Well i recently been having trouble with my 97 prelude, got a new battery, switch the starter and still.. when you turn it... it wont even turn over. u dont hear anything but the electrical hum ..or feed all over the car.

the dashboard lights turn on and the key light flashing...could that be the ignition switch?. ive tried puttin it in neutral, swapped the fuses...running out of ideas.


any suggestions. would truly appreciate it.

 

I have the same problem right now..

 

I am not sure if your vehicles have the security immobilizer, but that is something for you both to search and read up on. And did either of you recently use a red key to try to start your car? A red key is used for security/programming purposes and can "brick" your car until reprogrammed.

Other than that, I would check fuses, grounds, relays, and lastly I would get a voltmeter and track voltage from the key switch going forward...A manual or FSM will be very useful.

 

I just purchased a 97Auto knowing it had an intermittent problem of losing all electrical power and dying while driving it. Now, it's not so intermittent which is a good thing because now I can troubleshoot and fix the problem. It also will not start. Something energizes under the hood when the key is turned but that is all. No clicking or any thing else. I have only had one key(not a red one) and used it for about two weeks with no problem at all. A couple questions for the people experiencing the same problem..

1. Have you figured it out yet?
2. What was it if you have?

I have yet to get into shooting wires or doing any troubleshooting to try to figure it out but will post anything I find here. I was a little disappointed to finally find the thread I need, only to find it void of any information. I'll see what I can do to change that.

 

Having the same problem. Have you figured anything out yet?

 

an intermittent stalling while driving is the ignition switch and there was a recall for it matey check with your dealer they should replace the ignition switch just the bit on the back of the barrel for free!!

 

It turns out that my starter was bad. Took a few minutes, but I got the bottom bolt out and replaced it. The car has been running for a couple days now without any issues at all. I am not sure if the problem with the car dying and the bad starter are related. Honestly, I don't see how they could be.

As far as the "Red Key" It's, not an issue for me. The car was purchased used from a dealership about a year ago and ran great for about 8 months. The car died on the owner a couple times so they decided to sell it. I took a meter to the ignition circuit and metered as much as I could with the key switched "on" and with the key in "Start" when It wouldn't start. Everything metered out as it should. My fuses and relays all seem to be fine. If it's a intermittent ground problem, I may be in for a lot of troubleshooting and still never find it.

I will update the thread with any info if the car should die on me again. My main problem is that the car never gives me a trouble light and it starts right back up if I throw it in Neutral.

Thanks for the info and advise. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

I will definitely look into this today. That would be nice if that is all the problem is.

Thanks,

 

My Prelude has had all the recalls accomplished. I did speak with the service manager there and he informed me that they have worked on several Preludes with the same problem and the distributor or the distributor cap has always been the problem. I'll be changing mine out soon, even if it doesn't die on me any more. Hope this helps.

 

So...It's been a while. I haven't replaced the distributor yet, but the car hasn't died on me either. I'm hesitant to change the distributor out of curiosity. Could the dying problem be caused by the starter after all? I won't know unless it dies on me again. I'll be replacing the water pump, some hoses, seals and gaskets first unless the car dies. Then I'll replace the distributor. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

no, the starter will not cause the car to die while driving. if you are planning on changing your water pump, you should do your timing belt at the same time.