Hope to diagnose 99 Accord problem

My car is 99 4D Accord LX 4cyl. 5 speed with 183,000 miles, all mine. In
August, as I pulled off the highway from driving all day, I encountered a
definite problem: when coming to a stop, the car dies instead of idling.
Sometimes it restarts fine, a few times it runs roughly for a second or two
before "catching" and then it will idle smoothly and normally -- until the
next stop. When the car is started cold, everything operates normally and
it never dies. Once the engine comes up to operating temperature, however,
the problem starts again. As I learned this, the car threw a trouble code
(Insufficient EGR lift) but only once and when I reset it, it did not
return. SO: I changed the plugs and coolant (the latter seemed to help,
but only a little) and ran some injector cleaner through. Based on a tip
received here in this group (thanks, Elle) I changed the ignition coil and
that seemed to do the trick. The car still seemed a bit "hestiant" just
before stopping but it generally stopped dying every time I stop.

So a few weeks pass and I drive all day on the Interstate again. About 600
miles into the trip as I slow down to pay a toll -- it dies and the
condition is exactly as it was in the first place. Within a hundred miles
more I had the Check Engine light on again (same code) but it reset itself
automatically a couple of hundred miles after that. To get home and since
then, I have become adept at using two feet on three pedals simultaneously
in order to avoid having the engine die at every stop but it's annoying.

Is it possible that I fried the new coil so quickly? (The car runs cool and
has never overheated.) Are there any clues in the fact that sustained
highway driving seemed to bring on the problem both times? What about the
EGR message? I'm searching for ideas and have always appreciated all there
is to be learned here. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Did you buy an OEM coil?

Original ignition wires? How about the distributor cap and
rotor? If age is unknown or they are the originals, I'd
replace all these with OEM, then proceed from there.

 

Yes, allegedly. The product listing was "Japan - OEM" and it was a bit more
expensive than the other choice. The packing slip had a column for "Mfg"
and showed "HIT" for this part. Don't know if that's Hitachi.

Distributor cap and rotor are old. If you think that will make I difference
I'll try it. Thanks again for the first tip -- I was very grateful to you.

 

I wonder if his igniter is dying,and is giving bad data to the ECU for RPM
control?

 

Despite the car's being relatively young, years-wise, given
the high mileage I would urge attention to all the ignition
parts.

John, sorry the coil did not seem to do it. Bear in mind old
wires will wear down a coil.

I am not sure whether Hitachi (or HIT) is OEM for the coil
or not, so your hunch is as good as mine. I must say that I
would expect even an aftermarket coil to last much longer
than this. The one my 91 Civic had at one point lasted
several years.

If you haven't tried the hints at Tegger's wonderful Honda
site, do. See
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#startrun . Note
especially the hints for checking the igniter and coil.