1999 Honda Accord: won't start

Filed Mar 8, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 220,000 miles · OH

On march 3, 2015 my wife's 1999 accord would not start. We had the starter replaced for about $550.00 but the car was still near impossible to start and the engine can cut out at any time once you do have it started. The auto repairman told us the keys made poor contact inside the ignition switch and that was why it was still so hard to start. He taught us a tedious process to start the car but since then when we drive it the engine can suddenly stop running and stopp, also disabling the power steering. The car is no longer safe to drive. It stopped running 4 times on a 10 mile trip today.

Filed Apr 4, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 96,066 miles · IA

While driving the vehicle, the engine will quit completely without any warning or indication of malfunction; it just stops. Sometimes it will start up again immediately, sometimes multiple attempts where it catches for a fraction of a second and stops again have been required over a period of several minutes. Over time, it seemed to become clear that turning the key to the off position instead of attempting a start from acc would almost always result in immediate restart. The issue disappeared over what was a fairly cold winter, but has returned with the warming weather. Total number of occurrences: somewhere around fifty or higher. Sometimes it would happen numerous times the same day, increasingly with increased temperature, and seemed much more prone to occur when the air-conditioning was in use. The repair shop was never able to capture an obd code with its recording device. As a commuter on rural roads, this has been inconvenient but so far not unsafe, but there is a potential for it occurring under adverse traffic conditions that might be unsafe, e.g., at highway speed with close following traffic on a road with no shoulder. These incidents may or may not be related to two repairs that almost immediately preceded the first occurrence of this problem: 1. The car wouldn't start one day, no electrical output at all was available, though the battery was only a few months old. A local (I.e., non-dealer) repair shop replace the negative battery cable that grounds the battery to the vehicle. 2. Timing belt replacement was performed a couple of months prior, again by a local repair shop.

Filed Jul 10, 2012 · Electrical · 30 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 1999 honda accord. The contact was traveling 30 to 40 MPH when the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer four times where they stated the ignition switch needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 140,000. Updated 8/31/12 *cn the consumer stated the dealer did replace the recalled ignition switch but the failure recurred after six (6) months. When the failure occurred the vehicle would shut down (brakes, power steering, etc.) and did not start up immediately(5 minutes later). The dealer was not able to replicate the failure. The consumer stated the failure occurred about once every 5-7 days. Once the failure occurred four (4) times in one (1) day. The manufacturer was notified. Updated 09/11/2012

Filed Mar 3, 2012 · Electrical · 170,000 miles · IN

While driving down the high way, my car just turned off and had to pull over the right side of the road. Luckily it was not busy, but it has been happening a lot lately. That means I don't have a car. I looked online and they have a faulty ignition switch. At first I changed the main relay to a brand new one from honda. But it still did the same thing, till it didn't start again.

Filed Aug 30, 2010 · Electrical · 224,000 miles · CA

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 honda accord. The contact stated that his vehicle had a faulty ignition switch. The vehicle would not start after he made several attempts repositioning the key. Once he got the vehicle started he drove to the dealer but his vehicle was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The honda manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 224,000.

Filed Jul 12, 2010 · Electrical · 75,000 miles · 00

I have a 1999 honda accord lx and while passing a transport the engine suddenly died at 140km/hr. I put the car in neutral but it didn't start,so as we slowed down another transport which was coming up behind us to pass the slower transport as well then started honking the horn and we could nothing but wait till the transport we were attempting to pass got further ahead of us so we could pull over to shoulder and allow the transport behind us to get by. It was a very dangerous scary situation. The car did restart after several attempts. We had just had the ignition changed under the recall about two weeks prior to this. We have recently removed any unnecessary keys and used only the honda key and it has not quit since.

Filed Aug 6, 2009 · Electrical · 280,000 miles · KY · fire

My car began quitting while driving may 2009, however, it would immediately start again. 06/2009-7/2009 when trying to turn the ignition, the dashboard would flicker. After a few tries, the car would start but then quit. On 8/4/2009, while driving the car quit again but then smoke came from behind the steering wheel ( steering column area). Simultaneously, the car quit. The car would not start at all by turning the ignition forward. However when turning it backwards it would try to crank. The car was towed to and now currently sits at bluegrass honda in paducah, ky. According to honda, it is the ignition switch, which I found was under recall but the dealership claims that the ignition was replaced in 2002. I don't believe this is true because here I have the very problem that the recall acknowledged. I don't believe I should responsible for payment on a recall,however, the dealership is charging me $200.00.

