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Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

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Old Mar 5, 2015
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Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

Hi,

I'm having trouble with my 2005 Honda Civic repeatedly stalling. I'm going to go to the mechanic tomorrow, but I was hoping to get some guidance here beforehand.

Earlier today, I spent 15 minutes struggling to get my car up a steep hill in several inches of snow. I pushed the gas pretty hard to try to gain traction, and my tires were definitely spinning out at several points. During my struggle up the hill, the car stalled. I had to put it in park, turn it off and turn it on again to continue fighting up the hill.

Upon turning the car on again, my emission systems warning indicator was illuminated. It had not been before.

I eventually made it up and continued on my way. But then the car stalled again on level pavement. I turned it off, started it up and continued on.

Then, it stalled again a while later. Then, it stalled again after that.

When I finally got home, I decided to let the car run in my driveway (on park), to hopefully just clear things out. When I returned 20 minutes later, it had stalled again -- in park, in the driveway. Emission systems warning indicator is still on.

What damage could I have done to my car during my 15-minute struggle trying to get it up the steep, snowy hill? Could I have flooded the engine? Drained the battery? Overworked the engine? Something else?

I'd love to have an idea of what to expect tomorrow when I see a mechanic.

Thank you in advance.
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Old Mar 5, 2015
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Re: Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

Originally Posted by nailz73235
I spent 15 minutes struggling to get my car up a steep hill in several inches of snow. I pushed the gas pretty hard to try to gain traction, and my tires were definitely spinning out at several points.


pushing the gas more will LOSE more traction, not gain it

how high was your engine revving while you were spinning your tires?

what are you talking about when you say emissions light? do you mean your check engine light?....if so, get the codes read
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Old Mar 5, 2015
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Re: Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

Originally Posted by mikey1


pushing the gas more will LOSE more traction, not gain it

how high was your engine revving while you were spinning your tires?

what are you talking about when you say emissions light? do you mean your check engine light?....if so, get the codes read

Thanks for the reply.

I don't know how to quantify it, but the engine was revving quite hard as I struggled up the hill. I was pushing the gas pretty hard...and it took well over 10 minutes to finally get up to the top.

As far as the indicator, what's illuminated is this:

It's the check engine light, I guess, but the manual says that that indicator means one of the engine’s emission control systems may have a problem.
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Old Mar 5, 2015
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Re: Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

you need to start by having the codes read and go from there, your check engine light is on for a reason, and the fact that its stalling even after the fact is not a good sign, i wouldn't even run the engine again until the codes are read,
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Old Mar 5, 2015
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Re: Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

and my tires were definitely spinning out at several points
Extended tire spinning can cause serious damage to the transmission.
Serious, tow truck and trans replacement serious.

Just an FYI.

Emission systems warning indicator is still on.
See what the codes are, and see what your mechanic says about it.
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Old Mar 5, 2015
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Re: Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

Originally Posted by ezone
Extended tire spinning can cause serious damage to the transmission.
Serious, tow truck and trans replacement serious.

Just an FYI.

See what the codes are, and see what your mechanic says about it.
Thank you for the reply.

Hopefully, the repeated stalling isn't a sign of a serious transmission issue.
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Old Mar 5, 2015
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Re: Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

Originally Posted by nailz73235

Hopefully, the repeated stalling isn't a sign of a serious transmission issue.
I would not expect it to be related, and until you know more about the fault codes it has (and get a professional evaluation) , all we can do is guess.


I was just throwing that out as a "don't do that" warning because it can cause expensive mechanical damage.
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Old Mar 6, 2015
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Re: Repeated stalling after struggling through snow (2005 Honda Civic)

Thanks again to everybody who replied.

The mechanic read the fault codes, and diagnosed a problem with the TDC sensor.

It was a $325 repair.
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