Hello, I'm new here and am seeking advise for my 92 Accord lx.

I've been experiencing trouble with the car dying on me after the engine warms up. usually after about 15 min. of driving. It won't start again until it cools down after about 5 min. Then it will die again and again as it continues to heat up again and again.

A little background info. I got the car about 9 months ago from my Dad who was the original owner. it had been sitting for a few month when i got it and shortly after taking it, it developed a idle issue. It would jump up and down when it was cold and stop as soon as the engine warmed up. A Honda mechanic friend of my Dad's said it was the injector ports clogged so he bored, cleaned, and re-plugged them for a good price. It didn't change the idle at all. He is m.i.a. now so... Also, the car turned 300,000,000 not too long ago and the check engine light came on and my Dad said it was just because of the miles and reset it with the key. I wonder if I could have gotten some codes from it concerning it idle.

Back to the dying... I've done some research and watched some videos. I found some threads pointing to the ignition switch and the main relay, as well as a vacuum leak and a coolant issue or igniter. Since the car doesn't start right away after it stalls, i thought it was the main relay because of the solder in it shorts when heated and the ignition switch should start right away... On the way home from the auto parts store after installing the new main relay it died again just before getting home... but the next morning when i started it to go to work the idle was perfect!!! So I think I fixed the idle but not the dying. It's been idling perfectly the last few mornings but i haven't been driving it because a friend lent me there car. I don't know for sure if it's still dying but I assume it would.

I can't hear any high hisses so maybe no vacuum leak. the coolant seems full but it might not be a good mixture. I haven't bled it or changed it. I'm thinking I should get a new ignition switch? or check the ignitor? I definitely need new o rings in and out for the distributor as its been leaking a pretty big mess. So I could open it up and see if all is connected right.

If anyone has advice for me I would really appreciate it. Thanks, Cranecar

 

Really only three things normally cause the car to randomly die, the main relay, the ignitor, and the ignition switch. If the problem is the ignition switch normally the dash lights will not come on when it dies.

If your car has never had the ignitor or the ignition switch it would be best to just swap them out yourself since they're so easy and you can easily save money on labor doing it and one of them should be the culprit.

If you want you can test it, but normally the website we suggest people to use it down as it appears the owner hasn't paid the bill lol

http://techauto.awardspace.com/

 

Thanks holmesnmanny, I'm going to the parts shop soon today to see about those parts. Not sure what you meant in the last sentence though?

Does anyone have advice on how to diagnose the problem rather than what I'm about to do by throwing parts at it? Thanks, Cranecar

 

main relay. mine did the same and if its an auto trans your d on th gear shift indicator will likely be flashing. The stock location get too much heat. You should pull the screws and move it away from the firewall as i did.

 

sorry i got tired reading your post haha but the relay is always good to relocate.

 

You can get those parts dirt cheap at rockauto.com and make sure to google a "rock auto coupon code" before buying to save 5%. You won't find a better deal.

I was referring you to a honda website that gives good detailed test information for all those parts but unfortunately the guy doesn't realize he hasn't paid his hosting fees. lol

As long as you don't plan on selling your car anytime soon it would be best to just replace those parts anyhow. However, I can understand you wanting to test to be sure. You can do some searches and I'm sure you'll find information how to test those parts here.

 

I found this video on Youtube that explains how to replace and test for a bad ignition switch. Type this into youtube and you should find the video...Honda Accord Ignition Switch Replacement.

 

Thanks for the info.

Last night I put in another "new" main relay that I picked at the salvage yard, and took my $45 one back to the parts store. Also put in a new distrib. cap and rotor, new plugs, new plug lines(found lots of oil in the plug holes!). Also took off, cleaned, and re-installed the electric air control valve(eacv). Sooo dirty! especially in the port with the screen on it. had thick black soot about 1/8 high. This was the part my check engine light was pointing to. Actually it pointed to the yellow/blk wire between it and the main relay. I couldn't see any problems with it though.

So after all this the car acted exactly the same. Could make it stall by letting it warm up and giving it 3,000rpm's for about a min and a half to two min's. So this is when i decided to put on the other eacv that I pulled at said salvage yard. Cleaned and installed it and now it wouldn't start at all.

So I put the original eacv back on and back to original problems... Stalling.

Today I realized that it was idling high which is a big reason for the hunting idle. The computer wants to keep the engine from idling too high and cuts out the injectors creating the high/low up/down idle. So I opened the fast idle control valve and low and behold it was opened wide not allowing the idle to come down after being cold. Tightened that up and boom, the idle is perfect and low. For about a min. Then it starts hunting again but at lower Rpm's. I gave it gas for awhile to try and stall it but it wouldn't! And the idle flattened out! Called it a day. Until I came back to show my girl what hard work I did and the bugger wouldn't start. Talk about a let down. Now i think it's worse than when I started and I'm feeling a bit down about it.

Does all this mean it for sure the ignition switch? Or what? Thanks all, cranecar

 

If you got a junkyard nearby just pick up another ignitor and see if that fixes it. If not, take it back and get an ignition switch.

 

Ive got the same problem with my honda civic 2002, the engine cuts out and the engine light comes on. Ive changed the crankshaft angle censor and the cam censor and it still cuts out. any ideas please. Honda civic