Greetings, i have a 2000 Civic EX kep in great condition that randomly shut off on me last week. On these forums i saw people with similar issue but they always said that their car started back up, not mine, or when it shut off their electic shut off too, my electric was on the whole time.
I put my VIN in for the ignition recall on the Honda website but it did not come up.
Pulling out from a light on a highway, just got up to around 35 mph and the car shut off. I cut across two lanes to start the car back up but couldnt get the ignition to catch. Now im panicking because there is no shoulder on this road and im in a lane with semis coming at me at 50 mph.
The electic on the car works fine ie. lights, alarm, flashers but when i start the car it wont turn over just keeps cranking and trying to start. Seems like something is not catching or preventing it from starting. Not sure what the problem is but the mechanic on the phone said he thinks that the car might be complety shot.
My civic ex coupe only has 71,000 mi on it.

Can someone help me out with diagnosing or a fix?

 

So it doesn't start at all now? That makes it a lot easier to troubleshoot.

Turn the key on but don't try to start. Watch the CHECK ENGINE light. It should come on for 2 seconds then go out. Next pull the brake handle up and watch the BRAKE light on the dash as you try to start. It should stay on steady, both with key at II (normal run) and III (cranking). If it does that, ignition switch should be OK.

Then pull one of the spark plug wires off and check for spark. No spark would likely be due to one of these common reasons for sudden death on the highway:

Blown coil.
Rotor screw fell out.
Stripped timing belt.
Bad ICM (part in distributor that drives the coil).

 

Yeah it doesnt start at all.

I did as you said, the CHECK ENGINE light came on for about a second then went out and the Brake light was steady at both II and III. So i guess ignition is not the problem.

Also i am pretty sure i did not get a spark so im still in the process of checking your listed reasons.
reading some other forums i'm getting an idea that it might be the distributor or the timing belt. Hope its just the distributor.
Will let you know shortly when my dad comes over to take a look.

 

Ooo!!!
I have a shot in the dark!
My car is quite older, but I had a similar problem. Honestly, I don't know if this applies to newer cars... but my car would crank, and not start. We checked spark, it was good. Found out the main relay is slowly going out... So I just kinda tapped on it, and it started up. Soldered connections going bad apparently, not allowing the fuel pump to prime.
mk378 could verify this, if it is a possibility. He seems very smart with these kind of problems.

 

^Main relay isn't really a problem in EK Civics. It's a HUGELY common problem in 92-95 civics though.

If you want to check your timing belt, pull the oil cap off and look inside while someone is turning the key. If you don't see the rocker arms move, your timing belt probably broke. If you see moving parts, focus on the components in your distributor.

 

I am having the same problem with my 98,I pulled the dist cap off and the back of the rotor looked like it had been hit or scraped very hard.The rocker arms moved when I had my wife turned it over but she had to leave before I could check for spark.The coil looked ok any ideas on where to go from here?yjmcb