Why does my 99 Honda Civic randomly stall while idle & while driving?

99 Honda Accord turns off while driving?

• My wife has a 99 Accord which randomly turns off when driving. It doesn't stall, it is as if someone just turned the key off. All we have to do is put it in neutral or park and ...show more

• Answer:

  I had a 1991 Accord that did the same thing. I know the two cars are quite different, but the ignition is similar. It turned out that my distributor cap had a hairline crack in it, causing the timing of the ignition to be off in random variations. It was a 4 cylinder, and sometimes I would run on only 2 cylinders and would then all of a sudden get all 4 firing once the engine warmed up a little. It was pretty funny. This problem, as it got worse, caused the engine to cut out while driving as you describe, and would then let me restart it after stopping. Eventually, it cut out for one last time, and I had to tow it over to the shop. After getting the distributor replaced, the car was great for another 5 years until I got rid of it. I would think your mechanic would have already checked your distributor, but if not, it might be worth looking into. Good luck!