I have a 96 civic hb and my civic will shut off without warning and not start again until I put a new ignition coil in. The car is fine for about a month or two but then it will just shut off again without any warning. I have taken it to several mechanics in my area and no one seems to know what is happening. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem or not. I have replaced everything except the ICM and distributor and was also wondeing if that could be the source.

 

bad ignitor...??

 

I agree. The ignitor could be the cause or even your ECU.

Electrical problems are pretty hard to diagnose as they can be happening from just about anywhere.

 

Is the ignitor the same as the starter?

Thanks

 

no, the ignitor is inside the distributor.


Sounds like you have a wire shorting out. If I'm understanding correctly, you've had it happen a few times. There's no way in hell you're getting that many bad ignitors. What a crappy problem. Sounds weird, but have you changed the rotor? If that's just wiggling itself loose, it could do the same thing. Then you replace the ignitor, and you've jogged it back into place....?
But first impression is definitely a wiring issue. Any hacks or melted spots in your wiring harness? Any other electrical issues at all? Any random codes?

 

No.

Have you had your ECU checked to see if there are any codes stored? Sometimes it holds codes even if the CEL (MIL, or whatever you want to call your check engine light) is off. That's the best place to start if you're having electrical problems and everything is hooked up properly. There are 4 codes for things inside the distributor. Codes 4, 8, 9, and 15.

When it shuts off, is your distributor hot? What happens when you turn the key? Does it crank? Do you know if it's actually getting spark? Fuel? What else did the other shops test?