Hello,

Our 1993 Honda Accord died on the road yesterday when my gf was driving it. Before it died, she described it as "pulling and tugging", then it died shortly afterwards and would not start back up. I went and pushed it off the road, then went and got some extra gas to put in the car, because it has always had this problem where it stalls when it's under about 1/3 tank of gas when braking, but it always starts right back up. Anyhow, putting extra gas in it didn't help, so I came back a couple hours later to tow it home and it started up like normal, but then turned it off and it only started for a second after that and died out, then wouldn't start at all. So, we towed it home, let it sit overnight, and then today I went to test fuel pressure and it started up fine every time I tried to start it, plus let it run for at least 15 minutes with no problems at all. I did have the fuel pressure gauge hooked up during that time and it reads a steady 26.5 psi, regardless of whether or not I am giving it gas, or even if I unplug the vacuum line on the fuel pressure regulator.

From what I've read, it should be 29-35psi with the regular plugged in, and 35-41psi with it unplugged? Does this sound like a bad fuel pump? I hate to put all the time and money into it without being sure, so I'm hoping someone here can give a better educated response to the situation.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

There are many threads with main relay, ignition switch, or igniter problems which can cause intermittent failure like yours.

 

Thanks very much for the reply!

So, a steady 26.5psi sounds normal then? Seemed like unplugging the vacuum hose on the regulator should have made it increase the psi, but I'm not too familiar with working on Hondas, since this is only the third one I've owned and rarely have had anything go wrong with them.

Well, guess I'll start reading up on how to diagnose the other parts you mentioned, thanks again for the reply.

 

Honda's fuel pump rarely failed. Your test was a good one imo.

The title of your thread probably caused some experts in this 'no-starting, die driving' to not opening your post.

If I had to guess, I would start with the ignition switch. My un-scientific observation of all die-while-driving and crank-no-start seems to favor the ignition switch more. Main relay seems to favor 'crank-no-start'. Cold soldering joints are the reasons for the internittent problems. There are some recent good threads on these subjects. Do a search on starting or dying or on the parts will land your many good reading threads. Good luck.

 

Hi kmjoy,

Thanks again for your replies and advice, it has been very much appreciated.

My neighbor happens to be a mechanic, so I told him the situation and he said it sounded like the fuel pump or maybe the igniter in the distributor, but thought it was most likely the fuel pump, so I went ahead and got a cheap one from an eBay seller in Miami that I was able to drive to and pick up the part. Spent 6 hours today changing it, and to my surprise, I was not the first one that had changed the fuel pump in this car, despite the great reputation that Hondas have with their fuel pumps rarely failing (I had read the same thing you said about them rarely failing in other forums too), and despite the fact that this car has less than 120k miles on it. I was also surprised to see that the in-tank filter on the old pump had fallen off and was in the bottom of the tank, due to the poor job that the previous mechanic did when changing the pump the last time. This hopefully explains why the car was stalling when low on gas while braking, which is probably also what caused this pump to fail prematurely, since it was losing fuel when braking and probably causing it to heat up more than it should.

So, now that I'm finally done with installing the new pump, the fuel pressure now shows 35psi with the regulator plugged in and about 45psi without it, and the car is also running smoother than it used to as a bonus, so it seems like I have fixed the correct part, or at least fixed something that needed attention anyhow. We haven't driven the car anywhere yet, so will see how it goes, but hopefully this was the whole problem and fixes all 3 issues that the car has had (somewhat rough idle, stalling when low on gas, and the newest problem of dying on the road completely). If not, I'll report back here and will be going for the main relay or ignition switch next.

Thanks again!

 

Hi, Tywe,

I learned something new. Thanks for your post. I guess the difference of your car trouble from the other classic 'intermittent no-starting', 'die while driving' is that 'the tug and pull' before dying. Low fuel tank wouldn't have made a difference for other classic problems but is does to yours. Plus the history of your car maintenance from the previous owner, the in-line fuel filter being at the bottom of the tank, causing the fuel pump to fail prematurely.

The is a great forum for learning about Honda. The feed back is invaluable. Thanks again.