I have a 95 Honda Civic Ex Automatic and I have noticed in the last 3 weeks noticed that the car would sometimes die when I start it up and put it into gear. It is cold outside and the car is already warm from previously driving it. It is only when I park it for a little while, starting it up and then once in switch from park to reverse or drive it would die. I have noticed after turning the key the initial rpm started a little lower than I expected I think it was at 700 then drops to 600. It usually starts at 1200 and drops to 600 when it is warm. I assumed it was doing that because it was warm. Any ideas would be great!

 

Just a thought, but have you check your tranny fluid to see if it low?? Sometime lower fluid can cause it to lock up and car will die

 

its funny i was having the same problem recently i had a 93 civic si auto aswell...in the morning the first drive would be fine but when i would park it after driving for sometime and tried starting it again the car would start and it would shut off right away as soon as i got a chance to put it into gear, or even when i was at a red light the car would shut off....check your distributor cap that fixed my issue...i replaced distributor and wires...also if your battery and engine light come on when the car shuts off, it could also be the idle air control valve (IACV) best of luck.

 

Thanks for the advise guys. Yeah the tranny fluid is good and has been replaced a few weeks ago. I noticed that when the idle was surging from the beginning it acts up more throughout the day. The spark plug wire were replaced because one of them looked beat up and the plugs were done a month prior. The plugs wires fixed the rough acceleration but not the shutting off. It probably too cold for the main relay and it would start but die shortly afterwards so I am looking towards the igniter or ignition switch. When it died last all the lights were off. When I reached for the keys to turn it, the light came on as soon as I touched it. Now I think it is the ignition switch but I will start with teh key cause it is cheaper. I am starting to use the original key since it is less worn ans so far no dying. However, I am getting a key cut to code to make sure. Distributer cap and IACV will be next. Thanks again guys!