i have a 94 honda accord lx. about 2 days ago my car shut off while i was driving to work. i was not stopped at a traffic light, the car was still running and it just shut off. it happened 4 times on my way to work. yesterday my uncle, whose a mechanic himself, tested the car. i had the car idling and after about 10 to 20 minutes the car turned off. my uncle tried to turn it on but the car would just crank. he tested for spark and ask me to turn on the car while he tested. the car just cranked. he told me that the ignition coil is bad. the spark plugs are brand new cuz i did a tune up about 2 months ago. can anyone confirm that this may be the problem? and wat are other causes of this shutoff? i bought the ignition coil and plan on changing it myself, any tips or precautions? thanks for your help

I gather that in testing he didn't get a spark, right. Well, it could be the coil or the igniter or both or maybe even more. But Honda says ignition problems are usually caused by problems in the distributor and the coil and igniter are both in the distiributor. So changing the coil is probably the first place to start unless you want to do some testing which can eliminate the igniter or the ECU.

I would also look into main relay.

Good luck,

Sam

It ended up being the distributor. after i put the new coil on, the car still shut off. so i took it to my friend who has a shop and he tested it. told me that the distributor is not working.

What in the distributor is not working? If the distributor, Ive had good luck with the distributors out of ORielly/CSK/Kragen. I would not do a junk yard replacement.

What in the distributor is not working? If the distributor, Ive had good luck with the distributors out of ORielly/CSK/Kragen. I would not do a junk yard replacement.
+1.
I put a rebuilt unit in my son's 95 about 6 month ago. So far so good...

Do not try rockauto!!! They kill you offering good prices, but the parts they have are all wrong. They sent me a part that did not fit, accused me of ordering a wrong part, and after all charged me for shipping. Even though the same part I ordered from Kragen fit like a glove!

Good luck,

Sam

i got the distributor in. the whole thing. and its running good so far. but for some reason i still feel like the car will shut off. =/

i got the distributor in. the whole thing. and its running good so far. but for some reason i still feel like the car will shut off. =/
What do you mean by that?

Is there any hesitation, vibration? Or you just afraid that it will stall?

Sam

its more like afraid that it will stall. the only thing that i feel is a little rough idle. after the car is warmed up. i dunno if its the EGR valve or the idle speed sensor.. there is no check engine light on. i was told that i should check the EGR valve cuz my car failed the emissions test here in NY. i did a tune up and i dont think the timing of the car is the problem.

Problem could be the EGR system. Usually if it is the valve, you will get a CEL. If you have high NOX on the emissions test, it could be plugged ports going into the intake for each cylinder. That problem could also cause rough idleing. There is a test to check the valve and if the ports are plugged.

are engine flushes necessary?

Engine flushes?

yea. it apparently cleans all the inside of the engine. gets rid of all the old oil and any sludge build up.

I don't think rHonda recommends engine oil flushes. With modern detergent oil and frequent oil changes, sludge does not build up in the engine. Running an engine with anything but engine oil causes considerable wear even for a few minutes. So don't do it.

well they wont leave the enging without oil. they just clean all the old oil out, and then put some new one in. kinda like an oil change

are engine flushes necessary?
Are you asking about Seafoam?

I do it on all my vehicles and I do like it. Improves mileage, stops pinning.

On my Accord Seafoam pushed all the gunk into the throttle body and my accelerator pedal started sticking. So I had to clean the throttle body as well. Which is good anyway...

Sam

Read the following and do as you wish.

http://autotechrepair.suite101.com/article.cfm/040206