imchris

I have a 98 civic, automatic. I've had it a little over a year now with no problems. Last week, as I was driving down the highway, it acted like I had completely let off the gas. I could hear the engine winding down like it would if you let off the gas but me stepping on the gas did nothing. It did that for about 15 seconds, then it "caught" and accelerated and was fine afterwards. Yesterday, at a stop light, it died. I would try to start it with no luck. After a couple minutes, it started up and drove fine. Today, the original symptom surfaced again. It acted like I had let off the gas. I pushed on the gas but it did nothing. After a few seconds, it "caught" and ran fine. I don't even know where to begin on this one. Anyone have any similiar experiences?

ezone

My first thoughts:

When it dies, do all the warning lights stay off or on?

Could be a bad ignition switch, the electrical half of it. Common problem. See what the dash lights do when it dies. Can you slowly roll the key and have the dash lights flicker? That would be bad.

Less likely:
Install a fuel pressure gauge and drive it. See what the pressure does WHEN it acts up.
Ever lost your gas cap? Maybe water in the gas tank.

Could be a bunch of things. Test, don't guess.

imchris

Ok, last night, it stopped running while my wife was driving it. It took 4 or 5 minutes before it would start again. It would crank over normally, just wouldn't start. Then it started and drove fine. I then drove it to work today and back home with no problems(75 miles round trip)

I didn't notice any dash lights when it happened unless it turned off of course. Then the usual lights that you see when the key is on but engine is not running.

I tried to slowly turn the key to see if the dash lights would flicker and I couldn't make them do that. I did notice that it shuts the engine off very easily when I start to turn the key off.

Fuel pressure gauge... I can do that but it doesn't happen often enough for me to be able to test it. It's only shut off completely twice. Both times in the middle of the road. I can't exactly get out and start messing under the hood then. That's the hardest part, I can't test for stuff because it keeps correcting itself. I put it on the scanner at work and it said what I thought it would say, No codes present.

No lost gas cap ever.

ezone

I can only guess from here, and I'm really only guessing at components that fail regularly. I can't even begin to guess if there might be some odd wiring problem causing it.

It's starting to sound like it could be an igniter problem. Does it have zero spark when it dies?
You would need to monitor spark or be able to check it while it is acting up though. A timing light laying on the seat, ready to see if it will flash when the car tries to die might be one way....
Or have a tach/dwell meter attached to the coil neg terminal while you drive.

If only you had a way to monitor spark, fuel pressure, and 12v feed out of the ignition switch to all of the injection components while you drive, and see which it loses when it tries to die...

Fuel pump failures are very rare.

I tried to slowly turn the key to see if the dash lights would flicker and I couldn't make them do that. I did notice that it shuts the engine off very easily when I start to turn the key off.

Any chance of that being what happens when you are on the road? As the switch heats up, the contacts get worse. Tried wiggling the key while you are coasting to a stop?
You can attach a test light bulb to the black/yellow wire at the ignition switch, or tap into one of the fuses it feeds to monitor it--underdash fusebox--fuses 3, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26 all get power from that same wire. If the light goes out while the car dies, then its the switch. If not, then keep testing other stuff.

I'm kind of leaning toward the igniter still. It will get worse then quit completely in short order if it is.

If you can't rig up stuff to monitor the systems while you drive, you might have to wait until it strands you to figure it out.

Sorry man, I can't really hand you a solid answer.

imchris

Thanks for the reply. That's the hardest part, the fact that it's intermittent. Anyone ever wish a part would hurry up and go bad before? Lol. Todays update... Ok, this morning I stop for gas. When I'm ready to leave, it doesn't want to start. I crank it over and it sputters a little bit but doesn't start. It does that a couple times, like it's burning any left over gas. Then it just cranks without the sputtering. I turn the key off, wait a couple seconds and then it starts right up. Wouldn't this indicate a fuel issue? If it was a spark issue, I'm thinking it wouldn't have sputtered/fired at all. Right??

ezone

That helps. Stick a main relay in it, or resolder every joint on the circuit board of the old one. They crack the solder joints. Your descriptions didn't fit the usual failure pattern. Usually this causes a no start by itself, I don't think I have witnessed one that made the car stall while driving. But it's certainly possible. Resoldering it is free if you can do it.