94accord_ex Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Everything has been fine, no hint of issues. Car died today at about 50MPH with all electric cutting out. Pulled to side, tried to restart....cranked fine but would not run after removing the key from "start" after a couple attempts it fired up with no problems. Later in the day when I got in my car to start it up the same thing happened. I drove home 15 miles with no problem. After reading the forum it looks like an ignition coil, distributor, or relay could be the problem. I started it up in the driveway and jiggled the key. I was able to replicate the problem once, but it does not always die when I jiggle it. Appears to be the ignition based on my research. My question...what exactly do I need to buy, and how difficult is this to change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94accord_ex Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 A similar, but slightly different thing happened this morning. I was driving down the highway and the gauges all went to zero and the ABS light came on, but the car did not die. About 4 miles later the gauges quit and the car died. While coasting at 50MPH I tried to restart and got a grinding sound as if the car were already running. I pulled the car to the side of the road, gave the ignition a crank, and it fired up and I didn't have any problems the remaining 5-6 miles. Any ideas on what is causing this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I concur, you have a bad combination switch. This is not hard to change, and involves removing some plastic covers and then unplugging the switch. The switch isn't cheap, I bought mine from the dealership new since I knew what the switch controls and did not want to run the risk of another failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94accord_ex Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 I concur, you have a bad combination switch. This is not hard to change, and involves removing some plastic covers and then unplugging the switch. The switch isn't cheap, I bought mine from the dealership new since I knew what the switch controls and did not want to run the risk of another failure. Thanks for the reply James. So if I call the dealership and order an ignition switch, they will know what I am talking about? Also, will this require me to have a different key for the ignition and locks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 "...ignition switch, they will know what I am talking about? Also, will this require me to have a different key for the ignition and locks?" You want the "combination switch", ask for that. The slot your key slides into is matched to your key set. You do not want a new "lock set & key set". When you tear into it, you will see the key goes into a cylinder. At the bottom of the cylinder is a small parallel pipe head that inserts into the combination switch. When the right key is inserted into the lock cylinder, the small parallel pipe head pops out of the cylinder and inserts into the combination switch. The cylinder is part of your lock set. The combination switch is likely your problem. FYI, you made the same mistake I did when this problem happened to me. I tried to start the car while it was still moving. You have to wait until the motor winds down or you will just grind the starter; but you already know this from experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Since I am such a nice guy, and it's Friday and I don't feel like working. I called Honda and got the part number for the combination switch. For a 1994 Honda Accord EX Sedan: Honda P/N 35130-SV4-003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94accord_ex Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 Since I am such a nice guy, and it's Friday and I don't feel like working. I called Honda and got the part number for the combination switch. For a 1994 Honda Accord EX Sedan: Honda P/N 35130-SV4-003 Wow...you are a great guy! Appreciate the help james. Enjoy your weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94accord_ex Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 Since I am such a nice guy, and it's Friday and I don't feel like working. I called Honda and got the part number for the combination switch. For a 1994 Honda Accord EX Sedan: Honda P/N 35130-SV4-003 OK...I got the old switch out with no problem today, but the old switch looks different than the new one. The new part has a plastic casing around the metal leads that provide the electrical connection. The old switch just has the 7 leads exposed. The plastic casing does not allow me to plug the new switch in as the metal frame around the steering column gets in the way. Any suggestions? And chance the part number is wrong (I confirmed it a couple places so unlikely). Should I remove the plastic casing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I have a blown up view of what you see below in my Service Manual (P/N 61-SV4-05). You combination switch is between the 4's. Both show the OEM part should have the plastic cassing around the connection. According to all my sources (book, internet, etc.), you column does appear to be different than OEM. Why this is, I cannot venture a guess. Good news, the casing comes off real easy. There should be a tab on the inside, or several tabs. I depends on which Third-Party Manufacturer was contracted by Honda to produce this "pig tail connector". You will need to remove the plastic to get it to fit. I like the plastic for safety reasons and would try to grind down the plastic before removing it all together. Post a picture of what you have on your steering column for more help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94accord_ex Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 I have a blown up view of what you see below in my Service Manual (P/N 61-SV4-05). You combination switch is between the 4's. Both show the OEM part should have the plastic cassing around the connection. According to all my sources (book, internet, etc.), you column does appear to be different than OEM. Why this is, I cannot venture a guess. Good news, the casing comes off real easy. There should be a tab on the inside, or several tabs. I depends on which Third-Party Manufacturer was contracted by Honda to produce this "pig tail connector". You will need to remove the plastic to get it to fit. I like the plastic for safety reasons and would try to grind down the plastic before removing it all together. Post a picture of what you have on your steering column for more help. Thanks James. I thought about removing the casing last night but thought I would post the issue first. I went out and just popped the casing off, installed the new switch, reinstalled the molding, etc and we are good to go. Thanks for your help. Looking forward to the next 260K on this ignition switch !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Mine was good until about 320k and then someone jammed a flathead into the ignition in an effort to steal my car. They failed to get it started, but made off with the radio. Glad I could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94accord_ex Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 Mine was good until about 320k and then someone jammed a flathead into the ignition in an effort to steal my car. They failed to get it started, but made off with the radio. Glad I could help. By the way...I aske dthe dealer what it would cost for install and they quoted me 1.4 hours, or $190. I spent maybe 45 minutes on it, and that is for someone who had never done it before. What a joke...where do they come up with these hourly rates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 They use twelve-sided die and animal spirits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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