoot it. I chased it for months and towed it once. Dam I felt stupid.

Can you borrow a dizzy from some one just to pin point the problem? What I am saying is it could be alot of things, big or little and if you can narrow it down then

 

Oh another cheap fix you might want to check is the wires that connect to the ignitor forgot to add this to my last post ive found loose connections to the ignitor that would cause problems intermitently also. I would take a pair of small needle nose pliers &lt; forgive my spelling &gt; and button up the 3 or 4 little connectors on the ignitor

 

UPDATE: Today I replaced the ignitor and the car started on the first try! I let it run for 15 minutes and all was fine. Hopefully this has solved my problem!

 

nice. i fixed my own problem the other day, FINALLY, by swapping the ignition switch. everything seems back to normal at this point.