Beck/Arnley Ignition Switch - 201-1794

This fixed my random stalling and no starts on my 1998 Honda CRV. There is a known problem with the ignition switch on first generation Honda CR-Vs. I talked to a tech at Honda who tried to tell me my random stalling was not the ignition switch because I would be able to shake the keys in the ignition to get it to stall but that was not happening. No matter how much I tried to shake the key I could not force it to stall. He also said if it were the ignition switch it would always start back up right away which was not always the case. Sometimes it would and other times I'd have to wait minutes or let the engine try to turn over for several seconds. He didn't know what he was talking about because I replaced the switch and now my car does not stall while driving. It would normally stall about 15 minutes into my drive then stall 4-5 more times within the next several minutes of driving after restarts. Eventually it would stop stalling and continue to drive until the next day after the car sat. Again it would start stalling around 15 minutes into my drive. Sometimes the engine would cut in and out. It was just like someone quickly turned off the ignition then back on right away.This is an easy fix. You only need to drop the lower dash panel on the driver side. It's just two screws and some clips. The ignition switch screws into the back of the mechanical portion of the ignition switch that you put your key into with two Phillips head screws. You'll. Need to cut a few zip ties to remove the old wire harness and unplug the two connectors. You'll need a few new zip ties to hold the new wire harness in place.Now, if this does not fix your stalls here's what else it could be:1). Main relay (for fuel injectors and fuel pump behind the lower passenger side dash panel). Another easy fix. Remove the glove box held be two screws and the lower passenger side dash. You'll need a 10mm socket to remove the bracket holding the main relay in.2) Ignition control module (ignitor). This is inside the distributor next to the ignition coil. Not too hard of a job. You need to remove the air filter assembly and take the distributor cap, rotor, and rotor cover off to get to it. It's held on by a few screws with wires going to it. There is a heat sink on it you will need to move to the new ignitor. The hardest part is lining up the screw that holds the rotor on with the slot in the rotor cover to reach it with a screw driver. You'll need to "bump" the motor by quick turns off the key until the rotor lands in the right position to reach the screw.3) Ignition coil. This is not as likely unless your car doesn't start at all but you could still have a weak coil which could cause intermittent stalls. It's next to the ignition so it's basically the same job as removing the ignitor.4) Spark plugs, rotor, and rotor cap. If any of these or combination of are really bad you could stall and have a hard time starting the engine. This is less likely unless your engine runs poorly too.How do I know this because I changed all these things because the Honds tech told me it couldn't be the ignition switch. Don't listen to the Honda techs. They don't want to take the time to look up your VIN to see if your ignition switch was covered under the recall or they are just plain ignorant of the recall problem that happened around 18 years ago.I never got to the fuel pump but that's the last thing I would have replaced had the ignition switch not fixed my problem. There's always there remote chance of a bad electrical connection somewhere like a ground wire or bad fuse panel under the dash. If you are here reading reviews I'd start by replacing the ignition switch first. The electrical part with wire harness not the mechanical part with the key tumbler.So I took the old switch apart and what I found was all the contact points looked like they were covered in carbon. They looked more dirty than burnt. It looked and felt like soot. I was able to clean them with a q-tip and fine sandpaper. I probably could have reused the old switch but since I bought a new one on Amazon for only $28 I didn't bother of want to chance it. If you do want to try cleaning and reusing the original switch be careful taking it apart so you don't break any of the clips that hold it together. You will need to pry up on several clips simultaneously. Not easy. I've attached an image of what the dirty contacts looked like in the old ignition switch. Hope this helps someone. Took me over a week the hard way to figure out my problem.

If your first gen CR-V is crapping out in the middle of the road, this is the part that you need. Contacts wear out, and the electrical system dies out intermittently at first, but progressively worse. No Engine, No Lights, No Power Steering. No Good. No need to buy the entire lock cylinder unit my auto part guy tried to sell me at $200+. Thank goodness for youTube and Amazon. That being said, this was not an easy installation. At least, not as easy as youTube made it look. The location of the switch and clips required some contortions that I imagine would be taxing for many people. Buy it anyway, and bring it to your mechanic to install. Remember to check you VIN first to see if you're subject to the 2002 recall addressing this issue.

My parent’s 1998 Honda CR-V would spontaneously turn off while driving, and the problem progressively worsened until now. The car would turn over, but when one would let off the key, all power to the car would immediately turn off.Once I replaced this part, the car immediately turned on and stayed on. I left it running for a couple minutes to ensure it wouldn’t turn off again, which it didn’t. I then opened the housing where the contacts are and noticed this brown/gunk-like substance, most likely being the culprit.I took my time replacing this part, which was about 45min, and it wasn’t very difficult. I manage to to it with a screwdriver, crescent wrench, and some tape.

You don't need to take a lot of things apart. Mostly but a couple of tie-raps. Watch a few YouTube videos before you start and you'll see howe easy.This part had been replaced once already as part of a factory recall, but 10K+ thousand starts later, the replacement had worn out. The car would just die in the middle of the street. This was a cheap way to keep my daughter's college ride going for a wile longer.

I had a problem with my 99 CRV stalling out at stop signs and low rpm and continued to get worse stalling on highways, and later my dash lights would flicker after the engine stalled. After the easy installment I haven’t had it stall yet. My old ignition had carbon built up inside and I suspect this was the issue and why the new one fixed it. Hope this was helpful to someone.

My 98 CRV had a problem where it did not start on occasion, and also would randomly shut off and die as I was driving from time to time. This problem progressively got worse and I decided to swap out this part per things I had read on line from people with similar issues.Installation is relatively easy, I'm no mechanic but you basically just need to remove the dash panels so that you can unscrew the old unit(directly on the end of where you place the key. Screws right in, and just follow the old wires to see where you need to connect.Chances are your vehicle had this replaced via a recall at some point, but if it was replaced in 2002 this now means your replacement part is more than 10 years old.

Worked perfectly for my CRV. Now it doesn't suddenly die anymore. After 6 months, it still works great!

While it took some creative contortion movements under the steering column to access removing and replacing this part, it fixed the ignition issue we were having with my 1999 Honda CRV.

Random power loss issue resolved. Easy to install yourself in a 98 CRV

Hadn’t driven the CRV in months as it would stall unexpectedly. This little piece did the trick. Great buy for my problem.

Fixed a problem with my 1998 Honda CR-V randomly stalling.

good product and affordable. works good..Thanks