"E Meyer" <epmeyer50@msn.com> wrote in message
news:C2FDE58B.28074%epmeyer50@msn.com...
> On 8/31/07 2:24 PM, in article 46d86b01$0$16517$4c368faf@roadrunner.com,
> "Mike" <hlshadow@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Good afternoon all. I did a search of the archives, and read through
>> Teggers FAQ, but wasn't able to find any details for this specific issue.
>> Thanks for your time.
>>
>> My wife has a '99 Honda Accord sedan, 4-cylinder 5 speed with 115K miles.
>> About once every few months for a year or more, she has complained that
>> it
>> "loses power." This has now escalated to three times in a week, and is a
>> pretty significant issue for us - if we can't figure it out we're going
>> to
>> have to sell the car for safety reasons. Unfortunately I haven't
>> experienced this yet as it's not my daily driver, so some of the details
>> that she offers aren't exactly complete and I recognize that.
>> Nonetheless,
>> here are the symptoms, and I'm hoping these ring a bell with someone.
>>
>> Yesterday when making a left turn into a parking lot at about 20MPH, she
>> states the steering wheel "locked up" while making the turn, and she
>> nearly
>> ran into a telephone pole. Sounds to me based on her explanation that
>> she
>> lost power steering as she said it was incredibly difficult to turn. She
>> said that when it happened, all the lights on the dash came on, but the
>> radio was still on and the engine was still running. She
>> stopped/restarted
>> the car, problem resolved. I'm not 100% sure why the power steering
>> would
>> be affected if the engine was still running, but my job is in IT not
>> fixing
>> Hondas unfortunately. :-)
>>
>> When this has happened in the past it was just the dash-lights turning on
>> and a loss of power briefly so this wasn't an urgent of a problem. It's
>> only happened before while sitting at an intersection stopped (dash
>> lights
>> turn on/car may or may not stop running) or driving straight (loss of
>> power,
>> dash lights on), so in the past she just restarted the car and off she
>> went.
>> I didn't know about the loss of power steering until recently. Besides
>> this
>> little hiccup, the car is flawless (and paid for), so we'd love to
>> resolve
>> it if possible. If it's relevant, we live in NC and the weather has been
>> VERY hot as of late, but previous problems have been throughout the year.
>>
>> I had the alternator checked this morning at an Advance Auto for grins,
>> it
>> tested out fine. Any other ideas regarding things to
>> check/repairs/tests?
>>
>> Much appreciated.
>>
>> - Mike
>
> This sounds like the old ignition switch problem (there was a recall for
> it), except for your assertion that the engine keeps running.
>
> If all the dash lights came on and the power steering stopped working, I
> find it really hard to believe the engine was still running, especially
> since the fix has been to restart the engine. Maybe you ought to quiz her
> some more and see if "loses power" doesn't really mean the engine died.
>
> If it is a failing ignition switch, replacing it is fairly simple and
> might
> even be free if yours was one of the ones recalled.

=======
Thank you for the reply.

Yes, I asked her the same question about a dozen times, including right
before I posted the initial thread - which was part of my comment about
details not being complete. It sure seemed to me like symptoms of the
engine dying. I've wondered if the previous issues at stoplights were just
idle issues, and if other times on the road she just popped the clutch and
got it running again. Everytime it ever happened before she was sitting
still or going straight, so would have never noticed the power steering
gone. Still hard to say as I haven't had it happen to me yet.

I remember the ignition thing now - I just called the dealer where I bought
the car, and I had that switch replaced under the recall back in 2002. They
said they would test it again (somehow heat the ignition switch???) to see
if there is still a problem and will replace it for free under the recall.
I have that appointment now on Tuesday AM. Between that and Terry's
suggestions, hopefully we can narrow it down.

Thanks!

- Mike