2002 Honda Civic Engine stalls

MJACOSTA1979

MEMBER
2002 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
115 MILES

About a month ago my car began to stall while driving. After restarting it would run just fine for a while before doing it again. Recently my batt light came on and has stayed on even after replacing the batt and testing the alternator.
Now when the engine stalls the batt light goes off, I loose my RPMS, temperature gauge and speedometer but the flashing key light comes on. The engine still runs, but with significant lack of power and backfiring when I hit the gas pedal.
When I restart the car everything goes back to normal. I took it to Honda and they checked fuel press, replaced the batt, spark plugs, ignition harness and the car's wire harness. Still no luck. I can't keep putting money into this car like this. Any ideas?

5 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi mjacosta1979,

Sorry for the delay in replying.

I was trying to gather more information and checking if there were any TSB on the problem as there seem to be more than 1 case of the problem, but I was not able to get any.

Does the charge indicator light stay on all the time when the engine is started?
When the indicator is on, were the charging rates trested then?

Problem seems to be due to a power supply missing somewhere.

You mentioned changing the ignition wireharness, did you mean the ignition switch?

Were the fuse box wireharness and connections under it checked?

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Friday, January 15th, 2010 AT 11:53 AM

MJACOSTA1979

MEMBER
4 POSTS

Thanks for the reply.

The charge indicator does stay on all the time now. It only goes out when the engine stalls and thats when the key light indicator comes on.

Both the alternator and battery have been tested while the indicator is on. They both tested ok.

I didn't just replace the ingnition harness. I replaced the vehicle's harness. Meaning I removed the dashboard and replaced the entire wire harness. According to the local Honda dealer the wire harness was causing the problem. Evidently that was not the problem because it didn't fix anything.

Thank you

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Friday, January 15th, 2010 AT 6:35 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

The charge indicator and immobilizer are related to the Multiplex Control System.
Did the Honda dealer perform any resetting or testing of the system?

When the charge light was indicating, was the vehicle tested by Honda dealer?

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Saturday, January 16th, 2010 AT 10:06 AM

MJACOSTA1979

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4 POSTS

The vehicle was tested by Honda while the charging indicator was on. It was then they suggested I replace the vehicle's wire harness with a new one. I am not exactly sure what code they came up with when the scanner was used but I can find out. On the other hand, they never mentioned anything about the Multiplex Control System. I did ask about the immobilizer system and I was told that the immobilizer will not let the vehicle start or it will cut it off completely (Meaning that the engine losing power has nothing to do with it) Then again, this is the same technician that suggested I replace a perfectly good wire harness.

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Monday, January 18th, 2010 AT 9:15 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Please get the trouble codes so I can understand what was diagnosed to warrant him to recommend replacing the wireharness.

I believe there is a bad connection somewhere, either with the wireharness and/or between the underhood fusebox and the ignition switch.