Civic VX won't restart after coasting with engine off...
 

So, I've got a 93 Civic VX. I just did a tune up, I've only had it for about 1000 miles of driving. I am also an auto shop teacher, so I have a pretty good knowledge of cars, engines, and diagnostics, but this one is stumping me so far....

Pretty simple... I try coasting with engine off on the downhills of my 75 mile (one way) commute to work. I compression start the engine to get it going. I've done this all the time with my old/other cars. I've done this with 90% success with the VX, but on multiple occasions it has just not wanted to restart. It has occurred on long coasts (down a moutnain pass) as well as a short one (an off ramp). Of the 3 times it has happened, twice it started after a few seconds of being stubborn. The other two times I had to pull over and continue trying to start it with no luck until all of the studden it worked.

The X factor here for me is lean burn mode... I don't know a ton about it, so I am wondering if it could be related. Otherwise, any ideas?

I'm betting you've got some other gremlin - don't think it's related to having the engine off with the car in motion.

Fuel pump relay? Famous for having intermittent problems when they start to go in some Hondas.

I don't have the answer for you but I can tell you that I experienced something similar a couple times in my 94 VX. It seemed to only happen if I tried to EOC two times without the engine running much in between. It seemed like it would take about 30 seconds of trying to start (acted like it wasn't getting fuel) and then it would start and run fine. I thought maybe fuel pump might be going bad but it ran fine aside from that. I just made sure that if I did any EOC, that I made sure that the engine ran a bit before I did it again.

Maybe the ignition switch could be going south? Perhaps installing a kill switch (interrupt the cam or crank sensor possibly) would help.

This very common and more so in a hot car.
main relay buried in the drivers kick panel, when the car wont start, kick the panel! repeatedly.

when you turn your ignition on the compuer send power to the relay for about 3 seconds, if you kick it within that time it will prime and start. to fix it you can buy a new one(kinda expensive) or you can take it out and resolder by adding some new solder while youre at it.

The connections that come through the circuit board develop very small cracks and quit cunducting. this is alllll over the internet with pics and how to's. good luck.:thumbup:

Got this from another forum-

My reply was-

So, I'll keep you guys posted. I always like following up on my posts for people in the future who may have the same problem...

I've briefly tested engine off coasting - my engine didn't want to be bump started either.
I had to key it on.
With the very heavy steering, no assisted brakes, and no bump starting, I gave up on EoffC .