93 Accord stalls while driving on Highway

The car is 93 Accord with 5 speed standard trans. I've had the coil
replaced twice during this time. The last time was 5 months ago so I'm
kind of leaving that part out of the equation. The car seems to stall while
driving on the highway for about 15 minutes or 15 miles. It will stutter
real quick once or twice and then die. I'm able to push the clutch in and
turn the key all the way off and then re-start it while still coasting
unpowered.
If I don't switch the key all the way off, it will not restart. Any ideas?
Fuel pump? Since this happens 3/4 into my commute I'm unsure if it will do
it
again after 15 more minutes.

Thanks for any responce

Mike

 

I checked my Haynes Repair manual and it states the following information:
Engine Isssue #6 Engine Starts but Stops Immediately:
1. Loose or faulty electrical connections at distributor, coil or alternator.
2. Insufficient fuel reaaching the fuel injectors.
3. Vacuum leak at the gasket between the intake manifold and throttle body.

I could not find a listing for the exact problem that you are having. It's my
guess that #1 is the most likely cause of your problem. In addition, there
may be a "short" in the electrical wiring running to or from the
distributor, coil or alternator. Shorts are hard to locate since they can
only be found when the wire is shorted out at the time of the test. I
should also note that the distributor, coil or alternator may be
defective.
Jason

 

Only a partial response here....

Having to turn the key off and back on suggests the ECU is deciding the
engine isn't running and shuts off the fuel pump as a safety measure
(standard in modern cars). It may be deciding that because the engine dies.
Another possibility is that the engine is dying of fuel starvation and with
pressure bled from the fuel rail it won't figure out the right mixture in
time. One more: the ignition switch may be failing and only moving it all
the way back to off will patch it up again.

The crucial question is whether the engine is dying because of fuel or
ignition problems. The driver gets two good clues: if the tach drops like a
stone and the power disappears like you flipped a switch the ignition is
going away. If the tach follows the engine speed as it fades, and the power
seems to sag to nothing instead of lurching, you have fuel delivery
problems.

One final thing: if it acts like ignition and the warning lights don't come
on until you turn the switch off and back on, you can bet it's a bad switch.
(Outside chance it's a cracked connection inside the battery, but the switch
is the way to bet.)

Start by reading over http://tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#startrun and see
if anything rings a bell. It is a very good bet the problem is one of those
mentioned; actual fuel pump failures are rare in Hondas, for example. Since
the coil has been replaced twice we can pretty much rule that out. That
leaves you with three classic trouble areas: the Main Relay (fuel pump
relay), the ignitor and the ignition switch. As the driver you probably have
enough clues now to decide on a course of action. Good luck!

Mike

 

It could be so many things, but next time it happens note if the idiot
lights on your dash come on. If they do not come on when it stalls, I'd
check the ignition switch.

Remco

 

If the coil is truly good, then you have an igniter problem.

 

Mike, Thanks for your very informative link and post.

In responce to your querry on the tach and dash lights, I do remember the
tach dropping
like a stone and the only dash light that came on was the 'Check Engine
Light'..
After I turned the key all the way off and then back on, the remaining dash
lights came back
on, and the tach resumed to follow the engine RPM, as long as I had the
clutch engaged of course.
Do these symptons still point to the igniter or maybe more so towards the
coil?

Thanks Again for your insight.

Mike

 

-------------------------------------------

Could be somebody forgot to replace the heat-sink compound (just like on
a Pentium processor) on the backside of the ignitor and it's overheating
now that the weather is warmer.

'Curly'

 

Mike,

I replaced the ignitor and and took it out for a little ride around the
block, about 20 miles, and it ran
without stalling. However, I will need to take it for a couple of rides
since there were days when it wouldn't
stall out. But it is a good sign so far. The new ignitor was slightly
different as it had its own heat sink attatched
to it. I just added a few more lock washers to take up the extra space on
the screws so that they wouldn't
protrude out beyond the bottom of the heat sink. Also, when I opened the
distributor cap to get at the ignitor,
I noticed that there was oil inside the cap. Seems like the seal from the
distributor and the engine head is
leaking. This might have contributed to the problem also. Is this seal easy
to fix?

Thanks,

Mike

 

The ignitor is a good suspect, if only because it is fairly inexpensive and
is about at the end of its life expectancy. (I don't know why they often
seem to fail after a decade or so, but that seems to be the track record.)
If the problem returns I would focus on the ignition switch, especially with
the lights not coming on until the switch was cycled. Now your ignitor
should last the rest of your car's life and won't strand you somewhere by
failing altogether.

I haven't had direct experience with the distributor failing, but others
have. I will leave that part to them.

Mike