Doug McAllister/Under the Hood: Distributor problem can cause stalls
Q. My 1994 Honda Accord LX has stalled out twice #8212; once at a stop sign. The car restarted after six or seven attempts. The weather was dry. I took it to my reliable repair shop and they could not find anything wrong. The next time it happened two weeks later, I was driving 50 to 55 miles per hour in a snowstorm, on the Interstate. Suddenly I had no power. I coasted to the shoulder and called 911 for help.
While waiting for help I got the car restarted after six or seven attempts. I decided to accept the tow to a very reliable repair shop in Portage, Wis. They could not find anything wrong. I was told the problem cannot be duplicated in a car repair shop. Is this an electrical problem? The mileage on my car is 139,820.
A. As you know it is very hard to diagnose a problem like this without having it fail when you are testing the car. However, when I read your description of the problem, the first thing that came to my mind is: your car has a bad distributor.
We saw a lot of problems with distributors on this model Honda and they would act just like you described. If everything else tests out OK, I would take a chance on a distributor replacement. We did see some relay failures on those cars, as well, but the distributor was very common.
Q. I have a 2004 Hyundai and Ford Ranger. Both vehicles' engine warning lights came on. I took one to a repair shop and both to Auto Zone for an analyses. Both said I have a minor vacuum leak. I cleared both alarms by disconnecting the battery and the engine lights didn't come back on for several hundred miles. My question is, how concern should I be and how can I troubleshoot and repair these problems myself?
A. It's ironic that both cars would have the same symptoms, but stranger things have happened. I am assuming the lean codes were stored in both cars' computers, which is how they came to the conclusion that there is a vacuum leak. You have to be really careful with some trouble codes, and a lean code is one of them, because there can be a multitude of causes.
It is possible there is a vacuum leak somewhere, which could be as simple as a cracked vacuum hose or even one that got disconnected. It could be more complex, like a leaking intake manifold gasket, which requires quite a bit of disassembly to replace. You could also have a sensor that is not sending proper information to the computer causing a lean code.
A good technician will be able to make some decisions about which direction this problem is going by reading and interpreting the scan data. If you want to repair the problem yourself, I would pay a good diagnostic technician to confirm exactly what to repair so you don't waste your money and time on replacing something that will not fix the problem.
You did not mention it but just in case you are facing an emissions test, by disconnecting the battery you have not only cleared the codes, but you have cleared what we call monitors out of the cars computer. Monitors are tests the car runs internally to be sure all systems are functioning properly. When they do not, the check engine light turns on. If you go in for the emissions test with the monitors cleared, the state will reject the car even if the light is not on at that point. I hope this helps.
#376; Douglas Automotive is at 312 S. Hager Ave., Barrington, (847) 381-0454, and 7218B Virginia Road, Crystal Lake, (815) 356-0440. For information, visit douglasautomotive.com. Send questions to underthehood@dailyherald.com.