Filed Mar 26, 2009 · Electrical · 90,000 miles · TN

For the last 4 to 5 years my 1999 honda accord has stalled for no apparent reason or would not start up right away. I had taken my honda to several places for checkups, I have replaced the battery and a sensor several times before a diagnostic check indicated that I likely had an ignition switch problem, that repair company referred me to my honda dealership where I purchase the vehicle new and the dealer could not duplicate the problem. Yesterday my wife had the car on the city of memphis busiest street when it stalled with her in the center lane without any warning by the indicator lights. She called me frantic telling me that almost every car passing her nearly hit her. I called the police to help get traffic control to help her. She as a few others have indicated could not get the car to shift gears to neutral while stalled. Finally after sitting 10 minutes she was able to start the car. If this would have happened and my wife was rear ended with my 19 month old daughter in the car, I would have likely gone nuts on honda. Instead this morning I took the car into the dealer who kept the car running for a while when they were able to get the car to stall (or so they say). The dealer switched out the ignition switch at a cost of $300 on top of the $75 diagnostic at the dealer one month ago and a $49 diagnostic at a small service station not to mention the sensors that were switched out that did not solve the problem. I have already filed a complaint with honda indicating that this problem is a life safety issue which they should replace free of charge. If this happens again I will likely see a lawyer I just pray that my family is not injured or worse. This morning the dealer indicated that the problem could also be the main relay but since they were able to supposedly able to duplicate the problem they replaced only the ignition switch. Please let me know if anyone else is involved in litigation to get this problem resolved and receive reimbursement.

Filed Sep 9, 2008 · Driver assistance · 146,030 miles · AL

Below are bits of a letter I sent in as part of a survey to the honda dealer: the honda (h) dealer in ftwaltonbeach, fl refused to replace the recall part. I have emails and numerous attempts to have it replaced; once I discovered there was a recall part, honda still wouldn't agree to fix it. Initially, I thought they couldn't fix my car problem, so I bought a haynes manual, searched the web and attempted to diagnose it myself. That is how I found out about the recall. I contacted them about my discovery, and they told me I would have to pay for a diagnostic (which was indicated to me that I would have to pay for) to determine if the part truly needed replacing. They refused to replace the part. They stated the part had been replaced only 1/2 way through my struggle to get them to replace it. I was told by h corp. That it had not been replaced. Honda.com indicated that it needed replacing, and then miraculously mid-ways through my battle with gsh it shows up in the computer as having been replaced. I have had the car since before the recall. I know for a fact that it had not been replaced. I do wonder how many other women and unsuspecting men they have gouged in the pocket to randomly replace good parts ($1000 - $2000 for me). My car finally broke down (wouldn't crank); I was w/out a vehicle for 1 week; one of my friends had it towed to her car dealer. He ran a diagnostic which indicated the recall part needed replacing, dah. He replaced the recall part. It has been about 2 mths now & no car problems at all; where before it had gotten to the point that it was shutting off on me at least once about every 30 m. I have emails with gsh, notes from phone conversations with both gsh and kai, notes from visits to gsh w/ the serv. Dept. Manager and the gsh manager, receipts for the replacement of in warranty parts & randomly replaced new parts, a copy of the fax I sent kai and a confirm. Indicating it went through, in addition to having printouts of my searches on the web.

Filed Apr 10, 2008 · Electrical · 130,000 miles · NC

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 honda accord. While driving at any speed or idling at a traffic light, the vehicle would shut off. Occasionally, the engine would not turn over and start. The dealer stated that the ignition switch needed to be replaced. The contact stated that when he touches any metal portion of the vehicle in cold weather, a shock occurs. The powertrain was unknown. The current mileage was 160,000 and failure mileage was 130,000.

Filed Mar 3, 2008 · Electrical · 149,227 miles · CA

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 honda accord. The ignition switch would be either difficult to start or would not start at all. The vehicle stalled each time it was started. The ignition switch has failed twice. The vehicle was repaired under a safety recall the first time. The contact was informed that her vehicle had already been repaired under the safety recall, and was out of warranty. Two the federal safety agency campaign id numbers were referenced: 02v120000 (electrical system:ignition:switch) and 05v025000 (electrical system: ignition: switch). The powertrain was unknown. The current mileage was 183,144 and failure mileage was 149,227.

Filed Oct 17, 2007 · Transmission · 86,000 miles · MA

Car won't start and maintenance light came on. Tow it to a honda dealership found to the transmission's fault. Honda won't cover it under their recalls for 2000 models, because it is a 1999 model.