My 99 Accord 4cyl 5spd exhibits the exact symptoms as earlier accords with a bad main relay. Occasionally it won't start on the first crank (turns over, fires for 2 seconds, shuts off), and during warm-up it sometimes just shuts off. 10-20 failed starting attempts later it runs normally and is fine until I shut it off.

So first I read all the posts on this site about the main relay, then pulled mine apart. There was one solder joint that was questionable, so I de-soldered and re-soldered them all back properly. No help, exactly the same problem. A week or so later I order a new relay and put it in. Still the same problem.

So I need to find some other electrical gremlin that would cut power to the computer, fuel pump, or ignition. It seems to be thermally related since it only happens during warm-up, and more often on cold or hot days where it goes through a larger transient. Could it be an intermittent ground for the computer, pump, fuse box, or something else?

Any help appreciated.

Matt

 

Try regrounding it. I once found a bad ground from the relay in a civic that made it do weird things.

 

Regrounding what? The computer? Block?

There is no dedicated ground for the relay, it has one plug with about 12 wires that connect to the internal board.

I guess there could be an intermittent contact within the plug, that would explain why two relays have the same problem.

 

there is an ignition switch recall on that car.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=274013

 

Great, thanks. I tried a search at alldata.com but no recalls came up.
Matt