My car died on me :(

[dc2dc2dc2]

Hey guys,

My car has come of age or something. Just needing some help. Today of all days my car broke down in the MIDDLE OF THE FREEWAY in the middle lane @ 7am on the way to my 2nd last exam. :confused:

I was cruising happily at like 60km when all of a sudden my car just turned off. Engine light went on, so i tried to start it again. The engine clicks and like the engine is trying to start but it doesn't start its like trying. Help me out im a n00b ? Do i dare fear the worst ?

Thanks. :(

[Stoosh]

does your engine turn over at all? really slowly?
no fuel?
electrical?

[Integra_Type[R]]

sounds like your disturbutor (dizzy) has shat it self tai..

[weezer]

timing belt? :(

[LiquiDSound]

is that what you told the teacher? =D
hopefully its minor =)

[TVN]

timming belt for sure !
how long since u last change ur timming belt !!

[Stoosh]

i wouldve thought distributor?

was there any noises when it cut out?

[kwayzivietnamese]

Dizzy related for shiz.
Pray its not the timing belt

[zorrt]

is that what happens when timin belt goes? i thought the pistons would sh*t itself if the belt goes...if its anything like mine mine was just the relay crapped out. Engine would turn but wouldnt start. But I doubt urs it relay tho.

[EuroDude]

Yep same thing happened to my Civic twice! lol =\

1st time was the Dizzy Cap (a new one is only like $45)
2nd time it was the Dizzy Coil (that was about $350 + labour, it was a 2nd hand one I think)

Dizzy Igniter is probably next lol


If you have a multimeter and a teggy haynes service manual, you can save money and diagnose the problem yourself.


...pull a spark plug cable out and check if its sparking on the engine body, hold it 5mm and crank the engine.

[Integra_Type[R]]

yea, its a common problem on older honda's..

[vtegra]

lol i heard about u on 3aw, some lady was complaining bout u bc of 1 honda car made all this traffic eheh

[PHASE2]

timing belt buddy for sure same thing happened in my old integra!

[panda[cRx]]

lmfao @ tai-bo

bad luck man but yeah from what you have said it sounds like could be the dizzy, as said it's VERY common as honda's get older. (there are like 4-5 other threads recent where ppl's dizzy's have died)

and while it's less likely, from what you have said it could also be your cambelt.
either way you're looking at a fair chunk of change mang :thumbdwn:


have you tried it since? does it turn over at all?

[ECU-MAN]

check the ECU for codes dude.

50/50 between timing belt and dizzy

worst case, snapped cam shaft

[dc2dc2dc2]

Cambelt if fine. Timing belt is fine.

Im praying its the dizzy.

Thanks for ur help guys.
But yeh....omg copped so much abuse this morning and tow truck took like 90 minutes to come. Luckily my mum works near buy so i drove her car up to school and she sat in my car waiting for tow truck. She said she copped so much abuse it wasn't even funny and that my car had blocked traffic up all the way to narrewarren . *smirks*

[yourfather]

lulz
best stoppage of traffic evar award goes to dc2dc2.

pplz goin nutz on the radios

[remi1au]

Sounds similar to recent probs with my DA9... turned out to be both igniter and coil. Got both replaced, runs sweet now.
As suggested above check ECU code, if its flashing 15, it will probably be something in your dizzy.

[mrwillz]

lol trouble maker tai!
not rip yet for the da9
let me no wot happens

[quangsta]

check oil??...i know it sounds stupid...but speaking from experience (not my car)

[dc2dc2dc2]

problem found: dizzy coil is gonkies ~!

thanks for ur help guys. :)

[EuroDude]

Thought as much :thumbsup:

[remi1au]

problem found: dizzy coil is gonkies ~!

thanks for ur help guys. :)

Just out of interest, what did the coil set you back ?
I just paid $99 +GST for an after market one (sparky insisted it was good quality)....

[dc2dc2dc2]

lol just rewelded it back on ! works fine now :)

*tightass backyard style job* :D

[peasoup]

Hey guys, mine has been doing the exact same thing lately, and I have caused a few traffic jams myself, the car will always restart later once its cooled down. It stranded me near Bendigo on the weekend, not very nice. From searching threads and other peoples advice, sounds like its the ignition module $400, but how to be sure? I took it to Honda and they could not find a fault with the car, as they couldn't get it to cut out, great!! It's very frustrating

I don't mind replacing the part but want to make sure its definitely the problem. Has pissed me off so much I feel like selling the car...

[ECU-MAN]

your symptoms do sound like the ICM,

you need to test for spark while its doing it.

[peasoup]

Thanks, I'll just have to get it to cut out again, which It wont do when I want it to.

[remi1au]

My sparky had my car for 4 days before he managed to get it to fault.
Just need a guy with patience...

[peasoup]

My sparky had my car for 4 days before he managed to get it to fault.
Just need a guy with patience...

Honda had it for 3 days, they even left it running for ages on a 29C day, but I guess the engine isn't under load.

I think I'm going to just buy the part, otherwise I will never drive it.

[peasoup]

Just for anyone searching on a similar topic like I did, I had the ignitor and coil replaced, didn't use OEM parts so miles cheaper, car is running sweet now.

[akira]

maybe its your starter or timing belt!

[Boban]

hahaha, i just insalled a dizzy into a car today and it's running fina now.
But yeah i had a same problem a little while ago, my dizzy shat itself and the car just died on me, it would crank but wouldn't turn over. So frustrating but not much we can do about it

[blk_shadow]

is there ayway to check this before it happens?

[[[d a n n y]]]

main relay???

[CL455]

i've run into problems with my dc2 lately to... every now and again i try and start it up and give it a bit of a run .. but 1st time the ignition coil went... got it replaced and ran fine...

now it just randomly stoped working just after i started it after driving about 10 mins... seems to be spark... but just wont start...

[string]

is there ayway to check this before it happens?
Yes, you can measure the resistance over the various points of the ignition coil, and compare to standard service limits. If you're ICM is going often, check your coil to see if it's out of spec because bad coils are an igniter killer.

To the OP: When you give a vauge question, be wary of replies like "it's <x> for sure". There are so many causes for the symptons of "engine died" that such a reply is purely impossible.

I think the OP would be adding certain sounds heard to his original post if his timing belt snapped :D

[Jon_51]

my car died on me last week, ran on two cilinders for about 5seconds then switched off.
ordered a new distributor (all new parts) from distributor king on ebay... came to about 300 delivered (100postage:( ). put it in last night, took about an hour. sure fire fix to the problem.