So, about 2 months ago, after a trip of about 30 miles or so, my '01 CL stalled on me while cruising at a low speed. I came to a stop and restarted it no problem, then was able to continue driving. For the next 2 months, I never saw the issue again and had an inspection done (found nothing) so I assumed it was ok.

Just yesterday, after the same trip, my car stalled while cruising at a low speed. However, this time when attempting to restart, it was not so easy. It took a few minutes and a few attempts. After getting it going, I traveled not even 500 feet, again at a low speed, and it stalled on me. I restarted it again and the whole process happened about 2 more times until I was finally able to just get the thing into a parking spot at work.

Now, when attempting to restart the car, all lights come on, the guages, the radio, it all works, except the actual engine. I can hear the engine turning over, but not "catching" and actually starting. The car is in the process of being serviced, but I want other opinions as to what the issue may be so that I can determine whether or not I might be screwed somehow.

One idea I've recently come across: I purchased the car back in June or July of 2009 (had roughly 170,000 miles on it). Since then, I've used a Fuel System Cleaner on it at least once a month and added it to a tank of Super Premium 93 gasoline. Could it be that from about 170,000 miles of driving, the possible 'gunk' that has accrued over the years has ALL released at once, clogging the fuel filter, lines, etc...?

 

Hey man, I'm in Pittsburgh too.

As for the car,

1.) Do the RPMS fluctuate up and down while idling or any other times?
2.) I am almost 100% sure it has nothing to do with the cleaners you used.
3.) How did you start the car, did you need to jump it the last time it wouldn't turn over?

I'm not sure what it can be. It doesn't sound like its the starter, the battery or the alternator. It might be the IAC but that would cause RPM movement while the car is stopped.

Good luck

 

Alternator

 

@pits200,
1) no, the RPMs do not jump at all
3) I never needed to jump it the previous times that i was able to get it started again. It cranked a few times and then just started. It took a little more effort than it should have, but it did start.

So, the service station called and reported that the fuel pump went bad and that the fuel strainer would also need replaced.

@pits200 again,
Are you sure that the fuel system cleaners that I used couldn't have contributed to this? If I understand their purpose and functionality correctly, they clean the 'gunk' from fuel lines, fuel system components, etc... and turn this 'gunk' into a 'gum' that can travel through the fuel system. It is then that the strainer and filter should catch this gum and keep it from moving to more vital components. Seeing that the strainer needs replaced, is it possible that it was overloaded and just couldn't handle the many years of possible deposits that were released from the cleaner?

 

I got another couple of calls from the service station today. They replaced the fuel pump and strainer, but were still unable to start the car (go figure...). At first, they said they had suspicions that the main fuse box was messed up. They could see that all fuses were getting power and all looked ok, but the fuse box was not relaying the power. Thus, they eventually determined that it was the main relay and are getting that part from the Honda dealership now... .

Based off of my initial post to this thread, is the main relay a probable cause of my problems? Or, is this possibly something that they screwed up upon replacing the fuel pump?

 

If I was you, I would have taken my car to certified mechanic first of all. Next if the mechanic was going to do a repair on my car, I would have made 100% sure that the problem was going to be fixed the first time before they did the work. So it sounds like you screwed yourself. Good luck.

 

Well if it was the main relay fuse then the car wouldn't start at all and you wouldn't have had intermittent problems like you did. Perhaps they shorted something when they were doing the work??

I'm really not totally sure whats going on here with your car, it's pretty baffling.

As for the fuel pump and strainer needing replaced, I'm betting you told this shop what you did with the injector cleaners and they thought that this was the issue because of the info you gave them.

Overall, this is just my opinion, I don't have the car in front of me and I may be way off base, but I haven't ever seen a fuel additive cause this issue to happen to one of our cars. My car has 200k+ miles on it and I use additives constantly. (I know your case is different because you were saying it was never done before until 170k miles.) But you couldn't have that much "gunk" built up in your lines and fuel injectors to cause this problem.

 

All is done...

Apparently, (and this is what THEY say) in some cases the fuel pump failing can send a surge to the main relay and cause it to fail. In most cases a fuse will blow, but not this time. I made sure to have them test the fuel pump separately to make sure that it had not just "seemed" bad, because the main relay was bad. The main relay, should it fail, will cut off power to the fuel pump making it look as though the pump was what failed in the first place. They tested the pump right there in front of me and sure enough, it was dead too.

The car is running quite well now and is starting without the slightest hiccup, even in this cold and snowy weather we're having here in Pittsburgh.

On a side note: my SRS light was stuck ON after they disconnected the battery. However, thanks to the many forums here on resetting the SRS light (via the paper clip method), the SRS light is gone and all is well.

On ANOTHER side note: For the past 4-5 months, my car had been making a ticking noise from underneath the hood. It sounded like it had been coming from the PCV valve or somewhere in that area. I understand that this ticking is normal under most circumstances, but throughout those months, it had been getting louder and louder to the point that I was able to hear it quite easily inside my car. Since the work on the fuel pump and main relay was done, that ticking noise is nearly silent (although not completely as it shouldn't be).

 

Thats the purge valve, its near the drivers side firewall. It ticks like a madman during the cold months.

 

It was only faulty PGM-fi relay and they BS'd you with your fuel pump. That relay is a common problem in our cars

 

try injector cleaner. cheap and may work