My civic has a problem that’s getting worse. Randomly on the highway the car will cut out for about 10 seconds or so then regain power. The engine is still running, but you can punch the accelerator and nothing. Car drives perfect before and after this happens. It’s started out very intermittent happening one time every few days, now last night on the highway it cut out every ¼ mile or so. I got off the highway and cruised on back roads and it didn’t happen.

89 civic, Swapped d16z6
No check engine light
Newer plugs, wires, cap, rotor.
Newer walbro pump and aem regulator
Good compression,
Timing to spec
Rotor is on tight

I swapped the coil and igniter from a friends car and that didn’t help.

 

You might want to have this moved here.
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/

 

At what speed does it start cutting out.

 

Posted it here because it has a 94 motor

It happens cruising at 55, 60, 65 mph, never while accelerating. It will suddenly loose power. It doesn't bog or buck, just loses power (motor still running) for 3-10 seconds and then starts to act normal.

 

So when you press the throttle nothing happens while cruising? Just wondering because you say "cuts out" but just trying to confirm engine is running, throttle is pressed, no acceleration?

 

Yes. The motor continues to run. It instantly loses all power for 3-10 seconds, then instantly acts normal again. Only happens when cruising on the highway.

 

here is my 2 cents....my car 89 hatch was doing the same it had the stock motor and the first day i picked it up at a used car lot it was doing the same on the high way so i took it back to them and they said they changed out the fuel pump strainer and put a new main relay in....now the problem is fixed

 

Is the car running an OBD0 or OBD1 ECU?

Do you lose ignition switch power? If so, test the switch. If not, have the igniter unit tested.

 

Thank you for your input.

OBD1

IDK, is it possible to lose power to the ignition switch while the motor is running?

I swapped in a known good coil and igniter and that didn't help

 

Sure. Do you lose any electrical power when the engine loses power?

Have you inspected the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor?

Have you resoldered the main relay?

How do you know the engine is still running when you lose engine power?

Does the CEL work?

 

 

Inspected the main relay and sure enough there are hairline cracks on it. Plan on replacing it tomorrow if I can find one. Hopefully this problem goes away.

 

Just a little update.

I re-soldered the main relay and the car hasn't acted up since. I was a little skeptical that the relay was the problem given the symptoms, but so far so good. Hopefully it lasts.

Thanks guys.

 

Well the car went 3 months with out a hiccup after soldering the main relay. Now it's doing the same thing again.

I don't know if resoldering the main relay actually fixed it for those 3 months, or if I have a different issue all to gather. Put the car in storage and have all winter to think about it.

 

Jasmine1, did you ever figure out how to fix your problem? My 94 Civic VX has the exact same problem. I looked at my relay and it looks OK. The car has a brand new battery. Thanks.

 

9 year old thread. Best to make your own thread. Consider a bad igniter unit.