Hi!

I'm new to this forum, but not new to Hondas or Civics. Unfortunately I no longer own any of the 6 Civics/CRX's that I've owned, and gave away my manuals with them. (I currently own a 2001 S2000 while my wife drives a 2010 Fit-- we're Honda through and through).

My step-daughter has a 91 Civic LX that has died on her several times while driving. The symptoms, as described to me, are that the CEL comes on, and within about 10 seconds the car loses power and comes to a stop. By turning off the engine and restarting it, the car comes back to life.

More recently, this occurring more frequently and it is getting harder to restart when it does occur.

This morning, I went over to her house and pulled the carpet and saw that the LED in the ECU blinked once, paused, and then blinked 15 times.

From what I have read from searching, Code 1 is the Oxygen Content (with CATA)and Code 15 is Ignition Output signal.

Without a manual, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. But, my guess is that swapping the ignitor and/or coil would fix the problem with code 15.

My step-daughter's boyfriend said they tried to fix the problem by "gutting" the catalytic converter (figuring it would be easy to replace). So, I'm guessing that is responsible for the Code 1.

Am I on the right track? Any reason to try one before the other? Can I test either of them before replacing? Will fixing the ignition fix both codes?

Any other thoughts?

Also, I've come across some very useful posts by RonJ to get me started on the Code 15, the Ignition Output Signal. However, I'm not sure of the correct way to do an ECU reset, which is part of the procedure.

Thanks!!!

 

I'd agree it'd be worth trying a new igniter for the dying on the road. The ECU is reset simply by disconnecting the battery with the key off. Or you can pull the "BACK UP" fuse from the box under the hood.

Code 1 is from the oxygen sensor. It doesn't matter if you actually have a cat or not because the sensor is before the cat. Fix the stalling problem first though and see if code 1's still occur.

 

I'd agree it'd be worth trying a new igniter for the dying on the road. The ECU is reset simply by disconnecting the battery with the key off. Or you can pull the "BACK UP" fuse from the box under the hood.

Code 1 is from the oxygen sensor. It doesn't matter if you actually have a cat or not because the sensor is before the cat. A bad O2 / code 1 is likely to ding your gas mileage but won't cause stalling out. Fix the stalling problem first though and see if code 1's still occur.

 

Thanks for the reply!

I got over there with a new ignitor and started removing the wires from the old one and discovered that one of them was quite loose at the spade connector. As I was talking with my step-daughter's boyfriend trying to decide whether to tighten the connector and call it job done (and return the new ignitor), he told me that when it has been stalling out that the tachometer has been dropping to zero and then going back.

So, then I was really befuddled. To me, that sounds like the ignition switch is having a problem.

In the end, I decided to go ahead and replace the ignitor (and fix the loose spade connector).

Maybe I fixed it. Maybe I fixed one of multiple problems. Maybe I just bought a new ignitor for no reason.