Well not exactly, but for the time being.

I had just left a construction job site today and got about 2 miles down the road, when my engine just died. Now I was really low on gas and figured ah hell, ran out of gas, first time that's ever happened. Wish it would have been that easy.

I almost made it to an intersection, so I went over to the gas station and got some gas in a can ($5 for less than 2 gallons of 93 octane ) and went back and put it in the car. Tried to start the car, it would crank, start and die in less than 1 second. I also noticed that none of my guages worked. No warning lights on the dash or anything, except when the key was in the Start position and the starter motor was cranking.

I also noticed that my windows and sunroof did not work, windshield wipers did not work, turn signals did not work, heater and A/C blower did not work (all with key in the ON/RUN position). However, all my exterior lights, radio, hazard flashers, and horn did work.

So I checked all the fuses, found 1 blown in the ABS fuse box, but my ABS has been dead over a year so that wasn't it.

Ended up having my car towed to a shop in a nearby town, and my boss's partner was gracious enough to lend me one of his old work trucks for me to use. However, the fact that my car is sitting outside a shop right now, and that I may have to pay someone to look at it or fix it just KILLS me.... to this date in 5 years and 135K miles, I have NEVER paid anyone or had anyone do ANY mechanic work on my car.

And to make matters worse, I left my key ring in the ignition while the car was being towed, we went to get the work truck, and when I got back the shop had closed and they took my keys inside the shop's office. So I have no house key, no key to my office, nothing. I have the clothes on my back and a couple of things out of my car, and I'm spending the night at my parents' house 3 counties away until I can call the shop tomorrow and hope someone is there so I can get my keys.

But I did some searching on here and found a couple of threads describing similar symptoms as mine:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=944999

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1130702

in both those cases the problem was the wires going to the ignition switch... I'm hoping I'll be able to go there tomorrow morning and check it out myself, and hopefully if that is the problem (has to be) that it'll be immediately apparent. I can't stand electrical problems.

But still, ruining my perfect mechanic record just kills me.

 

one shotty day that's for sure

 

You wouldn't happen to have a fuel pump kill switch right? I have a friend whose engine wouldn't start because no fuel was making it to the engine and it was due to a connection that wasn't tight enough. Just a though. Good Luck

 

that sucks, keep us posted as i'd llike to know what the culprit is

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">one shotty day that's for sure </TD></TR></TABLE>

crap. That's not good. Hopefully you'll get someone at the shop when you call.

 

ouch, the Mechanic huh, you find out anything with it yet?

You said it starts up for a second or two and then dies out,
my mom's car Just did something like that recently out of Nowhere.

It's not an integra but first year e36 318is, I say first year before I don't remember if it's 92 or 93 lol, I always get it mixed up but anyways.

Her one day I took to get some parts for mine, it was running perfect, came back out from the one shop, tried starting it, it goes to 1-2k rpms maybe and dies out, & it helps none to push the gas.
Finally got it towed back home, and it wasn't even starting now, just cranking over,
Turns out the fuel pump went, and at first how it was starting, I didn't think it to be the fuel pump.

Got a new pump, and it started Right up, with no problems.
Lol, not sure if yours could be the pump or not, but it's an idea, and sounded familiar.

I'd check the fuel though, best spot is to take off the FPR, and crank it for a second to see if any fuel comes out.

:edit:
ha.. not sure about all your lighting issues, but fuel would be the first to check I think.

 

it's not fuel related, it has to be ignition related, because nothing that is powered when the key is at the Run position works, including the fuel pump.

a couple of people said it's just an easy fix, replace the igntion switch pigtail harness or something.

 

similar symptoms in my EK, cept i knew the alternator went bad when it shut off. no power anything, dim lights, etc.

gl with your car man

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hothotpete &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">similar symptoms in my EK, cept i knew the alternator went bad when it shut off. no power anything, dim lights, etc.

gl with your car man </TD></TR></TABLE>

I considered that as well, but the fact that the starter turns over perfectly fine and strong means that's not it.

 

ah true, that part didnt click in my head. gl tho

 

Don't be too worried about a "perfect" record, i'm sure the previous owner took the car somewhere at somepoint to get examined

Keep us updated, hopefully its just a wire that needs to be replaced or something simple

 

Yeah I wasn't referring to the car itself, I'm talking about personally, I have never met a problem that I couldn't repair in 5 years and 135K miles.

Including this one.

I went up to the shop this morning, did a continuity check on the ignition switch harness, and sure enough there is nothing between battery and IG1 and IG2 when the key is in the run position. There is continuity between battery and ACC, so that pretty much explains everything.

I told the guy at the shop I would just order the part and throw it in, he was like yeah that's cool. They're not even going to charge me for letting it sit there, as long as I get it done before Friday. So I'm going to try to order the part today, probably give Len a call and hopefully get it by Wednesday.

I also had to close my sunroof that was popped up, since it's supposed to rain today. Luckily I was able to hold the key in the start position and while the starter was cranking, I was able to push the sunroof button and get it to close.

 

nice


Freebies rock.

 

good deal, git 'er done!

 

damn what a crappy *** day

 

damn, I hope this isnt a common problem with the obd1 gsr's/integra's..... Good job finding out what was wrong and not having to pay a shop to do the work!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iH8RICERZ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">damn, I hope this isnt a common problem with the obd1 gsr's/integra's..... Good job finding out what was wrong and not having to pay a shop to do the work! </TD></TR></TABLE>

common problem? I dunno but it did take 12 years and 226K miles for it to wear out or whatever it was that happened.

Just ordered the part from Baranco Acura, $60 shipped for FedEx overnight


Modified by PatrickGSR94 at 2:35 PM 3/27/2006

 

Glad you found out the culprit, hopefully that is the only thing that went. Now if that happens to mine, i know what to check. Thanks Patrick.

Keep us posted when you get the new part installed.

 

damn hondas

 

w00t just received the part today about 9:30 a.m. after placing the order around 2:30 p.m. yesterday.

Big to Len at Baranco Acura in Morrow, Georgia.

I'll prob try to get down to the shop and throw this thing in around lunch today.

 

And it is ALIVE again muaahahahaha!!!!

I went down to the shop this afternoon, threw that switch on there (had to de-pin 2 wires and transfer them over to the new harness), bolted the switch onto the ignition key cylinder and rode out. I didn't even put the steering column covers or knee bolster trim panels back on. The old harness is still dangling in there, I have to go through and clean all that up and get everything back together this evening.

But it RUNS and that's all that matters

 

NICE. Glad to see shes up and running again.