Comments:

Thank you so much for such an informative site. The symptoms you describe fit what I have experienced with my '97 CRV exactly. My car has just under 80,000 miles on it and this problem has occurred for the past 6 months or so. I am able to start mine immediately after it stalls by putting into neutral and restarting while maintaining my lane of travel. I would have been in a tremendous pinch several times if this was not the case as I do a lot of freeway travel and it has died on me in the fast lane.

Other than the stalling issue, my CRV has performed flawlessly. I have not had to have a single thing replaced and have been to the dealer only for routine maintenance. I love Hondas - have owned them for years and I am sure I will own them for years to come. Once again, thank you for all your time and effort you have put forth to research this problem. I am sure you have saved me a lot of time, money and grief. I will do as you have advised and go from there.....

Thanks again!

I have a '91 Civic with 154,000K. My car started having problems starting (wouldn't) and would eventually start. Then as I was driving it, it would die. It would not "miss" or act badly--it would just die. I noticed that when it died, the "check engine" light would not come on. Took it to the Honda dealer. They told me I needed a new engine for $4000. Told them to forget it. Took it to an independent dealer who diagnosed my problem as a bad ignition switch. They changed it for $450.00 (probably got taken), but it fixed my problem.
I could have seen myself spending $4000 for a new engine, and still have the same problem. Who changes the ignition switch when you swap engines?? No one.

With 60,000 miles and recent air and fuel filter change. The crv stalls while crusing or at slow speeds. The after a few cranks starts right away. Need advise! Thanks.

Reply after reading this website:

My wife had her CRV 97 engine die several times.
Until I found your excellent website.
Opened the switch and was full of dirt and pitted contacts.
I cleaned and sandpapered the contacts . SINCE IT HAS BEEN FINE.
I think the supplier has inserted too much of dielectric grease which thickens and dries with time.
Thus resulting in a poor contact. This grease was covering all of the contacts.
Thank you for the excellent web site.
I will report this to NAHTSA.

I have a 92 Civic, currently with 115,000 miles. At 60,000 miles the ignition switch showed every sign of going bad, just like you described. My mechanic immediately identified it as the ignition switch.

Unfortunately, on my car, they combined the lock cylinder and ignition switch into one unit. Even the mechanic was surprised at this, as this is not how Honda typically does these things. The cost for the total piece was at that time US$150, plus I had to get the lock re-keyed for my original key.

I did not feel that this component should have failed by then, and I was also upset about Honda's decision to put the two parts together into a single expensive part. So I simply discussed the matter with my dealer's service manager. With the backing of my mechanic--also at the dealer--I simply asked that Honda fix this problem for me.

Honda agreed, and bought the part for me. I paid for labor to put it in. Everyone's happy.

Honda has done this type of thing enough times for me that Honda has forever earned my goodwill. They will have to trash themselves as a company pretty damned far before they lose me as a customer.

Comment from me:
The big problem is, a lot of Honda dealers are not that responsive to customer concerns. All three dealers in a 100 km. radius of my home only want to perform a major service (rotate the tires, basic tune-up etc.) to see if that helps. No dealer I have contacted with these symptoms even hints that it could be the ignition switch. Honda themselves will not put out a service bulletin to make the dealers aware of this obviously common problem.

As to loyalty, I own three Honda vehicles including a classic 1972 Honda 1300 Coupe 7 (www.visualimpressions.ca/honda7). Would I buy another Honda - definitely - but from a considerate dealer if I can find one.

My '97 CR-V engine has quit several times in the past few weeks. The car has died once on the highway, and several times at stop signs. The car restarts ok but the problem seems to be happening more often. I have seen this issue on this web sight before, but no answers as to the cause. If anyone has any info on this please reply.

Please keep me informed on our progress with Honda, my vehicle is a 1997 CR-V EX with 65,000 mile on it. By the way my local dealer was no help.

My first mechanic says he can't find the problem. So I thought I'd ask the pro's:
Typical scenario (yesterday):
6AM: Started car on first crank and headed for work. 3 miles down, TACH needle plummets to 0, engine stops, lights on dash turn red (not the yellow check engine light). Pull over and spend 15 minutes trying to get it started again. I can hear the fuel pump and see the yellow check engine light when I turn the key to position two. The dash lights come on also. But no run.
Wait 15 and the car starts. I successfully head back home and leave the car idling in the driveway for 20 minutes. No problem. I decide to drive the car again. Drive 3 miles out and back home again with no problems. Take another car to work.
6PM: Car starts on first try but now only runs 10-15 seconds. I note that just before the TACH drops to 0, that the needle quickly jumps/ pops up. In fact before the car dies, I note the TACH needle "bumping/ jumping" up intermittently.
After starting and restarting the car over and over for maybe a 1/2 dozen times, it eventually will not run at all. It turns over, but will not engage and run.
6AM this morning: Count on it, the above scenario will play out again. This is a consistent day in the life of my Honda.
NOTES: I've changed the Main Relay. Recently had timing belts replaced. I've got 200K on it and beside this problem, the car is in very good shape.
A Response fron another Honda owner:
My 1990 Accord was doing the same thing. Replacing the electric part of the ignition switch solved the problem...

