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Here's some new findings for people who have stalling/low idle problem with their car. I have my car for almost a year and to this date it still has the low idle problem. The engine idle will drop to about 300rpm and shoots back to the normal idle and the whole process repeats itself couple times. So far it has stall out completely for about 8-10 times. Dealer has no clue what's going on...my IAC and MAP Sensor are replaced but problem is not fix.

I'm suspecting the problem is with the vacum hose and brake booster. If you pump your brake pedal couple times while your car is idling and then let go of the pedal completely you'll notice the same process repeats itself. So far I'm able to duplicate the problem 100% of the time.

So all you people with this problem...go out and try this for yourself. I don't have time to take it in yet but please post back if any of you can get the dealer to look at this and see if it's related to the vacum booster.

 
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thanks for the info!!!!!

 
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Hey...I might just go do that today and see if thats the problem!!!! Ill keep everyone updated on my findings!!!

 
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I think what happen there is everytime you press the brake pedal The alternetor add up a load on your engine thats why it make the idling more lower. That also apply to power steering and Aircon any mechanism that add load to the engine make the idle low. I mean when your Idle valve having problem controlling your Idle you must have it check. the dealer mentioning about booster at work that everytime a load add up to your engine it automatic higher the idling speed. It show me how it works. He let me open my Aircon Ok I see the Idling going up. he show me when i turn my steering wheel thats Power steering add up load to an engine I saw it higher the Idle of engine. Then when you press the brake ok it also add up load to alternator Brake light remember.

 
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But it shouldn't stall out completely or drop to a 300 rpm idle even when I put a load on the engine. When I turn the steering it idle does go up and when I let go of the wheel everything returns to normal. It's when I start pumping the brakes the idle would go up at first...when I stop pumping the idle will drop to almost stall and then return to the normal idle. The funny idle will go on for about 5 to 6 times and it'll finally stay at 700. But if I try to give it gas while it's acting up it'll stall out right away.

And just to let you know....you're not the first one with the IAC problem. There are at least five people here I spoke with in here had the IAC replaced. It'll be fine at first but the idle/stalling problem will come back after about 2000km.

 
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So Im not alone with these Im happy to hear that. So what are you planning right now these is a major problem. Do you want to report it to Lemon Law or Report it directly to Japan Honda. If I could only speak japanese.

EDIT: These is a possible Recall right what do you think Fire Fly you said you speak to 5 people already with IAC problem. Do you think you can gather those people and make a report or something to make it a recall

 
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I think I went pretty far in terms of what I did. I went to the dealer 6 times so far...3 of the visits are related to this idle problem. They kept my car for a total time of 1 week during those three visits. First time came back as "No problem found"....got my IAC and Map sensors replaced during the second and third visit. Problem still exist after third visit and I called the service manager. He's never in the office and never return my call. I got hold of him in person and he said you'll have to bring it in again...go there (finger pointing to service counter) to make an appointment blah blah blah. I told him I'll be calling Acura of Canada to report this as they can't fix my problem after three tries. He told me there's nothing he can do and he doesn't show any incentive of treating my concern in a serious manner.

So I went ahead and called Acura Canada. The rep asked me a couple question...like which dealer do I visit...name of the manger etc etc. After a 10 min question/answer the rep simply told me to goto another dealership. I requested to set up a time for a regional engineer to come to the dealer and have my car looked at. The rep said he couldn't do that and keep on saying I should goto another dealership. The thing is the next closest dealership is like a 45 min drive and I don't have the time to do this yet. So basically this is the history during my (almost) one year ownership of the car. No wonder Honda service got the worst ranking in last year's Consumer Report.

The weird thing is the idle problem occurs less often during the winter months. But during summer it can happen 10 times in a half hour drive. The car actually stalled on me twice right in the middle of an intersection when I was waiting at the left turn lane.

I forgot who I spoke with. But for sure CivicChick is one of them. Hopefully ppl will get in here as they see this thread.

 
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Hello!

My 2001 Civic EX auto (sedan) stalled for the first time today. The idle has dropped down often when coming to a stop, but it had never stalled.

I was going "uphill" in a parking garage when I turned left and stopped in order to back in to a parking space. When I stopped, the engine shut off. I had the A/C on at the time.

I've had the Civic for about 11 months. It has around 6700 miles.

[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG]

 
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Does the Civic have an ELD (electrical load detector). I had a similar problem on my '94 Accord that turned out to be water in the ELD shorting it out. I just bought my CIvic the other day so I don't have any manuals yet to look it up but on my accord it was located inside the bottom of the main fuse/relay box and was fairly easy to damage through normal washing of the engine compartment area.

I doubt if this will be much help but thought I would throw it out there just in case.

