Last month, my 2000 Honda Accord 4 cylinder manual had to have a new alternator put in it cause at random, especially while driving at night, it would shut off. The dash lights would all light up, power steering would immediately shut off, and the car would have to be stopped, and turned back on again. Sometimes it required me to give it gas to help it start.

It did that for 2-3 weeks straight. Due to the symptoms first I had the fuel pump replaced, and the problem persisted, then we put a new alternator in and it still drove great for a month or so until today. It mainly shuts off on city road and those speeds.

Has anyone had anything like this happen? Thanks for any tips.

 

I had a bad ignition switch that had similar symptoms. It had previously been recalled, so I had to pay for the replacement.

Ignition switch is HIGHLY likely, as it's a common issue for Accords of this generation... google it.

 

You could have a number of things going on, but if everything else is in good tune, and your Accord starts doing what yours has been doing, one part to suspect is the Ignition Control Module (sometimes called the 'Ignitor') My Accord is much older than yours, but when it has started shutting off randomly like that it has always been the Ignitor. When it gets out of spec, it will produce good spark sometimes and then suddenly not produce enough spark to keep the the engine running. That's when the shut offs happen.

 

Now that you say that, I have noticed that the green illumination around the key input has gone on/off at random times, and has been off whenever it's been acting up, too. Could that be a sign of anything?

Thanks so much for your input.

 

Hm, thanks a bunch. This is definitely a possibility. Like I said in the post above, the green illumination of the key input sometimes is off/on and maybe that's a sign something is messed up.

The battery is good. And alternator is functioning well. Checked all connections and they seem good, too.

 

Your year wasn't included in the Safety Recall from Honda, but anything is possible. Not sure how reliable the test is, but I remember somebody a few years ago diagnosing the bad switch by jiggling it a little bit while in a safe spot and the engine running, to see if it shuts off.

http://www.driveaccord.net/PDF/ignition_switch.pdf

 

Thanks so much for this! I will definitely get on this and post an update here.

 

I don't remember seeing the green key light up. My switch was sensitive to jiggling, though.

 

Was a solution ever found here?