I have a 1997 CR-V, and I will be driving, and it will just quit, like the key has not been turned on. Sometimes it will run for days, and then sometimes it will die all the time. Anyone out there that knows what this might could be, please tell me so that I can fix it.

Our '96 Honda Odyssey started exhibiting the stalling problem described in your article at 90,000 miles. It died once, then ran fine for several weeks or months, then again, and so on until at 94,000 it got to where it would die two or three times just driving from the front of the house to the garage in back. The description of the symptoms or a bad switch posted in the Honda discussion group by Lindsay Thachuk so perfectly matched the condition we were experiencing with the Odyssey, I immediately order the switch from hparts.com ($38 U.S.). Fixed it right up. The old switch shows moisture and some minor burning on the contacts.

Our '97 (180,00km) Honda CRV has 'died' mysteriously on three or more occasions. Fortunately it has never happened in heavy traffic. Once it stalled at highway speed, after we had already traveled 200km. First we had a blip when the cruise control disengaged by itself. Five minutes later the speedometer dropped to zero, engine lost power and I let it coast to the side of the road. After an under-hood inspection, it started OK and everything was fine. A few days later it died as I pulled away from a traffic light.
It also has started, but died as right away when I released the key
Seems to be the ignition switch. 'Curly in Edmonton'

A co worker had an ignition switch problem last yr. His car suddenly would not start at work. When trying to start, there was a smoky smell like a fire and smoke came from the steering column. No actual flames seen. And it would not crank or start. He needed a new ignition switch. Vehicle: mid 90's Civic.

This stalling has occurred on two of my vehicles:

'97 Odyssey (actually, Honda-made Isusu Oasis - Honda stickers all over it.... covered by same "emission" recall as Odyssey)

'92 Honda Civic 4 door LX Automatic - This latter stalling caused my eldest son to suffer a rear end collision - decimated his self esteem - and caused a great deal of stress and grief in our family. He turned a corner and the car hesitated (stalled). A large old pickup truck which was more than well enough away at the time of the turn got distracted after seeing how quickly my son had started out of the parking lot of a Toys-R-Us. (i.e. "No problem, he'll be well out of the way...") So when the Civic stalled, he plowed into the driver's rear corner, breaking the rear window and trashing the rear quarter panel. It was a block from my son's High School. We paid to get it drivable again ($1,000) but have been save up to get it fully repaired. There is a large hole in the wheel well where water gets into the trunk. Before we figured out that this was but another occurrence of the engine cutting out we'd blamed him, lectured him about being more careful, etc. It caused a LOT of friction in the household - depression, the works! (I'd initially thought that it had "bogging down" during acceleration or something...)

What had never made sense until I figured out about the stalling (which had happened before and afterwards) was why he hadn't just powered forward (or hit the brakes once the truck hit him). Instead, the truck pushed him on into a 6" curb, blowing his right-front tire and screwing up the suspension. I AM SO FURIOUS ABOUT THIS BUT WHAT CAN I DO!?! It was a great car! After we save up to get it totally fixed it could be a good car again (I hope).

Thankfully the stalling on our Odyssey wasn't when we had crazy's racing around us on the expressway, but rather it has been primarily on residential streets or around the shopping mall.

My Odyssey has 78,000 miles on it and has, recently, sometimes just been totally dead when I release the key after cranking it. The other day, with a few gallons left in the tank, it stalled twice and I glided into a gas station - like it was out of gas or something. It only took 13 gallons. Has anybody experienced similar behaviour in their 4 cylinder Odyssey? It has been nearly perfect otherwise.

I have an intermittent problem starting my 1990 Integra. When I turn the key to start the car, the engine fires normally. However, when I release the key to the ”on• position, the engine quits. On some occasions, I have to repeat this start-stop procedure four or five times before the engine will finally stay running when the ignition key is released.

I bet these threads are related to the same ignition problem. Maybe you could contact them via email.

http://forums.vmag.com/suvcrv0999/messages/3411.html

http://forums.vmag.com/suvcrv0999/messages/3281.html

Thanks for posting and collecting the information. I had an ignition problem on my old motorcycle and am I fully aware of the potential dangers that await you.

I too have a 1997 CR-V, and just experienced this problem twice yesterday, once at a stop light, and once going down the highway.. a bit nerve wracking to say the least. Staci, did you find out what the problem was, fuel pump????? HELP!

Staci posted on 12/10/01: : I have a 1997 CR-V, and I will be driving, and it will just quit, like the key has not been turned on. Sometimes it will run for days, and then sometimes it will die all the time. Anyone out there that knows what this might could be, please tell me so that I can fix it.

I too have had a 1997 CR-V and it did exactly what yours did, and finally I got hold of an excellent person that would not give up, and she replaced the switch. Glad to know I wasn't the only one now!

If you have had this problem, please contact me at visimp@visualimpressions.ca so I can collect evidence to support this article.