I apologize for the massive wall of text but I am incredibly stressed out about this, don't know nearly enough about cars (though I am learning), and I absolutely, positively NEED to get it fixed as soon as humanly possible! The more information I can provide, the better, right? >.>

Firstly, my car: 1990 Integra GS Coupe. 5spd. Aftermarket stereo, sub, speakers, rims, exhaust, headers, intake, camber kit, ngk plugs and wires, lowering springs, alarm w/ keyless entry.

Now a bit of background information on a few factors I'm thinking are related

For the past few months sporadically while driving, especially on bumpy roads, my stereo will randomly restart in much the same way it does when I start my car. Though infuriating and perplexing, I'd grown accustomed to it.

Also, for the past few months, occasionally when I start her up she'd crank, run for a moment and then stop. Generally, starting it up again and waiting a fraction of a second before releasing the key solved the problem. I had assumed perhaps I was releasing the ignition a little too quickly and she was stalling out. >.>

Then today while waiting at a light my dashboard clock began flickering between bright and dim, as if I was turning my headlights on and off. Initially I thought maybe my headlight switch was sort of half way between on and off. Flicked my headlights on and the clock remained steadily dim but when I flicked them off my clock continued intermittently flickering.

I couldn't really do much more because I was at work, which is unfortunately a delivery job that requires use of my car and we were starting to get busy so I ignored it, intending to look into it more later.

A few minutes later, while pulling out of a parking lot my car seemed to stall while I was in gear and accellerating. I don't immediately recall if my console remained lit up or not when this happened. I started it again, it cranked fine and continued running great until my next destination.

After my next stop I returned to my car, started it up and it died immediately upon releasing the key. After a few attempts and a lot of stressed out cursing I realized that when my car died, my console lights went with it. No check engine, no oil pressure, but my stereo kept pounding. If I turn the key ever so slightly towards ignition and hold it there all my standard lights come on and I hear the usual whirring and clicking (fuel relay?) that I've come to expect. If I start her up and hold the key in this magic position, she will remain running. I could handle this, at least temporarily, if she wasn't a standard. Suffice to say it made driving home, in rush hour traffic, kind of a nerve wracking experience. Though, on the plus side, my clock wasn't flickering anymore

After a little more tinkering I noticed two additional things: Firstly, when I enable my alarm/lock my doors, my doors lock but the blue alarm indicator light doesn't flash. I've tested to see if it was still at least armed by getting into the car, "arming" the system and cranking the engine and it is certainly -not- working. Fortunately I have her in my garage now so my baby is safe for the time being. Secondly, when I return the key to the off position, as I remove the key I hear (and feel in the key) a short whirring in the tumbler followed by a click.

Now, my theory is that the problem with my stereo could be a failing ignition switch. Bumps in the road caused it to tick over towards ignition momentarily, restarting my stereo. I'm hoping the erratic clock could perhaps be the same thing. I'm positive the "stalling" that occured was directly related to the problem because it occured while I was applying gas, not during a shift, so there's absolutely no way I stalled it. As well as my fuzzy memory can recall, I beleive it occured right after my rear wheels rolled off the parking lot and onto the road but as I said I don't recall if my console lights remained on or not so I'm not certain.

I have done a lot of searching but as money is very tight at the moment I absolutely need to get advice from some folks with experience and be ABSOLUTELY certain before moving forward. Bare in mind there is a strong sense of urgency to this because for as long as I have no car, I have no job and thus absolutely can not afford to be spending money on the wrong 'fixes'.

Hopefully I've provided enough information to determine if this is just my ignition switch. I apologize for requesting an answer to a question that's been asked countless times (Please don't beat me!) but as no stories closely match mine, aside from the behavior of the key, and money is such an important factor right now I need to be certain about what to do next or my ability to pay my rent next month becomes questionable.

Thank you in advance for any assistance, I am incredibly stressed out about this whole fiasco and so any help is deeply, deeply appreciated.

 

99% sure its your ignition switch. At times what you experienced has similiar qualities of a failed/failing alternator but from what i've read it's your ignition.

 

Cam is right on this one.

 

I agree with them. mine went out too. If its just the part that screws onto the back of the tumbler, its only around $50 -$60 and a little frustration to install it.

 

Excellent. Thank you all so much. Will be hitting up pickapart later today to see what I can find.

 

Well, got an ignition switch out of a 91. Should do the trick (I don't see why it wouldn't) but now its a matter of figuring out how to connect it to my alarm =/

 

Should be easy. At the most you will have to cut 2 wires to get it to work with your alarm and the factory ignition harness should have all the wires going where they need to go so just copy what is there now.

 

Victory is mine!

Getting a screwdriver in behind there to get out one of the screws was a bloody nightmare though, wow.

The ignition switch seems to have fixed everything. Clock's fine, alarm's fine, starts and runs fine.

 

Glad to see it worked out. :thumbup:

 

Good to hear you have everything running 100%