BigGuy

Something new has developed with my my 92 Honda Civic (US spec) A month or so ago the rotor in the distributor cap was replaced as part of another repair. Since then the car has a habit of stalling for no apparent reason after about the first 5 miles or so while actually being in gear and driving normally. Of course, the check engine light comes on and I must roll to a safe area. I must always wait a few minutes before starting it up again and then it usually runs well again for the rest of the trip. Yesterday it tried to stall a second time, about 100 meters after the first incident but I was going down a steep hill. I kept it in gear and maintained my foot on the gas while watching the tachometer. The needle was sweeping like crazy between about 500 and 3000 rpm and you could feel the car was losing power and wanted to stall. Then after maybe 5 to 10 seconds every thing returned to normal and didn't have another problem the rest of the trip. This seems to happen nearly every morning, once and sometimes twice at the begining every morning trip. Doe anyone have any ideas or advice for me? She's my bad weather car and I sure need her to work properly right now!

BigGuy

Come on! Someone has an idea...

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

IIRC The ECU has a fault LED light on the top. It is in the passenger side footwell under the carpet. When you get the "check engine" light, check the flashing LED on the ECU, and see what fault it is showing. On some models the LED maybe on the side, but I'm certain that the LED is on the top in the middle on yours.

Just switch on the ignition and count the flashes. The no of flashes is the fault code (i.e 30 flashes = fault 30). A short pause will be between fault codes. When they have all been given, they will just repeat.

It could be a sensor fault in the distributor. The distributor units are very prone to failure. I'm curious to the reason why just the rotor arm was replaced.

It may be an Ignitor unit fault (within the distributor) or a sensor fault - again in the distributor! There are 3 sensors in the distributor to control the ignition and the sequential EFi, they are: No1 TDC, Cylinder Identification and RPM.

It's is very hard to work on the dizzys on these, the ignitor unit can be replaced, but replacing the sensors is tricky. In the past, I've just replaced the whole distributor, it's less hassle. I wouldn't reccomned a reconditioned unit. The last one I had on mine lasted just 13 months (12 month guarentee too - doh!).

BigGuy

Thanks ALi-B. You really seem to know your stuff. I'll talk to the garage as soon as they call (they're supposed to talk to one of their experts)
Thank again.