John

 
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I have had the exact same problem with my 2K1 Civic EX 5spd. The idle will dip and recover when I stop at a light and the engine has died 7 times in the last year always in warm weather. I have taken it back to the dealer many times and it even died once for the shop foreman when he was driving it. I applied for the lemon law and sent my registered letter to American Honda (by the way the address in the back of the owners manual is wrong - just another way to keep people from contacting them). The lemon law got their attention, and within a couple months I had a factory engineer out to see the car. I was not allowed to talk to the guy directly, just give my complaint to the dealer and they would take it from there. The engineer looked at the car for one day and could not get it to die (I also complained about the idle but they ignored it). Since the car would not die for the engineer, Honda closed the book on my problem and said there is nothing wrong with the car. This was last fall and since then it has not died again, but as it is now becoming warm again, I expect it to begin happening again. I have also had the IAC replaced but it did no good. I suspect that the idle/dying engine problem is a design issue that all Civics have. I will try the brake pedal pumping and see if that will get it to die.

There is a guy where I work considering a 2002 Civic and I have been trying to talk him out of it with my horror stories (dying engine, rattles everywhere, gas guage that is only accurate if the car is perfectly level, etc.)

 
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I guess I'm pretty lucky cause I haven't experienced that problem (knock on wood), I did stall a lot at first cause my seat harness was broken and my seat would slide like two inches when I applied pressure to any of the pedals. It slid so much that my foot would come off of the clutch when I didn't want it to, causing it to stall on me. I've gotten the harness fixed under warranty and I now have no problems.

 
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<< I think I went pretty far in terms of what I did. I went to the dealer 6 times so far...3 of the visits are related to this idle problem. They kept my car for a total time of 1 week during those three visits. First time came back as "No problem found"....got my IAC and Map sensors replaced during the second and third visit. Problem still exist after third visit and I called the service manager. He's never in the office and never return my call. I got hold of him in person and he said you'll have to bring it in again...go there (finger pointing to service counter) to make an appointment blah blah blah. I told him I'll be calling Acura of Canada to report this as they can't fix my problem after three tries. He told me there's nothing he can do and he doesn't show any incentive of treating my concern in a serious manner.

So I went ahead and called Acura Canada. The rep asked me a couple question...like which dealer do I visit...name of the manger etc etc. After a 10 min question/answer the rep simply told me to goto another dealership. I requested to set up a time for a regional engineer to come to the dealer and have my car looked at. The rep said he couldn't do that and keep on saying I should goto another dealership. The thing is the next closest dealership is like a 45 min drive and I don't have the time to do this yet. So basically this is the history during my (almost) one year ownership of the car. No wonder Honda service got the worst ranking in last year's Consumer Report.

The weird thing is the idle problem occurs less often during the winter months. But during summer it can happen 10 times in a half hour drive. The car actually stalled on me twice right in the middle of an intersection when I was waiting at the left turn lane.

I forgot who I spoke with. But for sure CivicChick is one of them. Hopefully ppl will get in here as they see this thread. >>



Actually, it happens more often in summer and less in winter, why's that?!
I got my MAP sensor replaced 10 months ago and i though the problem's gone...then this problem come out again these days so instead of removing all my mods and get it fixed in the dealership, i got my MAP sensor replaced yesterday by a local garage. I though i was smart but ****! it didn't solve the problem at all...
so firefly, what did u say about the vacum hose again? I'll bring the car to the garage and ask him to check that out...the dealer sucks, they insist all mods have to be removed even the guy i talked to know that wasn't the problem at all...
Oh yeah, the stalling/rough idle happens more often when the weather's humid or rainy. (Possibility of braking more becoz of traffic in rainy day?!)

 
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<< I have had the exact same problem with my 2K1 Civic EX 5spd. The idle will dip and recover when I stop at a light and the engine has died 7 times in the last year always in warm weather. I have taken it back to the dealer many times and it even died once for the shop foreman when he was driving it. I applied for the lemon law and sent my registered letter to American Honda (by the way the address in the back of the owners manual is wrong - just another way to keep people from contacting them). The lemon law got their attention, and within a couple months I had a factory engineer out to see the car. I was not allowed to talk to the guy directly, just give my complaint to the dealer and they would take it from there. The engineer looked at the car for one day and could not get it to die (I also complained about the idle but they ignored it). Since the car would not die for the engineer, Honda closed the book on my problem and said there is nothing wrong with the car. This was last fall and since then it has not died again, but as it is now becoming warm again, I expect it to begin happening again. I have also had the IAC replaced but it did no good. I suspect that the idle/dying engine problem is a design issue that all Civics have. I will try the brake pedal pumping and see if that will get it to die.

There is a guy where I work considering a 2002 Civic and I have been trying to talk him out of it with my horror stories (dying engine, rattles everywhere, gas guage that is only accurate if the car is perfectly level, etc.) >>



Should have your friend sat beside you and tape down the problem and send them the ******* clip..it's so hard to show the mechnics in the dealership how did my car stall becoz it happens radomly...i'm like so lucky last time when i had a drive together with the mechanic, the car got the rough idle but didn't stall...but i dun think i can show it to them another time...it's just by luck..and i'm always bad luck, so that's why it stalls...

 
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What's the IAC u guys talking about? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

 
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Hey TaiChi, does your car start to act up again? My car is in the exact condition: happens more often in hot and humid weather. I was driving it the other day and I put it in neutral to slow down for a red light from about 50km/h. The engine cut out and I saw the light turned green. So...picture this...I have to start the engine while I'm rolling....with no power steering and additional brake assist. It's so dangerous cuz if a car decides to jump out of nowhere I'll basically smash into it.

