so we have this 90 accord and it dies intermittently. always when its idling, never at higher RPM. we might be going around a corner and it dies. we might just be sitting in the driveway and it dies. we have replaced the ignition wiring harness, the distributor and thats about it. i have no clue. any help?

 

I know this is old, but I have the exact same problem. Someone said ignition switch may be bad, but I've checked that and it's fine. I had my coil and ignitor both tested and they were also okay.

I did pull the distributor cap off and noticed there was some type of corrosion inside; a greenish/blue, fuzzy, almost mold-like, growth. Does anyone know what this is, and how it may be caused/prevented??

Here's a pic:



Modified by 8point6 at 10:35 PM 3/20/2008

 

i would check the ignition switch it could be bad. what i would do is this while the car is running while parked for safety wiggle he key around and see if it dies.

when the car dies does the gauge cluster lights go out as well?

another possiblity is a low idle could be the cause. whats it idling at?? should idle around 750 rpm

 

I played with the ignition switch today with the car running, but didn't have any direct problems when I did, so I'm guessing that it's something else.

The cluster lights stay on when the engine dies. The startup and running idle are to spec, but I'm going to clean out the IACV and the other idle valve (I forget the name of it). I'll let you know if it changes anything.

 

i never solved the issue. we ended up selling the car as it was. in fact it died while on the test drive. i had no indication of when it was going to die it just did. it fired up immediately every time i turned the key on after it died. i wish i had some answers for you but i dont.

 

at least you were able to sell it. hopefully the new owner will get it fixed

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8point6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The startup and running idle are to spec, but I'm going to clean out the IACV and the other idle valve (I forget the name of it). I'll let you know if it changes anything.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Cleaning those valves didn't help the situation. I did notice that the engine would sputter/bog down immediately after it would start up again, so I'm gonna try putting another fuel filter on to see if that helps.

Does anyone know if a bad ignitor would cuase this?


Modified by 8point6 at 10:36 PM 3/20/2008

 

I'm still stuck! A new fuel filter didn't help shiet.

 

my geo did this and i checked the cap/wireset and it looked fine but i replaced it anyways and it solved the problem...

maybe a loose wire on the dizzy?

 

try changing the main relay its located understeering column. its kinda hard to repalce if i remember correctly but just unplug it and kip tie it up there. when this happens does your fuel pump turn on or cut out?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HONDAPARTSMANMIKE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">try changing the main relay its located understeering column. its kinda hard to repalce if i remember correctly but just unplug it and kip tie it up there. when this happens does your fuel pump turn on or cut out?</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's not that either. I traded with one of my friends for a day and his car was fine still; mine still kept shitting.

I picked up another ignitor, thinking it was the case, but that's changed nothing.

Has anyone ever had a direct problem with stalling due to an MSD Coil?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8point6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Has anyone ever had a direct problem with stalling due to an MSD Coil?</TD></TR></TABLE>

why run an MSD when your stock ignition is very capable of quite a bit of power? ive known and had experience with an MSD shitting out within a few weeks/month and even days.....

try going back to your stock ignition and see how that goes.

 

I drove around with an OEM coil and ignition today and I'm still stalling!

Does anyone know exactly how that greenish/blue corrosion is caused in the above pic of the dist cap?

 

main relay or ecu

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8point6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Does anyone know exactly how that greenish/blue corrosion is caused in the above pic of the dist cap?</TD></TR></TABLE>

My guess is moisture??

Also, a friends 91 civic would randomly stall out. The problem happened after his distributor went out though...before the dist. went out, the car ran perfect. He changed it out for a new one and the stalling started. He went thru like 5 distributors too and it would still stall randomly. Very strange. Oh, also changed out the ignition switch and it didnt help. He ended up selling the car as is.

 

that green corrosion you see is the result of moisture and copper. you can scrape it off the contacts in the cap, and retry, or...

or just replace the cap. that is what i would do.