After driving 75 miles, my daughter stops at a stop light and her 1999 Accord 4 cyl 5 speed dies. Attempts restart and it cranks rough, barely starts and runs very rough and dies. Towed to dealer where it starts and runs fine the next morning.
Any ideas on what to look at or parts to replace just to increase the reliability? Dealer looked at plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and coil (under cap) found no problems in particular and wanted to replace them all for $575 just because. I installed the plugs 2500 miles ago and inspected everything but the coil then. All looked good. The ignition switch was replaced under warranty 6 months ago.
1999 Accord died at stop light - any ideas?
- Thread starter ledslinger
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Was there wet weather and does this car actually have a rotor? Do you see where I'm going? If you have a rotor and cap, I would replace both. This sounds like moisture in rotor/cap that dried overnight and usually suggests cracked cap --- but check the car...good luck.
My Folks just had my Sister's 2001 Taurus to the shop after dieing at stoplights. Turns out it was a broken PCV valve. The spring went and would cause rough idling and then stumble to a stop at every light.
I didn't know about it until a week later. She needed it for a trip and never reports anything to my Father or I until the car dies from it.
But that PCV valve was working last time I looked at it, although it was 10 years old.
Take a look.
It has a cap and rotor but I discount that it was due to moisture since it ran 75 miles before it stopped. It was very wet out the day before the problem, it drove in the rain/snowstorm in NJ.
had a friends camry do the same thing recently; it was the distributor. the coil and all the electronics are one unit in them, could be the same on your accord?
at the very least I would put a cap and rotor on it.
Yes, it has a distributor and a rotor.
I don't think it's a cracked cap, though.
If the thing had just been driven 75 miles, any moisture would have long since evaporated.
There is a relay in the dash that can cause the car to die unpredictably.
It may later start up and run just fine.
We also have a '99 Accord 4 cyl spd, and it simply died on my wife one day.
I went to pick her up, and the car then started without incident.
No CEL, no indication of what the trouble might be.
This was a job for my Honda indie, who diagnosed and fixed it.
I would never have figured it out, and an inexperienced dealer tech might not have either.
Lots of options - electric and fuel. Fuel pump failure is intermittent at first. The 75th mile could have been when the cap cracked. Fuel pressure regulator and/or EGR (if there is one) can come and go until it fails completely.
Run the diagnostics and let us know what shows.
Scan said "random misfire" at dealer. Cap was inspected, ignition switch replaced under recall in March.
-Distributor & Rotor
-Fuel Pump
-Vacuum Leak
These are really the three things that it is likely to be.
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Yes, it has a distributor and a rotor.
I don't think it's a cracked cap, though.
If the thing had just been driven 75 miles, any moisture would have long since evaporated.
There is a relay in the dash that can cause the car to die unpredictably.
It may later start up and run just fine.
We also have a '99 Accord 4 cyl spd, and it simply died on my wife one day.
I went to pick her up, and the car then started without incident.
No CEL, no indication of what the trouble might be.
This was a job for my Honda indie, who diagnosed and fixed it.
I would never have figured it out, and an inexperienced dealer tech might not have either.
You may need a wiring diagram for that relay.
Random misfire could relate to valve timing if its variable.
Is this the relay?
http://techauto.awardspace.com/faq.html#whereisit
Trav is right. The Honda PGM-FI relays in 1990's Accords consistently fail in ~10 years due to cold solder joints. The Mitsuba supplied relays were/are notorious and the replacement ones from Honda run about $70. The worse part is getting to the bolt which holds the relay bracket under the dash.
Originally Posted By: ledslinger
It has a cap and rotor but I discount that it was due to moisture since it ran 75 miles before it stopped. It was very wet out the day before the problem, it drove in the rain/snowstorm in NJ.
Just the engine or did the radio and stuff go out too? I don't think it's a problem with the newer cars, but i've had a couple of older japenese cars ignition switch go out on me. Had a Civic that died on me and the radio and everything went out at once. Had a Mazda that quit working intermittently. Reached up underneath and grabbed the switch and it fell apart in my hand.
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Thanks a bunch for the ideas!
Another possibility-- camshaft position sensor. Had similar symptoms on 3.5L Altima. Will stall on low rpm, might go to safe mod sometimes(no more than 1500 or 2000 rpm) and really hard to start.
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Also take a look at the Idle Air Control (IAC) valve. If it is stuck, and they can go south without throwing a code (CEL), then it would cause the car to die while idling. Sometimes they can been cleaned with success.
Check the condition of the PCV valve as well.
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