2001 Honda Accord EX, car suddenly stops

[Edward Castillo]

Good Afternoon everyone!

New member here. Glad to see other Honda Accord owners!

I have had this issue for about two weeks now. One day I was driving to work and then all of a sudden I could not accelerate anymore and power steering turned off. I had to navigate to the side of the road and put it in park. I then noticed that all the dash lights were on (similar to when an alternator starts to fail). I then turned off the car and cranked it back on and off I went. No issue after that.

I have replaced the following over the past year:

• Battery (I checked the voltage on the battery without the car on. I get 12 volts as expected. Also turned on the car for the alternator to charge the battery and I get 14 V. Put a load on it and I don't go under 12 so battery and alternator are good)
• Alternator
  
• Fuel Pump (replaced this pasted Saturday because I thought this was the cause of my recent problem)
• Distributor Housing

I initially thought it was the fuel pump but after stalling again couple hours after with the new fuel pump installed, I have no idea what is causing this failure.

Not sure if my car stalled again because maybe the new fuel pump takes a little driving to work properly, but I thought that was odd.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? My poor Honda wants to give out on me but I’m not going to let it.

Thank in advance!
Eddie

Edit: FYI I do not have an engine light on. Went to O'Reilly to double check and 0 codes found.

 

[RedRyder]

Does the car ever shut off while driving and turn right back on? Ever any trouble starting?

 

[Eclipse99fwb]

Im with redryder i would suspect your ignition might be taking a dump. Especially if you ever have issues with it not wanting to start. These accords have known ignition switch issues, mine has been doing the no start but if i wiggle the key it will fire right up. Otherwise some other things to check are your grounds, and i would check fuel pressure at the rail.

 

[Edward Castillo]

Does the car ever shut off while driving and turn right back on? Ever any trouble starting?

Hi Red! No, this doesn't ever happen. I will just be driving and then I can feel that I lost power. Pushing on the gas pedal and the car won't go. I then have to pull over, put it in park, remove the key and crank it back on to get it started. Before I turn it on, I notice that the lights on the dash are all lit up.

I am kind of focusing on the distributor and ignition switch, but I am not sure how I can test if they are failing.

 

[Edward Castillo]

Im with redryder i would suspect your ignition might be taking a dump. Especially if you ever have issues with it not wanting to start. These accords have known ignition switch issues, mine has been doing the no start but if i wiggle the key it will fire right up. Otherwise some other things to check are your grounds, and i would check fuel pressure at the rail.

This is one of the items I am suspecting. I did check it though by wiggling it while the car was on, but nothing happens. I saw on a youtube video awhile back that mentioned you can determine if your ignition switch is going bad if you crank it and if you wiggle it and the car shuts off, your ignition switch is failing. Not sure how true this is.

One thing to add, I did test this out; I was driving, and decided to see if I can turn off the car while it was in drive by turning the key towards me. I was successful and the car shut down. I stopped, put it in park and cranked it up again. I am not sure if this is where my problem is.

The biggest thing that is confusing me is that when I can't accelerate anymore and have to pull over, once I am at a complete stop all the lights on the dash are on. I have no idea what that even means. I have only seen that when the alternator fails, but you could still drive the car.

 

[Nam1911a1]

When you can’t accelerate is the engine still running?

 

[Edward Castillo]

When you can’t accelerate is the engine still running?

Honestly I'm not quite sure. I don't think it is cause I instantly feel a sudden change in vibration. I suppose that the alternator stops running which causes me to lose my power steering and everything else I guess. But I am about 90% sure that the engine is off. I usually can feel when its on, even when its in idle.

 

[Edward Castillo]

Ended up finding this video:



I can't tell if his dash lights are on, but this is pretty much what happens to me. In his description he mentioned it was the distributor.

 

[Nam1911a1]

Honda has a standing recall on bad ignition switches.

Mine would die. So I called the stealership and they wanted 150 diagnostic fee that would be reimbursed if it did have a faulty ignition switch. I told them to fuk off and just bypassed the ignition switch myself with a push button ignition switch. Problem solved.

If your vin number falls under the recall Honda will fix it over and over for life. And by fix they just install a new old stock ignition switch until it goes out again and you have to take it back again. But if it fails 100 times in the time you own it Honda will replace it 100 times.

There has been thousands of cases nationwide of stealerships charging people $300-400 to replace a recalled part that takes 15 minutes to replace.

 

[Edward Castillo]

Honda has a standing recall on bad ignition switches.

Mine would die. So I called the stealership and they wanted 150 diagnostic fee that would be reimbursed if it did have a faulty ignition switch. I told them to fuk off and just bypassed the ignition switch myself with a push button ignition switch. Problem solved.

If your vin number falls under the recall Honda will fix it over and over for life. And by fix they just install a new old stock ignition switch until it goes out again and you have to take it back again. But if it fails 100 times in the time you own it Honda will replace it 100 times.

There has been thousands of cases nationwide of stealerships charging people $300-400 to replace a recalled part that takes 15 minutes to replace.

Thanks!!! Unfortunately my car doesn’t fall into the category of replacing an ignition switch. Honestly I haven’t owned the car it’s own whole life so I don’t know if it was ever changed but I have seen online what years and type of Honda’s got the recall and again my car didn’t fall into that category.

Even though that my ignition switch doesn’t turn off my car when I “wiggle it”, I am going to perform a continuity test tonight and see if the damn thing is working properly. If it isn’t I think I am going to contact the Honda dealer, give them my VIN, then ask if the car ever had the ignition switch and see if they can replace it since it (or if actually) was under recall.

If it was never replaced, I’ll just do it myself.