Seven problems related to ignition switch have been reported for the 1997 Honda Civic. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I have a 97 Civic dx and several times while driving the car will turn off and is to hard to control the wheels, when turns off there is no engine lights & the car dies totally and I try to turn the car on but it wont start I need to wait for about 5 minutes then I can turn the car again. I have been doing some research in the internet and it seems that I'm not the only one who have this problem and it seems to possible could be the ignition switch.
The contact owns a 1997 Honda Civic. The contact stated that when the key was removed from the ignition the engine remained on. The contact had the ignition switch repaired four years ago for the identical failure. When the vehicle was in the park position it would roll backwards if the emergency break was not on. The manufacturer stated that this was an issue with the 1999 through 2004 Honda Civic not her year, make and model vehicle. The failure mileage was 85000. The current mileage was 134000.
Consumer stated had ignition switch recall 02v120000 remedied on 10/4/02. Since then can start vehicle fine, but intermittenly have to use excessive force to turn vehicle off. Switch will not turn. Ts.
Hansel Honda stated two months ago when we had the engine check light problem, that it was a faulty engine module. The car has had two start problems for which hansel Honda stated it may be due to the module but was still back ordered. With the second start problem, one of the service staff stated it may be the module problem but stated they were having problems getting the part. The other service person that very same day, stated it probably wasn't the module and that the part was still on backorder due to high incidence and requests other than hansel Honda for replacement module for the defective part. He stated they couldn't guarantee whether the problems with the engine starting was due to the module or not, but that the car was safe to drive for now. Hansel Honda stated the manufacturer was a problem not them and still couldn't determine when the part would be available. I asked them if so many Hondas had been reported to the dealers, why they haven't been recalled. He said he didn't know. As mentioned earlier, it has been 2 months since the part was initially ordered.
Location of ignition switch is too low, causing driver's knee to turn ignition key to the off position.
After recall repair of the ignition switch, 02 120 000, it malfunctioned again. The consumer was able to remove the keys from the ignition without the vehicle being in the park gear.
The design/location of the ignition switch almost caused an accident, the vehicle turned off while driving.