Engine Fails/Kills

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

For the past 3 weeks or so my car has been in some hectic downward spiral. I've noticed since I've moved to Texas I've had numerous amounts of electrical/car failure.

Well for the newest installment of my dilemma.

3 weeks ago:
Get into car, start car, DIES. CEL light comes on, then turns off. Turn it on after the dying and car starts and I drive it perfectly

2 weeks ago:
Driving back from my intramural play, car dies within 3 miles. Pull of to the shoulder. Start car, nothing, hesistates, but then quickly dies. Wait for 10 or so minutes, car starts, and runs. Drive it to the Acura/Honda spot to be repaired. It was drivable and made it.

Upon dropping the car off, I popped the hood and noticed my filter off my intake was off. I assumed that debris could have gotten into the throttle body and that could cause the problem?

Shop claims there is no problem. I'm not sure if they even hooked up to a diagnostic machine or not. They say they started the car and it didn't die. Unfortunately the car must die before the can repair anything because they are unsure of the problem. The mechanic tells me once the problem happens, to put the car in the run position and hear for a click under the dash after the CEL turns off. THe filter being loose wasn't the reason for the car not turning off.


NOTE:
Before any of these problems occured I had taken my car to the "stealer"ship for an oil change.

1 week ago:
Driving to work, car dies on the highway. Turns off and just stops up. Call the shop, explain the problem once more. 2 options are presented.
(a) starter is bad
(b) core ignitor is bad

but they don't know which one and there is no way of testing this? I would think a shop could find out but its one of those things they say.

wait for a few minutes, car starts, runs fine.

this week:
I rarely drive the car, I use my other ride. I drive it to see my girl at work, run errands. Go play ball at the park, after I'm done, I go to the car, start it over, hesitates, and dies. I wait, nothing. I leave the car and walk back to my house.

Come back to the car later that night, starts, and I drive it back to my house. And this is where it stands.

I've gotten some more tech info.

I've been told it could possibly be cooling issues? which I doubt, its not overheating.

Been told that it could possibly be my fuel filter or fuel pump thats killing my engine and that I need to go to a shop that can perform a take 2 test?

I need your guys info/expertise

This ish is getting annoying and I'm ready to just sell the car after all the hassles.

[blackshine007]

If it's the car in your sig, check the bottom side of your distributor (where it bolts into the head) for oil leaks. If so, it's more than likely the O ring on the distributor has gone bad and leaked all over your cam sensor or possible other sensors within it. You can always tear the distributor down, clean it out with parts cleaner and replace the seal. If that don't work, save your duckets up for a new distributor.

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

alright, I'll be sure to check that out..


thanks

[wrekonize]

it might be the main relay because i had a crx that did the same thing i was on the highway and it just died so i pulled over turn the key and didnt hear the click under the dash.....other than that fuel pump or filter maybe clogged

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

thanks for the input..

reps

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

before I forget..

mechanic states that it wouldn't be the fuel pump, because in the last 10 years the problem is rare and when they do replace them, they go out within days.

thats why I ruled out the fuel pump..

but if it is fuel issues, why am I still getting good mileage? I would think it would drastically affect my fuel mileage

[preferredduck]

i know moving from atl to destin fla years ago my si was running funny, i had to reset the ecu b/c of the difference in the air and the way the car reads. i doubt that is your problem. my si stalls sometimes when i push in the clutch. best thing i did was put the timing and tb back to normal, my mechanic put it at 28 degrees btdc. it sounds like something stupid is causing it. check the dizzy, mine leaks and i have the oring i just have not replaced it.

[allmotoronly]

before I forget..

mechanic states that it wouldn't be the fuel pump, because in the last 10 years the problem is rare and when they do replace them, they go out within days.

thats why I ruled out the fuel pump..

but if it is fuel issues, why am I still getting good mileage? I would think it would drastically affect my fuel mileage

That exact same thing happened to a friend of mine's 2002 Accord. It was the fuel filter. The car would drive normally, get the same mileage, then would randomly shut off and then not start up. He would have to wait a few hours before cranking it again. I guess there was debris in the filter and it would clog the filter, and after leaving the car turned off for a while the debris would settle back off the filter, and the car would drive fine for 20 miles or even a few days until it did it again.

