the car is stock and automatic. my sister drives it to college about an hour away so it's not easy for me to work on often.

the symptoms: when cold the car seems to start fine and run fine. after some time driving it will cut off and spin but not start. occasionally waiting about 15 minutes then trying, it will spin... spin... spin.. then crank up. it runs down the road for a little while then same scenario again.

my first thought was coil or igniter.. so far I've installed a new coil, igniter, cap, rotor and wires. the symptoms remain. i've personally driven it around the small town where my sister goes to school for about 25-30 minutes at different speeds, coming to a stop.. cutting it off, restarting.. driving. i couldn't get it to mess up. two days later, she gets the same symptoms again.

has anyone run into anything like this? should i try a known good ECU, is there something i'm overlooking?

i dislike automatics. i think this is why.

 

should i move this to the Integra sub-forum?

 

I would check the PGM-FI Main Relay, a common problem on G2s and other older Honda/Acura... http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/mainrelay.html 94

 

thanks! that's something i hadn't considered because it wasn't the typical "won't start on a summer day" scenario. i'll check that out when i get a chance.

i've got a main relay from a civic of the same year, any chance they interchange..?

 

Yes it should fit, both should use the RZ- 0063 main relay assembly.94

 

went and got the car today. i drove it an hour back from my sister's school.

i pulled the main relay and it have several questionable solder joints. i put the known good civic relay in and the car spun but wouldn't start... . i was hearing the pump prime and the relay was clicking like it should. it was good i replaced the relay though, the nest of wires i had to push aside to get to the relay seems to have been "tampered" with so i'm going to go through it and check all the connections.

i "repositioned" the ball of wires and the car started up! it cut off sitting at a stop light, and took a minute to get started again. but i was able to wrestle it into submission by dropping to neutral when i came to a stop and pulsing the throttle. once on the interstate there were no issues (although i'm not sure it's going into 4th gear, 3300 rpm at 75mph in an auto?)

i'll try to update once i find a real solution, so if anyone else comes across the same thing they will have an easier time than me.

 

update on this headache of a car:

brought it to the house to work on it, couldn't get it to start. i kept trying until the battery died .

i found the #1 and #4 injector clips were missing the metal retainer spring. i could just pull them up! i improvised with some wire for now until i can get the right replacements.

i got some ideas reading through a later model Civic manual... i tried a spare MAP sensor to see what would happen.. it no longer cuts off! it does idle high on start up (fast idle) as idle comes down and the engine warms it sounds like it wants to cut off, then revs back up a little. previously it would have just cut off and not started for a while.

i do get a slow rise-and-fall idle almost like a vacuum leak, but that's a fine trade off to not running at all. i suspect this is due to the use of a different MAP sensor (from a '91 dual-point civic).

main points;

-nothing has effected the issue in any way so far (ignition, wiring, fuel, main relay)
-good results from swapping MAP sensor
-still need to solve hunting idle which has replaced the prior stalling symptom