Recently, on a number of occasions my 1999 Honda Accord EX (4 Cyl with 115,000 miles) will start and run for about one second then die. Sometimes, it will do this for four or more attempts before it will keep running like normal. On some of the attempted restarts, I have held the accelerator pedal part way or all the down, but I could not see any significant difference. Once it starts and remains running, it seems to run and perform with no symptoms. Most of the time it starts and runs fine.

Occasionally while driving either on a city street or the interstate, it has died. On these occasions, the tach dropped immediately to zero and I think all or most of the dash lights came on like they would with the key in the start position. When it happened on the city street, I had to coast to the curb and then try 4-8 times to get it to run normally. On the interstate, I put it in neutral and restarted it immediately while still rolling. I had the computer checked twice for codes, but none were showing.

I have heard that this may be caused by a problem with the main relay or with the ignition switch. In April 2004 I did take the car in for the “Ignition Switch Interlock” recall of January 2004, but do not know whether this recall would have helped this problem.

Does anyone know what the solution is, or if there is a recall for this problem? Is there any further easy testing that I can do to determine the cause? I prefer not to just replace parts that may not be bad. If it is the main relay, what does it look like and where exactly is it located?

Thanks for any help.

Pepa

 

I guess this may be caused by a problem with the main relay Alternator,,hope it helps..

 

Hi everyone Im having a bit of the same problem the car runs fine I go to park turn car off and it wont restart. I pump the gas a couple of times and the car just cranks. After about 4 attempts the car starts and runs just fine. I havent had any problem with the car just cutting off while driving yet.

 

check your main relay

 

I have had the same issues in my wife's '99 Accord EX. First, I replaced the main relay. This seemed to help for a while. But the symptom where you're driving then it just dies was corrected when we replaced the ignition switch. In order to test this I started the car and by wiggling the key I could get the car to shut down. Since then, I have been keeping the key chain very light - just the key and door lock button.

So start with the main relay $40-60 (depending on where you buy it), but I think you will end up replacing the ignition switch about $350 at a dealer.

 

My 2000 Accord, 2 door, 3.0, automatic, with 304,000 miles on it has been doing about the same thing until tonight when it turned over fine but would not start at all. Previously, on occassion, it would start right up, shut off. Start up, shut off, or startup, run very rough until I got it in gear and up to speed, then it would run fine. When I mentioned it to my mechanic, he said he would check the fuel pressure first. I live 15 miles from the nearest town. HELP, HELP, HELP!

 

I dont know much about hondas but I will offer this I was having an overheating problem I found that the secondary fan wasnt working and replaced it. overheating still continued. so I took off all the hoses and squirted water via a garden hose to clean system (removed thermostat, bottom and top hoses) the problem was solved. I do know this if your honda is indicating half or above on the temp gauge something is wrong. Im saying all this because I have never had a car that running water thru it helped with a overheating problem as if something was stuck in the system. ( it is a recommended step in troubleshooting but Im not beating my money on it for this situation) I also replaced the a sensor called the (oil pressure sender unit) this is located on the passenger side of the top of the manifold. I look for this part at the junk yard and it wasnt that hard to find just make sure it comes off the same engine as yours such as VTECH 1994 or 1995 u can also find them on line but I had no luck trying the stealership. To bring this long story to an end I replaced this part because it was leaking a little bit of oil and everytime i went to turn the steering wheel hard to left or right to park the car would stall out. However after replacing this part it seemed to fix the problem. i dont know if it has anything to do with the overheating but I would start by replacing it. just look around at the junk yard and take your original one with you there is a circular piece inside of it make sure that the one you get fits with the circular piece they do look alike thats why I suggested to take your original one with you. good luck I hope this was useful. let me know how you make out.

 

2000 Accord, 2 door, V6. Can any one give me the detailed, specific location of the main relay? Is it necessary to disable the airbags to replace the main relay?

 

Where specifically where is the main relay located?

 

My 1999 Accord continued to start and die, and stalled occasionally through September (the warm months). It did not do it this winter but my wife decided I should take it to the dealer. Their diagnosis was the ignition wiring harness that connects to the switch was bad. The mechanic showed me that if you turned the ignition to the start position, then slowly turned it to the crank position, that all the dash lights would go off. The set that he removed had some solder missing from the joint where the heavy white wire is connected to the post labeled “BAT.”

I took the car on two 500-mile trips and it did not malfunction. The weather is still below 70 so I am now waiting for hot weather to see if it is fixed.

Pepa