After my last visit to the dealer we've come to a conclusion it has nothing to do with any of the sensors. If any sensor in the engine went bad then the CEL would come on and an error code will be logged in the system. They checked the brain and there's no code. So it can't be the sensors.

Right now I'm thinking of two possibilities...it's either the brake booster and hose leaking vaccum ocassionally or (less likely) it's the power steering pump putting additional loads on the engine.

More findings...like I said...pump the brakes and watch the idle drop to an almost stall out level. And while the car is shaking turn your steering wheel a little bit and watch it jumps back to normal.

IAC is the idle air control valve.

 
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So what should i ask the garage to fix?
I'm gonna bring over the car tomorrow...
the dealer can do nothing at all...i won't bring it back to them until the last...
coz i'll have to remove the mods inorder to do that..which sucks..

 
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Oh yeah, when the road's bouncy, it may likely to give me rough idle, i have no idea why?[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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Ask them to check the brake booster and vaccum hoses and see if there's any leak. It would be good if you have another brake booster to swap in just to test things out.

Aside from that I really don't have an idea of what's wrong. I can duplicate the problem every time (even in front of the dealer) but no body seems to know what's wrong with the car. Even Honda tech support has no clue.

 
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I brought it to the garage yesterday and told them about the brake booster and vacum hose thingy, hope they can do something..

 
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Please post if you find the root of the problem. I think this is serious. Unlike a rattle or busted stereo, if it acts up at the wrong time then the car (and probably me) are history!

 
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The garage phoned me today say they test drived it and found out the problem but in order to fix it, they will have to inspect further and it will cost me money...so they recommend me to pick the stock parts back in and bring it to the Acura dealer to fix it under warrenty.[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/IMG]

 
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What did they say? What's wrong with it?

Man when you bring it into the dealer remember to get a receipt....then scan it or something so that I'll have a reference.

 
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I gone picked up the car....they said the engine light was on, so they though they can fix the problem...they told me they remove the intake, clean the parts and stuffs, reset the ECU, coz they say the stalling happens becoz the fuel supply is not smooth. I drive it home, stalls again, gonna bring it back to them and ask them to reinstall the stock parts back and bring it back to the dealer and have the dealer to fix the fuuuucccking problem...i have had enuf of this stupid problem, i want to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
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This is getting bad. It stalled 2 more times while I was sitting at the light since I talk to you last time.

If I can't get this fix by the end of this year then I'll trade it in. I don't even feel safe to use this as a basic transportation and I don't see the point of keeping the car anymore.

 
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When i worked for Honda a year ago someone had this problem and it was their ECU. The ecu at the time was on nationwide backorder and may still be today. This is definately an ECU problem as it doesn't know what to do after u overload it by pumping the breaks. Much luck to anyone getting this fixed anytime soon. Also, this problem seems to occur more often in auto which may even be a tranny problem on top of the ecu problem as the auto tranny doesn't respond properly when stopped, thus, thinks its still in 1st geat and since it's not, it stalls, just like a 5spd would if it were in 1st gear and stopped with the clutch out! much luck

 
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I gone to the garage yesterday, wanting him to put the stock parts back in, and talked to the tech which helps me to check my car...he said MY stalling problem may also be the RE-CONNECTED wires to the ECU which i installed and removed an Apexi VTEC Controller in another shop. He said it may be bad connection for the wires which causes the problem....he say he will take a look at the wires connection b4 putting back in the stock parts so i can bring it to the DEALER. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG]

 
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<< When i worked for Honda a year ago someone had this problem and it was their ECU. The ecu at the time was on nationwide backorder and may still be today. This is definately an ECU problem as it doesn't know what to do after u overload it by pumping the breaks. Much luck to anyone getting this fixed anytime soon. Also, this problem seems to occur more often in auto which may even be a tranny problem on top of the ecu problem as the auto tranny doesn't respond properly when stopped, thus, thinks its still in 1st geat and since it's not, it stalls, just like a 5spd would if it were in 1st gear and stopped with the clutch out! much luck >>



I hope it's not the ECU or Tranny problem...this car is full of POSSIBILITES~

 
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Unless you did indeed cause this problem by connecting/disconnecting some aftermarket
device to your ECU wiring harness, you should look into the lemon law.

I don't think this is your own fault, as this problem has been experienced by many. My car
has stalled once in the year that I've had it, but has shown the VERY low idle from time
to time.

Try researching the lemon law in your state. It worked for me before with another car.

Good luck.

 
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But if it's an ECU problem won't that trigger the CE light? Right now it feels like it has a clog air filter and fuel filter and I can hear it struggle a bit before it stalls out.

 
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I though i may got it fix today by the garage already, but have to drive longer to ensure. If the problem's really fixed, the problem should be bad connection in wires back to the ECU after removing a Apexi Vtec Controller. That tech guy redo the reconnection of the wires. :bigok: