94 Civic died but then restarted

Our schoolteacher daughter called from school this morning. Her 94 Civic EX
(1.6L) had died at a stop sign on the way to school. At first it would not
start again, but after a few minutes it did and she drove on to school.
According to her it sounded like there was "an animal running around under
the hood," and some "metallic sounds." (These are her words, and she is not
an automotive person.)



She said there were no warning lights or other indications from inside the
car. She looked under the hood and did not see anything abnormal. At lunch
time she will go out to the car and get more info.



Any thoughts on what this *might* be? What should she check at lunch time?
It will be a day or two before "Dad" can come to the rescue, and I need to
maintain my reputation as the guy who can fix anything.



Already stumped,

Craig

Williams wrote:

> Our schoolteacher daughter called from school this morning. Her 94
> Civic EX (1.6L) had died at a stop sign on the way to school. At
> first it would not start again, but after a few minutes it did and
> she drove on to school. According to her it sounded like there was
> "an animal running around under the hood," and some "metallic
> sounds." (These are her words, and she is not an automotive person.)
>
>
>
> She said there were no warning lights or other indications from
> inside the car. She looked under the hood and did not see anything
> abnormal. At lunch time she will go out to the car and get more info.
>
>
>
> Any thoughts on what this might be? What should she check at lunch
> time? It will be a day or two before "Dad" can come to the rescue,
> and I need to maintain my reputation as the guy who can fix anything.
>
>
>
> Already stumped,
>



I've come across this myself with my '92 Integra. In my case it turned
out to be the EFI Main Relay. Apparently the solder cracks and
separates when hot, but reconnects again when cool.

Google for these terms exactly as you see then he
honda "main relay"

Good idea, and in fact she has had that problem occasionally in the
summer (starting the vehicle in hot conditions). The thump on the side
of the dash trick has always worked. But today was a cool morning, and
the car was already running.

Update: A guy at school "who knows something about cars" listened to
the car and said it sounds like the timing belt might be fraying.
Maybe it jumped a tooth/gear?

Craig


Hugo Schmeisser wrote:
>
> I've come across this myself with my '92 Integra. In my case it turned
> out to be the EFI Main Relay. Apparently the solder cracks and
> separates when hot, but reconnects again when cool.
>
> Google for these terms exactly as you see then he
> honda "main relay"