adjusting the car seat stalls the engine?

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SkinnyJoe

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I was stopped at a light, and was playing with my seat (sliding it back and forth) and I noticed that the engine stopped. 1997 Honda Civic. Could not reproduce it later. Just curious if the two acitivities were related.

Thanks.
 
Power seats? I really doubt they're related, but I supposed there could be short somewhere that is related to a power seat. Again, probably a fluke.
 
They're possibly related. Years ago I had a used Caddie which started to stall out if three persons were in the front seat. This was very intermittent but became more frequent over time. Finally took out the front seat and discovered a short in a heavy wire running through the seat springs which went to the cigarette lighter/ashtray behind the front seat for rear seat passengers. You could possibly have a similar short of a wire running to something....? Apparently doesn't take much of a voltage drop in the system for the engine to quit.
 
If they are related -- and they could be -- then it's something causing an electrical short such as Mr. CW4 experienced.

Two things are true:

First, this is a serious problem which you should definitely figure out because it's probably a wire with frayed insulation which could short out at any time due to simple road vibrations. Aside from causing a stall at the most inconvenient time, it could also cause a fire. And if it's a circuit that's energized even when the ignition is off, that fire could ignite at any time, even when you're nowhere near the car, even if the car is in the garage such that the fire might spread to your whole house!

Second, you probably also have one or more of 1) a weak (and going to fail soon) alternator/generator, 2) a weak (and going to fail soon) battery, 3) a malfunctioning or failing regulator, and/or 4) a very wrong fuse in the circuit in question. 1-3 are likely to cause you problems in the near future and 4 just makes the fire hazard mentioned above that much greater.
 
One might very well ask what wiring there'd be under a seat in a 1997 Honda Civic without power seats. There are a lot of possible answers. Someone who knows more about the 1997 Honda Civic can answer that. But, the answer that comes immediately to my mind is the wiring for a power seat. Even if you don't have the power seats, the wiring for them is still installed. It should be tied off to something so that it doesn't flap around, but, twelve years later, that tie may have broken and that wiring may just be flapping around under there.
 
Thanks, Gollnick. Not exactly what I wanted to read, but I am glad you posted it. :thumbup:
 
Just looked under the seat, and sure enough, there is a big wire there. Can't figure out where it's going, and didn't want to manipulate it too much. Didn't see any bare copper, but that doesn't mean anything. Thought about wrapping it in some electrical tape, but figured not doing anything would probably be smarter.

Will an average mechanic be able to correct this? Could the car function acceptably if the wire was to be removed? How is this routinely addressed? I assume several days before some sort of corrective action will not get me introduced to the local firemen?

Thanks again. :)

P.S. I am pretty sure it's the black wire depicted in this video:

[youtube]oWMEnZAQBHk[/youtube]

he he he

[youtube]ZHzh6eghVFo[/youtube]
 
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A quick and permanent fix might be to cut the suspect wire, if it's a single conducter, at a convenient point. Then slip a length of small water hose over it and resplice the cut securely with a wirenut or solder and a careful wrapping with electrical tape. If enough hose, even slide the hose back down over the splice. Any half way decent mechanic should be able to do it or DIY. Personally, I'd be tempted to pull the seat and see what's under there. At the very least use a mirror and light to trace it down. If there's a bare spot in a wire or wires causing a short, replace and re route. Regards
 
What I'm worried about is that the bare spot may not be visible; it may be back behind where the wire disappears into the chassis. The short may be caused by pulling on the wire.

If this wire is, as I suspect, power for an optional powered seat, then it probably is a separate circuit with its own fuse. So, just find and remove that fuse. Otherwise, get someone who does a lot of wiring in this sort of car, a car stereo installer would be my go-to, and have that person look up where the other end of that wire is and disconnect it. You're not using it, so either disconnect it or pull out its fuse.
 
Old CW4 said:
Personally, I'd be tempted to pull the seat and see what's under there.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. The video the op posted says the seat comes out with four bolts. That's easy. And once the seat is out, you can see everything.
 
Check the wiring loom circuit diagram, unless its a retro fit by a previous owner, the diagram will show you what its purpose is, and where its connected to.

Honda owners forums and other online resources should be able to provide the diagram, as should your local library copy of the workshop manual.
 
I had an '88 Civic hatch back and on a couple occasions, once while on the hiway, the car just died on me. I mean, all power just died while doing highway speed!
Turns out that the problem was with the ignitor which IIRC is located under the distributor cap. I'm going from memory here but I think it's a flat black module that fits in the distributor somewhere around the rotor.

I just Googled "1988 honda civic igniter" and found this:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Honda-Repair-814/1988-Honda-Civic-Distributor-1.htm

I think this is the igniter:
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgu...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=H8k&sa=N&um=1

Hope this helps.
 
Joe....the black wire is for your seatbelt indicator. It clips into the connector on the bottom of the seat. It then leads to the little seatbelt chime and light that's located in your instrument cluster. It only serves this purpose and is powered by the auxilliary 12v.

You might want to carefully remove the driver side rocker cover and the carpet on that side. Under the carpet running along the rocker panel you'll find a bunch of wires in a black plastic sheath of sorts. Check the area where the seatbelt indicator connects to these wires. You may have to undo the wireloom to get a good look.

The reason I ask you to look there is because the wires that run from your ignition and main relay are in that area. These two very important items connect via those wires to your FUEL PUMP. Your fuel pump is located under your rear seat, and is accessible from inside the vehicle......you can see the aluminum cover for the pump if you lift up your rear seat. The main relay is located behind the kick panel where your left foot sits while you're driving. Being the "Main Relay", it is a two-part relay....half of the relay runs the ignition, the other half runs the fuel pump.

It's quite possible that there is a pinched wire, a short between wires, or a hot wire is contacting the body (body short).

Start checking in that area. If you don't feel comfortable doing it without knowing what to look for, I can send you the Honda Service Manual for your Civic in PDF format. Just PM or email me if you need some advice or want the service manual.
 
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