Sorry for the novel, but I'm gonna try to be specific here,.....

When I bought the car (88 EF) it ran fine for a while, then after about 3 weeks it would just randomly die, usually going down the freeway. Since, it will have a slightly rough/high idle when started, run/drive fine, but then it will just loose all power as I'm driving it and die. After 3-5 min it would start back up. I'd have this problem maybe 1 out 3 days.

About 2 weeks ago we had a hard hard rain and when I was driving to work (on wet roads / through puddles) the car died exactly as it did before except this time it would not start for anything. I pushed the car to a parking lot and tried starting it again that night to no avail. It would crank and crank until I had a dead batt.

The next night, we jumped the car and it started right up. I though everything was back to how it was, but now it will only drive ~1 mile before dying. Then it has to cool down some before starting again.

Heres what I've found:

Codes 1 (o2 sensor), 8 (TDC sensor), and 16 (fuel injector)

The other weird thing is that that I just noticed the o2 sensor has never been plugged in at all. Its screwed into the manifold, but just hangs there. I dont see anywhere to plug it in and have not yet tried to follow the wires from the ecu.

The only thing I can think of, is that the car will run in closed loop but when it reaches a certain temp it dies out. I cannot figure out how the wetness from the rain could have affected that at all though.

I'm pretty much at a stand still now, so if anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

 

what you are describing is a loose ground cable connection or a component that heats up and breaks continuity.

 

yeah make sure all your grounds are tight mine did something similar to that

 

No start Diagnosis 101
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/%2A%2A%2A-basics-no-start-diagnosis-101-%2A%2A%2A-1992733/

Test the Main Relay, and verify if fuel pump is working etc.
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/checking-main-relay-pics-2535047/
how to fix Main Relay
http://www.diymyhonda.com/civic/hard...-relay-repair/

 

I've checked the main ground connections (battery, power dist box), confirmed there is strong spark, checked the relays.......but it did something new today while messing with it...

Right at start up it began to high idle - low idle - high idle - low idle rather quickly (at about 1Hz). It did this for maybe 30 seconds then maintained a steady high idle. I wiggled all of the vacuum tubes but could not locate any leak. I let it idle all the way up to operating temp where it seemed to run normal even at a normal idle. I went to drive the car around the block, and after about 1.5 miles it just lost all power and died like usual. I had to wait about 5 min before it would start to drive it home.

Also, as far as the codes go what could I look for? And can someone please confirm my thinking that the car SHOULD run/drive without the o2 hooked up (using VE tables or something similar in closed loop)

 

i had the same problame and it was my distrubeter
when you car starts up and is at normal temp try to keep it running by holding the throttle if it
keeps running look into ur distrubeter

 

my 90 dx wouldnt start after driving for a bit after it got hot. opened the hood and waited 10 min for the cooldown and it fired up. had to resolder the main relay connections. no prob since then.

 

I guess my next step will be to replace the distributor. I looked it over pretty good but maybe I missed something.

Also got new relays to try after work.

Thanks for the help....will keep posted

 

You have to test for problems when the car is not starting/acting up. Testing it when the car is working will not show which component is failing.

Run the car until it dies, then check for spark/fuel.