Any of you guys Honda Dealer Technicians?
Civic1200 Discussion Board: : Any of you guys Honda Dealer Technicians?
Allright, just a little update on my wife's "Accordion"...
After changing the fuel filter, the symptoms persisted. I couldn't go any further myself as I don't have access to a diagnostic computer, so off to the local Honda Store. Turns out that the "Check Engine Light" would have been telling us there was a problem for the past month or so-if it hadn't been burned out! After replacing that and performing a whole diagnostic check, the culprit was, as guesstimated here, the igniter.
Car's all better now, I just want to again extend a sincere THANKS to all who jumped in to offer advice.
Colin,
You ARE talking about the "HORSESHOE" wagon, aren't you? Yes, I remember you pulling your hair out over that one...
I know for a fact that the fuel filter on there was over three years old AT MINIMUM. I also know that I will be changing it on a yearly basis from now on...about four hours on my back struggling with rusty line fittings will guarantee I'm not letting it get that bad again. Besides, I don't like my wife being stuck on the side of the highway and I think I lost close to a pint of blood and a yard of skin off my hands to that job! Thanks all for jumping in and considerately offering help and advice. I truly appreciate it.
My 82 Civic suffered a similar problem 2 years ago, loss of power, stalling, etc, etc, and after farting around with ignitors, coils and fuel pumps, I turned to the fuel filter. Plugged solid. You could drive it for hours one day and only minutes the next. Once changed though and it was fine until the crap in the tank plugged it up again, then I replaced the tank as well, seems sitting 16 years with half a tank of regular leaded gas was unkind to its insides.
Shea, I'm sure you remember what I went through???!?!
Shea's car is in the Great White North, and excessive moisture in the tank is not an uncommon occurance at this time of year, when it is 40 F one minute and 20 F the next.
check the cat. a restricted cat can do that as well
Nope, the fuel filter wont cause an intermittent problem, its either pluged or its not. The easy was to test for a plugged fuel filter is to got to WOT during a long up hill pull. If it runs fine then the fuel filter is probably ok. The fuel filter should be changed as part of maintance though, that is if you dont like buying fuel pumps and injectors.
Thanks all for your advice. My good friend Colin (CVCCx2) upon hearing of this problem, suggested replacing the fuel filter and that the car might possibly be suffering from a tank of poor quality fuel...I'm in the middle of replacing the filter now. The bottom fitting is pickling in penetrating fluid as it's kinda rusty. Holy CRAP, is that ever a NASTY fuel filter to get at! This one looks like it's never been changed either! Of course, living in the rust belt doesn't help steel very much, either...
Here's a link if you want to try and fix the main relay yourself. I don't have one, and haven't tried it, but maybe it will help.
http://www.markl.f9.co.uk/howto/electrical/main-relay/main-relay.htm
just a question, would the main relay off an 86 honda fuel injected main relay and or the ignitor work? Only reason I am asking is I have a junk 86 accord out here and I would be glad to pull them.
I would definitely agree with Don. Both those parts can give the same exact symptoms you are talking about. If you have over 80k mi. it can be a coin toss to either. On the financial standpoint, I would do the PGM-FI main relay due to cost first ,(part # 39400-SV4-003)around $55-$65. Another part # 39400-S84-A01, is for 98 accords and up. This one can be used also. I myself prefer the second # due to it's made more "solid state" if thats the right word to use. Less moving parts is my point. Then there is the ignitor. It tells the coil when to discharge. She's a little more expensive than the first (part #30120-P06-005)@$90.-$150. I can tell you from trial and error, that 75% of all honda ignitors, from about 1988- current are the same. Just different manufactorers, OKI=junk, NEC=not to many, and hitachi=rarely seen and rarely gone bad. Correct me, or input from Don on this would be welcomed! Hope this info helps you Shea.....Rick
PGM-FI Main Relay is a common failure. The solder cracks so it intermittently opens up and dies.
Also the igniters fail intermittently also, if its a OKI(says so right on top) replace it NOW. Of course if I can't see the car while its acting up then there are no guarantees
I'm having some trouble with my wife's car. It's a 1994 Accord LX, 4 door sedan with a 2.2 litre non-VTEC 4 cylinder, automatic transmission and dealer installed A/C. Here's the problem: While driving home from work on Monday evening, the car suddenly lost power (wouldn't respond to accelerator pedal input), so my wife pulled off to the side of the highway. She indicates that she still had power assist steering, so the engine was running. As she reached the roadside and released the accelerator, the engine quit. I got there to help her approximately 1/2 hour later (construction prevented me from using the nearest highway off/on ramps...GRR) and the car started and ran fine. I drove it home and it operated as normal the remainder of the trip. It seems to start and run fine, now, though it's not been driven in two days (parked in the garage keeping Crusty company ). The "Check Engine" light DID NOT come on at any time while this occured, except as normal with key-on, engine-off. I replaced the spark plugs and air filter (Honda Parts) back in October...
WHEW! Sorry to be long winded. Do any of you fellas have experience with a similar problem? I haven't really started poking around yet and my Haynes manual doesn't list this particular problem in "Troubleshooting." Are there any factory TSB's you could share, etc? Any help you guys might offer to point me in the right direction would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thank you for your kind consideration,
Shea