I start the car, drive for 30 seconds slowly in a neighborhood next to a park, come to a stop sign and suddenly hear a somewhat loud, very rapid clicking noise from what sounded like somewhere between and behind the seats that lasted no more than 1-2 seconds...and then the car dies. I wait a second, restart, everything seems fine and drive home. My main relay and my fuel pump resistor assembly were last changed about 9 years ago (15k ago) and the rapid clicking sound seemed louder than the normal single clicks you occasionally notice from the back when the VTEC engages. Can the main relay or fuel pump resistor go out in this amount of time/mileage and can either of them make that much noise? Car has 40K miles on it. Finally, if this has any bearing at all, it was about 102 degrees outside and the car had been driven earlier that day for about 30 minutes and had been sitting for an hour or so before this occurred. Thanks Prime.
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I would guess cold solder joints in main relay.
Ignition switch
I get the same fast clicks when I turn the car ignition switch to ON (sounds like it's coming from the main relay location), but then it starts and all is OK. I'm waiting for something to break :redface:. Maybe I should just clean the ignition switch contacts and see if that stops the clicking. Happy Motoring!
I'm guessing the clicks are the fuel pump turning on/off. It will turn off when RPMs fluctuate below idle when trying to idle (i.e. a symptom of the car stalling/dying, not the cause). Since all is fine after you start back up and it sounds like something that only happens when you've started the car cold, I don't suspect the main relay (generally keeps car from starting, not from running after started) or the ignition switch (problems would continue to be intermittent...not go away).
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- 10 November 2002
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My vote: main relay, based on the clicking coming from between/behind seats. You can easily fix this yourself, by purchasing and installing a new main relay, or reheating the solder contacts (easy job) for free. If it was me, I would try the free fix then see if the problem goes away.
Thanks for the responses. I finally had a chance to look into this today. Obviously, since I haven't done anything sooner, it hasn't been a problem with the exception of two instances of the car starting right up just fine in the garage and then immediately turning off...I restart and it's fine. I started with the simplest and inspected the main relay and all the leads look good on the PCB, no lifting, solder looks great. I'm going to check the fuel pump and ignition switch next.
I hope you used a good magnifier because you cannot see the cracks in the solder joints without one. The train of thought here is to resolder them anyway. Good Luck and Happy Motoring!
Unmagnified visual inspection of a bad solder joint will not get the job done. Magnification (read microscope) is necessary. If no magnification is available, then all joints should be re-soldered. Circuit boards are my business.
Gary
Electronic Design Engineer
Gary
Electronic Design Engineer
well the problem finally got me stranded in a parking lot. car would start and immediately die. after noticing irregular system lights behavior as mentioned in other threads, particularly when the key's in position II, my brother in law suggested the idea of starting the car but holding the key just to the right of the "on" position II. it worked...so no tow necessary. we had to take turns holding the key in that position as it is really tiring, he held and i drove normally, or i held and he shifted (if i was by myself, i probably would have had to have just kept it in 2nd the whole time). ignition switch check was next on the list so i took it off and opened it up. referencing ignition switch fix-it threads, i followed the steps (electronic cleaner, brass brush wheel at low rpm to smooth out the contacts, dielectric grease) and put everything back together and everything is functioning normal and solid in all three positions.
so if your switch malfunctions, you aren't necessarily stranded or needing to call a tow truck if you can hold the key in a position where contact is made between II and III.
note: be careful not to over tighten the two 6mm bolt screws that hold the ignition switch to the key cylinder when putting everything back together. these are relatively small and have a shoulder on it that the threaded rod comes out of and mine snapped right there from just barely over tightening it. it was a pain to get out and fix so keep this in mind and save an hour or two
thank you prime for all of your help.
so if your switch malfunctions, you aren't necessarily stranded or needing to call a tow truck if you can hold the key in a position where contact is made between II and III.
note: be careful not to over tighten the two 6mm bolt screws that hold the ignition switch to the key cylinder when putting everything back together. these are relatively small and have a shoulder on it that the threaded rod comes out of and mine snapped right there from just barely over tightening it. it was a pain to get out and fix so keep this in mind and save an hour or two
thank you prime for all of your help.