[fivex684]

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be the main fuel relay.

[Batlground]

its the main relay.

What happens is the car will run fine when it cools down because the relay isnt hot. When it gets hot, it loses connection and causes the car to die.

The main relay controls power to the ECU which controls the Fuel Pump.

So, go hit up a junkyard an get another main relay, its located under the driver side dash abover the fuse panel. Should say MITSUBA on it.

Shouldnt cost more than $20

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

So this is the culprit?

My main relay? I'm assuming its a simple plug and play right? How do I know if its faulty or not when I do pull it?

[Batlground]

just change it, youll thank us later

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

aiite im gonna do it tonight, im assuming I have to unscrew the kick panel? pull it and replace it?

I checked on advance and autozone

ones like 80 and the other is like 20, is there a difference?

I don't know of any junkyards out here in san antonio

and gas is cccrraaazzyyy to be driving my suv!

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

update:

so I pull the so called "main relay" but I'm beginning to think I pulled the wrong part, upon searching on autozone, going into the store, the model number fr 3309 was cross referenced as a flasher switch.

can anyone tell me exactly where the main relay switch is?

I took off the kick panel, looked on the fuse section and noticed the "bigger" relay on the top of the fuses and it said "mitsuba" so I assumed it and yanked it

I started the car and it still ran, so I'm def. thinking its the wrong relay.

I would assume the main relay would be located under the hood? searching on ebay, I got the part number rz 0063 or rz 0132 depending on model?, I'm assuming that this is the part I need?

how far up under the dash is this part located? HELP!

[an0therh22]

http://pic11.picturetrail.com/VOL397/2077440/4489368/79723653.jpg

http://www.d-series.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-15210.html

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

got it off... now I gotta buy the right part

[mitch lab]

I ran into this problem before on a customers' car. Everyone already mention the main relay. If you replaced this and it still dies on you, check the distributor and your ignition swtich, I had a customer car that I checked everything, replaced the main relay and rebuilt the distributor even tested it on another car..wasn't it. Come to find out when I replaced the ignition switch, it solved the problem. Honda got some recall on them on certain model.

[preferredduck]

I ran into this problem before on a customers' car. Everyone already mention the main relay. If you replaced this and it still dies on you, check the distributor and your ignition swtich, I had a customer car that I checked everything, replaced the main relay and rebuilt the distributor even tested it on another car..wasn't it. Come to find out when I replaced the ignition switch, it solved the problem. Honda got some recall on them on certain model.

correct they do. i checked that as a possible problem for my si but honda said no recall for my car?

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

so how do I find out if my ignition switch is on recall?

[mitch lab]

correct they do. i checked that as a possible problem for my si but honda said no recall for my car?

check this website out:
http://www.hondarepair.com/recalls.asp?recallSearch=Civic

Organizationxiii: Dont think there is a recall on yours, but if you check everything (main relay, distributor) and it's good, then check the ignition switch last.

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

^
not the fuel filter/pump?

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

CHANGED THE MAIN RELAY.

Let the car run for 10 mins, eveything was fine.

Cranked the AC for "good measure"

Drove around the block, parked the car.

Come back an hour later start it up, NOTHING. Car turns, but doesn't start.

CEL comes on, then goes off with a "pop/click" afterwards (assuming that its not my starter?)

Still hesistates and nothing. Its mildly warm outside today so I don't know if weather is an issue.

THOUGHTS?

fuel? dizzy? what!?!?

[Batlground]

you know anyone with a spare distributor?

Prob the ignitor/coil

Usually you start with the most obvious an work your way up from there. Main relay is a common problem and its easy to fix.

[ORGANIZATIONXIII]

is weather/temp an issue? the weather got a bit cooler

b/c it just started back up

ignitor/coil---- 2 parts or 1 part?

trying to DIY first with the easy stuff