Ignition switch?

I just had a new problem with my accord. I was driving at about 40 mph yesterday morning and the car just shut off and then came back on itself. Everything shut off including my indash and it lasted for about a second or 2 and then it was back on like it didn't skip a beat. I have to take a road trip next week and I don't want the car to die on me or leave me stranded. I haven't called the dealership to see if any recalls have been performed on it or not. I have had the car almost 4 years and it now has 199,xxx miles on it. The car is a 99 accord ex 5 speed. Any ideas? I don't want to order the ignition switch and replace it and find out that isn't what the problem is. Thanks guys.

http://www.6thgenaccord.com/forums/showthread.php?p=406144#post406144


This should help you diagnose and repair your problem.

its sounds like an issue with the electical system but im pretty sure its not the ignition switch you should check for any loose wires that could be shorting out, start with any recently installed electronics like an amp, deck or maybe forglights

Ignition switch was a recall, so it would be free for you if it has not been replaced yet. Just search a bit and I'm sure you will find an answer. And if not, I would rethink that road trip...better safe than sorry.

I did check for loose connections. The negative terminal was a little loose so I decided to do a little test. I started the car up and then was wiggling the cable and then even took it off and the car was still running so I don't think that it was the battery cable. I was hoping it was that, but it isn't looking good.

I checked out that link when I was doing a search but I didn't see anything about diagnosing it. All I saw was how to replace it. I won't have any problems installing it or anything I just don't want to spend money that isn't necessary.

Thanks guys

RedRyder said:

Ignition switch was a recall, so it would be free for you if it has not been replaced yet. Just search a bit and I'm sure you will find an answer. And if not, I would rethink that road trip...better safe than sorry.

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I have a corvette as well, but it is a 10-11 hr trip one way and with me being 6'5" it just isn't as comfortable as the honda haha. I have to take the trip one way or another (best man for a wedding) I'd just like to take the honda because it is outfitted much better for the trip. I will check monday to see if the recall was taken care of or not. Was it for all 6th gens?

ninety4formula said:

I did check for loose connections. The negative terminal was a little loose so I decided to do a little test. I started the car up and then was wiggling the cable and then even took it off and the car was still running so I don't think that it was the battery cable. I was hoping it was that, but it isn't looking good.

I checked out that link when I was doing a search but I didn't see anything about diagnosing it. All I saw was how to replace it. I won't have any problems installing it or anything I just don't want to spend money that isn't necessary.

Thanks guys

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Had you read through the posts in that link you would have seen the symptoms people have experienced. I would almost garuntee that is the problem with the car. Do you have a heavy keyring by any chance......

Nope my keyring is only the key, the keyless remote, and some plastic keyring cards for autozone and basspro and stuff like that. I will have to go through that post again and see if there is something that sounds familiar. I just took the car out for a drive (~30 minutes) and had no problems.

What you described is exactly what happened to me. I replaced the ignition switch and it works good now. The problem is that the failure us so intermittent that it wont happen when you are expecting it.