MilesRose

Hello everybody!

I have a 2004 civic hybrid with 240,000 miles on it (IMA light is on)...

I was on a 40 mile road trip, but after 25 miles on the road, my car's engine randomly shut down in the middle of the road! I tried to start it multiple times, but it wouldn't start. So I had to push it into a parking lot before checking under the hood.

I'm not very car savvy, so I just checked all the fluid levels, which were normal (had an oil change last week) No smoke/steam or other obvious signs of trouble.

After about 10 minutes, I tried to start the car again, and it actually started up on the first try! I happened to break down a block away from a goodyear service center, but they just shrugged and said "We don't work on hybrids, go to a Honda dealership."

The dealerships are closed until Monday, so I decided to try my luck driving the 25 miles back home. Surprisingly, there were no issues. The temperature gauge on the dashboard was nominal.

Does anybody have an idea of what might be going on with my car?

Also this may be unrelated, but the engine has been burning through oil very quickly lately. The oil tank nearly empties in less than 1000 miles. No leaks from what I can tell, but I haven't noticed any smoke from burning oil. Also, the MPG has gone down from 37 down to 29.

If anybody has any advice for me I would really appreciate it! Remember that I'm not very car savvy

ezone

Sorry, no real clues from me as to why it would stall unless you have a lot more info and observations. Has the red battery warning light been on too? That could let the 12v battery run down.

Take it to the dealership to see why the IMA light is on, and maybe that will be a clue as to why it stalled.


IMA faults can dramatically lower gas mileage.

After it stalled...you waited a while and it started....How exactly did it start? Did it start with the 12 volt starter like a regular engine, or did it start silently using the IMA system?


Since the IMA light has been on, has the engine been starting with the 12 volt starter Or was it still using the IMA system to start the engine?

MilesRose

Thank you for the reply

I didn't notice any red battery warning light on the dash during the stall. I double checked just now, no red battery light. Though I did notice the stereo cutting in and out a minute before it stalled in the road.

To answer your second question, after I waited a while and started the engine, I believe it did use the 12 volt starter like a regular engine, not the IMA. My car usually does seem to rely on the 12 volt starter because it usually sounds like a regular engine when it starts up, not silent at all.

I know that my IMA battery is on it's last legs, so I guess that could be the cause of the problem...

ezone

If the radio was cutting out I'd suspect voltage dropped too low to support running the car, as in the IMA system isn't trying to charge the 12v battery at times.....and if the IMA battery is bad that's a likely root cause.
But of course that's not the only possibility--the DC-DC converter handles charging the 12v battery.

And yea when the IMA battery is weak the engine may need to be started on the 12v starter. The IMA system decides when that's necessary