Honda Accord 1999 stalling problem

I have a 1999 automatic Honda Accord DX with air conditioning. It has 130,000 KM and has been very reliable until recently. In late November, as I was driving at about 70km/hr, the car suddenly died. It actually felt like there was no gas getting through to the engine. A few seconds later as I was still moving (coasting), the car picked up again. A few seconds after that, it died again and I steered it to the side of the road. The lights on the dashboard were on. I tried to start it three or four times. It turned over and started each time, but before I could put the car into drive, it would die again. I decided to wait a few minutes and try it and it worked. I drove it home. I went to my mechanic a few days later and they could not find anything. He disconnected and cleaned the fuel line and used some injector cleaner. The very basic stuff. My mechanic did say that my wires and distributor cap were quite old. They are original. The problem with this theory is that the car actually runs fine most of the time and when he checked the cap, it was not making any kind of malfunction noise. This stuff was old, but working. In addition, if in fact it was the cap, we are not certain the car would re-start at all.

Three weeks later, it happened again. On the same day, it happened twice about an hour apart. The symptoms seemed to be the same. The only difference on this day is that I was accelerating from a red light and a stop sign when the car quit on me, as opposed to having the car already at a good speed (as it did the first time @ 70km/hr). What followed after it stalled was the exact same. It would turn over and start a few times, but would “not hold”. After a few minutes of waiting, I was on my way.

At this point, I started researching the problem on the Internet. Apparently, many people with 99 Accords have had similar problems. The advice varied from the fuel pump to plugs to wires to the distributor to the ignition switch to the coil and so on. The one diagnosis that seemed to work for a few people was to have the main relay changed. I was confused so I called Honda. The mechanic there seemed to rule out the fuel pump and narrowed it down over the phone to perhaps the ignition switch, ignition coil, or the fuel/main relay (I assume this is the same part). Honda also told me there is no test they can pursue on the car because the problem is intermittent. Basically, he told me to wait until the car finally breaks down to solve it! This is not the way I want to drive! I ruled out the ignition switch at this point because I had that changed on the car in November 2002 as part of a Honda recall. Since the main relay worked for others with similar problems, I took it to my mechanic to have that changed. He said that was a good possibility.

Yesterday (three weeks after I had the main relay changed), it happened again. The scenario was the same as the second time. It died after accelerating from a red light and started again after three or four tries and waiting a few minutes. I got it home and as I was pulling into the driveway (five minutes later), the same thing happened. I am definitely frustrated by all of this. I took it on a long four-hour trip out of town last week (when I thought it was fixed) and the car ran fine.

Any ideas or suggestions for tests or parts to change? I am getting suggestions from many others, but nothing has worked. A friend of mine who had a 1986 Honda Accord with the same problem is convinced it is the fuel pump, but my mechanic says you cannot compare cars thirteen years apart. The Internet also suggests the IAC sticking, but I do not know what the IAC is! As for the ignition coil, I am uncertain as to what it does and the connection with this problem. The other information I can pass along to you is that I did have my timing belt changed in September 2006 and there was a recall of the Ignition Switch Key Interlock in January 2004 (separate from the recall of 2002) that I did not bring my car in for. I do not believe either the timing belt or the key interlock has to do with this problem.

The similarities each time is that every day it happened, the outdoor temperature appeared to be warmer than normal (that’s not to say it was hot outside). After all, it’s still winter! With the exception of the first time, I was travelling quite slowly after acceleration. It has yet to happen on the highway. Each time, the car would start after trying it three or four times but it would not “hold the start”. After waiting a few minutes, the car would start for good each time. Every time it happened, the car was fairly warm. In other words, it had been running for a fair amount of time. The problem does appear to be very intermittent (almost exactly every three weeks). All of this stuff may just be a coincidence. The only other thing I can add is that the car does run fine, although I do find that on that rare occasion, it does seem to be somewhat sluggish or hesititant (but does not stall).

Any suggestion on your part would be very welcome. Would you also suggest I take it back to the same mechanic, or would you have a different person look at it. What about going directly to Honda? At this point, the suggestion from Honda about letting it die may be the only way to go.