Hello, I am looking for some help. My daughter has a '93 Civic DX with close to 200K on it. (Not original engine) When I am around it starts and runs fine so I am having trouble diagnosing this. Occasionally, mostly when she stops to get gas, the car won't start when she gets back in. The starter cranks the engine and it tries to start for a second but shuts back down. After about 5 minutes it starts up and runs fine again. The other night it actually shut down while she was driving and would not re start for about 30 minutes. I have been pouring over these forums and decided it sounded like the main relay. I changed that yesterday and today she had the problem at the gas station again. I have checked the main control unit for error codes and found none.(The check engine light stays on steady with the test port jumpered) I did find a while back that someone did not tighten the small screw that holds the rotor on and it was flopping around inside the distributor cap. I replaced all that but we still have this starting problem. If anyone has any ideas it would be most appreciated.
Nick

. Replace the Ignition Control Module and coil:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-trucks/faq-how-troubleshoot-repair-maintain-hondas-46563-4.html#post265896

. Reset the ECM, by removing the 7.5 amp BACKUP Fuse in the under-hood fuse box for 10 seconds (or disconnect the negative battery cable for 10 seconds).

Well I did it and it runs much better. I took it for a long drive to see if anything would happen and so far so good. It even made the transmission shift better. It was shifting hard into 3rd gear. Time will tell if that was for sure the problem. Thank you very much.

On another note what would make the dash lights not work. I changed all 6 bulbs on the back of the instrument cluster and all the fuses are good. Still nothing. :confused:

Test all under-dash fuses with a test light or multimeter. Also, check the ignition switch and harness--it controls power to the dash lights.

I would also change the transmission fluid. See if Mobil 1 Synthetic Multi-Vehicle ATF meets the specs for your car. This should help shifting, improve gas mileage, and allow the transmission to last longer. It's available at WalMart.