Hi
I have a 1998 4-door Accord LX 2.3 litre engine and it has started to go dead while driving. It has happened at highway speed and in city driving - it's just as if the key were turned off, no dials, lights, odometer, power steering etc. and happens randomly at any speed, any time, several times per week. It starts again immediately and could be good for a few days or only a few hours. I tried jiggling the ignition key as I know there was a recall on ignition (which I had done) but it doesn't seem to cause the problem to happen. I have had new spark plugs, wires, and rotor within the last year. Does anyone know what it could indicate? There is no "check engine' light or anything. Thanks

 

When the car stalls out, do the gauge lights repeat the bulb checks like when you first turn the key to the II position? Like the check engine light turns on for two seconds, clicks under the dash board, etc...

When did you have the ignition switch replaced? The "new" ignition switch from recall could have the same problems, because it was not an updated part.

The other thing to check is that all ends of both battery cables are clean and secure.

 

Hi, no there are no lights or clicks, it just goes off as if the key was turned off - instantly dead, no warning. The ignition was changed many years ago, whenever the recall happened. The battery cables are fine. Are you thinking that it could be the ignition switch, even though I could not replicate the problem? Thanks

 

The way I look at it, if you could replicate the problem by wiggling the switch, that would almost prove it's caused by the switch.

But if you can't duplicate it by wiggling the switch, that doesn't prove the switch is OK.

 

Thanks, is there anything else it's likely to be or should I have the switch replaced and see how it goes?

 

I always hate to tell someone to throw parts at it without testing, but yeah, you could do that.

You could splice into the ignition circuit after the electrical part of the switch, & put a 12v lamp on that. Next time it stalls, you'll see the lamp go dark (if it's a bad switch) or stay lit (if its some other problem). I don't have the Helm book for that car anymore, otherwise I'd look up the circuits. There's probably some particular fuse where you could stick a wire & lamp to do the same thing.

 

I had the exact same issues with my '99. I jiggeled the key in the ignition and it would not stall. However, if I put the key in, turn it to the II position and slowly turn it to just before it starts, the dash lights flickered and went dead; like a bad short.

At one point, the stalls were happening every day and finally, the car would not stay running when I restarted it. I discovered that if you turn the key all the way to start and then very slowly let it return to the II (run) position, it would stay running. At that point, I knew I needed to resolve it before I was stranded somewhere.

I took it my mechanic and they confirmed that the electrical part of the switch was bad. Replaced it about a month ago for less then $150 and have not had any problem since.

Good luck!!

 

WELCOME (I see it's your first post)

Nice description of what you found with your switch. Unfortunately, flaky switches are not very rare here. And the recall for replacing the switch doesn't get you a re-designed switch. It's just a new one same as the old one.

 

OK thanks for your helpful replies. I had the ignition electrical switch replaced and it seems to have fixed the problem. If I'd known back when I had it replaced on recall that it was replaced with the same defective switch and not a redesigned one, I would have waited for it to fail (or not) and THEN had it replaced for free under the recall. Something to keep in mind.

 

Registered to post that I was having the exact same problem and this was the solution. 99 Accord, 180k miles. The car would randomly and sporadically stall waiting at a red light, local speeds, highway speeds, etc. It would just cut off without warning, dash lights off, etc. Took it to the dealer who could not reproduce it at first, left it with them and thankfully they were able to reproduce it. The problem was the electrical part of ignition switch, which they had replaced about 10 years ago but it was exactly as you said... they replaced it with the exact same part. This time they replaced it with a different part for free and things have been perfect since then!