Hello! I have a 1999 Honda Accord EX 4cyl automatic with 227k miles. I’ll post a more detailed description below, but here’s the tldr: my car stalled after driving about 10 miles and stalls again if I try to turn it off and back on unless I wait 5-10 minutes. This does not happen every time I drive. I am thinking about replacing the distributor, main relay, and ignition switch, but want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Long description:

Three weeks ago, my car hesitated while accelerating at a stoplight. The hesitation went away after a few seconds, but it felt like it was lurching forward instead of accelerating smoothly. This happened a second time a few days later for 5 seconds. I called an auto repair shop and they advised against doing a diagnostic until it happened more frequently.

A week ago, my car started lurching while accelerating at a stoplight, but it felt more severe and lasted longer than the previous two times. I decided to pull over and let my car sit for a few minutes before attempting to drive again. At this time, there was no stall, and no lights came on the dashboard.

I let my car sit for about 5 minutes before I could start it without the car vibrating. The car felt like it took longer to turn over than normal. I drove through an intersection and as I pulled into a gas station, my car stalled. The door lights, oil light, and battery light all came on. My radio was on previously and stayed on through the stall. I pulled over and was unable to start my car again. It turned over but did not sound great so I opted to turn it off instead of trying to force it. I let my car sit for 5-10 minutes and was able to start it just fine. I then drove it with no issues.

I took my car to a shop where they tested it and did not find any issues. No problems occurred during their test drive, and they said they also checked the ignition switch, which has been replaced on this car twice.

Today on my way to work, my car stalled in the same place it had previously. This time, I was stopping, and everything shut off. The same lights came on my dashboard (oil, battery, all door lights) and the tachometer showed 0. I put the car in park, turn the key to accessory mode, and tried to restart my car. It turned over roughly and the car started, but when I put it from park to drive, the car stalled again and the same lights came on, and the tachometer again showed 0 RPM. I again pulled over to the side of the road and let my car sit for 10-20 minutes, then it drove fine afterwards.

I’m leaning towards an ignition switch issue, but I’m wondering if I should replace the main relay and distributor as well. Any other suggestions, or how to go about testing this would be greatly appreciated. I’m happy to answer any other questions, as I would really like to fix this car.

 

This sounds like an igniter (electronic points equivalent) or fuel pump (main relay) to me.-- If it was an ignition switch base you would not have lights on the dash coming on, and no power to the radio.

Surging is usually a fuel issue rather than spark. I would go with the relay first if this were my car. My $0.02 cents.

If you know how...., you can take the relay out of the "box" and solder the connections, but I can't really show this in a worded forum.

 

Here is a video:

 

This is great info, thanks so much! I'll take a look at the relay before making any changes.

 

Update: I took the main relay off and it looked fine. I tested for continuity and that was also fine... So it's probably not the relay. I tested the ignition switch as well and the continuity cut out once or twice, but that could have been because my hands slipped.
I did take off my distributor cap and there is oil everywhere. The distributor itself has never been replaced so I'm guessing the seal cracked at some point. As of now, my plan is to replace the distributor and see if that fixes things. Even if it doesn't, there's oil all over the distributor, so it will likely cause issues if I don't fix that soon. I'll post another update if I am able to fix it.

 

If one of the tdc/ckp/cyp sensors is failing then the engine may stall.

After the engine has stalled and you crank the engine, does the tach move?
If not then it is not getting a signal, it should show cranking rpm.

Plastic ignition switch does wear out, next time the car stalls, remove ignition key from key ring. See if engine starts, also jiggle the key around when cranking.
But if the dash is functional while starting/cranking then the ignition switch is probably OK.