# 98 Civic Mystery- Starts when it wants, doesn't when it don't **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** civic, honda\ **Created:** [February 27, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647 "2013-02-27T05:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meany888](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Meany888](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Meany888)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647/1 "2013-02-27T05:48:21Z")
Greetings all! I am in desperate need of some advice. I have a manual 98 civic with 120k miles on it that has recently developed an annoying habit of stalling. The car started fine the other morning so I backed it into the driveway to warm up, no problems there. When I went to leave for work, the car stalled and died. I got it restarted but when I tried to drive it stalled again. It happened as soon as I disengage the clutch. As I said, moving in reverse was no problem. The battery died after I attempted several times to restart it so I charged the battery overnight. The next morning the car fired up right away with no hesitation nut as soon as I released the clutch it started sputtering so I gunned the engine to keep the RPM’s up. I managed to get it into 2nd and even 3rd but as soon as I down shifted for a stop sign it died. So far I’ve replaced the battery and the alternator, both were on their way out anyways. Then this past weekend I got a good deal on a new fuel pressure regulator and put that on. The car started right up and ran nice and smooth. I took it out for a drive for about a half hour. About 20 minutes into the drive I noticed that when I pressed on the gas pedal, the RPMs wouldn’t move up much higher. Shortly thereafter the car started sputtering while accelerating. When I got home I turned the car off and went inside. I came out about 15 minutes later and the car wouldn’t start. This has happened after every part replacement. New alternator, runs fine for 20-30 minutes,then won’t start again. New battery, same thing. And tonight the gas pressure regulator. Any ideas out there? Could it be the main fuel relay, should I pull the injectors? The plugs and wires are new and the distributor is less than 2 years old and well sealed. I’m at a real loss here. Any ideas??? ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647/2 "2013-02-27T05:56:57Z")
No Check Engine light? Tester ---
**Author:** ![AlanY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@AlanY](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AlanY)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 6:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647/3 "2013-02-27T06:10:44Z")
If there is no check engine light (and we don’t know that yet), I would look at the ignition switch. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 7:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647/4 "2013-02-27T07:07:21Z")
I agree with @AlanY here is an ignition switch recall. Call Honda to see if your vehicle is still eligible for a free ignition switch. You may want to connect a fuel pressure gauge. And leave it connected. When the car starts acting up, look at the gauge. FWIW I heard a few CarTalk episodes where Tom and Ray told callers to just replace the fuel pump relay on Hondas. Apparently it was a common failure on certain models. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 7:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647/5 "2013-02-27T07:11:14Z")
[http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x02-031e.pdf](http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x02-031e.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Meany888](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Meany888](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Meany888)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647/6 "2013-02-27T17:04:33Z")
No check engine light. I’ll check on the ignition switch. Would that cause the sputtering during acceleration though? ---
**Author:** ![Meany888](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Meany888](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Meany888)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647/7 "2013-03-01T03:26:59Z")
Ignition Switch wasn’t for my model and the solder on my main fuel relay looks good. ---
**Author:** ![AlanY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@AlanY](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AlanY)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/98-civic-mystery-starts-when-it-wants-doesnt-when-it-dont/77647/8 "2013-03-01T20:19:18Z")
Keep in mind that even though the recall may not have included your model, it could have failed nonetheless. I’ve replaced ignition switches on a couple of Hondas and one Acura that were also not within models covered by the recall.