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I've been searching but haven't seen this yet, if it's here please just shoot me the link to the answer. The problem is while driving the electrical systems will all go dead, then come right back on with the SRS and ABS lights going out again after a second and the radio coming back on.

Twice the engine has actually died and the only way to restart it is to turn the key all the way off then back on. Car starts fine right away and battery seems strong when I did this.

The other times it just restarted itself without the engine dying. It happened once a week ago, once yesterday and then about two dozen times in ten miles of driving today @ 45 mph.

Anyone familiar with this problem or have some recommended ways to test or evaluate? Thanks!

Car is an 01 Civic EX manual transmission with about 120K miles. I've been the only owner.

 
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I took it for another drive around the block today and it is still doing it. Anyone have any ideas before I have to drag it off to a mechanic and pay a lot for something I could (maybe) do myself? All help appreciated!

 
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Sounds like a bad connection, check all your grounds, and battery terminals, make sure they are clean and have good connections
Then, go and get your battery tested

Sounds like you hit a bump, and something comes loose and gains connection again

 
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Thanks Kenny.

Could it be that simple? I will go check but since it kept happening on a flat stretch of road at a steady speed I figured that a simple loose connection wouldn't explain it. Thanks for the advice.

If anyone else has any other tips I'm listening. In the meantime I will let you know if that fixes it.

 
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I have a similar issue. I have a 2005 EX manual transmission with 166000 miles. Also the only owner.

It started yesterday when I was nearly done driving home in the evening. My speed was between 25 mph and 45 mph. My phone charger was in the accessory power (cigar lighter) socket. Then the Civic's electrical died for less than a second and restarted by itself. This happened 3 times probably in the last mile before I got home. I took it to O'Reilly. They checked the battery and alternator. The battery cables were secure on the battery posts. There was no corrosion. They said the battery needed replacing but that the alternator was fine. So I replaced the battery.

Today when I was almost home again less than a mile to go. I was maybe going 25 mph. Again my phone charger was in the accessory power. The Civic's electrical died for less than a second and restarted by itself only 1 time. I took it to O'Reilly again. While the diagnostic tool was connected to the battery, the Civic lost power for a few minutes when I went to start it. Not sure what that was about. Other than that they checked the battery and the alternator. Both checked out fine. Again the battery cables were secure.

When I got home I checked the power accessory fuse in the fuse box underneath the dash. It was the right amps and was not blown. I also inspected the battery cables a little closer. There was only 1 thing that looked a little suspicious. The negative battery post has an exposed section of wire (by design) near where it grounds to the engine. One little single thread was loose from the main bundle of wires. I trimmed that off.

It's a really rare occurrence so I am going to see what happens tomorrow. I feel like there is a bad connection somewhere but I haven't found it yet. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 
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This started happening again today. It was a lot more frequent. It was probably around 15 times on the way home. At the time it started, I had my fog lights on, the ac on, the radio on, and my phone plugged into the charger.

After it started happening, I took my charger out of the accessory power unit and turned off the fog lights. I still had problems though. It seemed like pushing the ac button is connected to where the short is because when I pushed it, the electrical system wanted to cut out. This happened multiple times when turning the ac on.

 
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Can you elaborate on what you see (or don't see) when this happens, exactly?

 
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Hi! Thanks for asking.

This ended up being the alternator. It was putting out minimal charge. When I had the phone charger in and the AC on, it would drain the battery quicker than the alternator could keep it charged. I think that is why it would be fine until I was nearly home each evening. The auto parts store didn't catch it because they didn't test it under load and they were measuring at the battery not the alternator.

The symptoms were that while driving the electrical would die for a second meaning the dashboard lights and gauges, and the car radio would all flicker for a second and then come back on.