CCarol

Dear 9th generation Civic users, I need your help. Do you have any cold weather problems? My sister had a car accident on 1/30/2019, the coldest in Minneapolis. Her car was OUTSIDE ALL NIGHT, actual temp about −28 °F (−33 °C), with a wind-chill of −49 °F (−45 °C) in the Polar vortex. She left home at 6:30am and had an accident at 7:25am at 7.9 mails distant. It usually takes 10 min to go there, but she took longer than usual. And she was found exceeding the speed limit with no brake marks. Now please tell me about your cold weather problems, her car was the 9th generation Civic 2014. Thank you.

ezone

Weird capitalization, like it should stay parked inside the house or something.
Wind chill only affects animals with exposed skin, not machinery
Distracted driver holding a Cell phone.....?

Did the police and/or her insurance company determine there was a cold weather related mechanical malfunction?

CCarol

>Wind chill only affects animals with exposed skin, not machinery
That explains it. I didn’t know that. Thank you!

>Weird capitalization, like it should stay parked inside the house or something.
Exactly, I want to know whether the 9th generation Civic has any problems or not even if it parks outside in such cold temperature.

>Distracted driver holding a Cell phone.....?
>Did the police and/or her insurance company determine there was a cold weather related mechanical malfunction?
She didn’t hold a Cell phone, and she didn’t rush. The police and her insurance company haven’t determined anything yet. So I thought if there was a cold weather related mechanical malfunction, maybe some 9th generation Civic users had same problems in cold weather. But I haven’t found yet.

ezone

No more or less than any other modern car, and people drive the cars in far colder conditions without issues.
Canadians probably laugh at your -33*C temperature, while they go swimming

Did she actually tell someone the brakes didn't work? (if the brakes didn't work that's probably the FIRST thing anyone would be screaming about)

Regardless of what she wants you to hear......If it took 55 minutes to go 8 miles, I'd speculate she was probably running very late and in a panicked rush to get to work.

IMHO a lack of skid marks doesn't mean much, because Anti-Lock brakes are designed to minimize wheel lockup in a panic stop


Let them do their jobs

CCarol

>No more or less than any other modern car, and people drive the cars in far colder conditions without issues.
>Canadians probably laugh at your -33*C temperature, while they go swimming
>Did she actually tell someone the brakes didn't work? (if the brakes didn't work that's probably the FIRST thing anyone would be screaming about)
That makes sense.
You are perfectly right. Thank you!

>IMHO a lack of skid marks doesn't mean much, because Anti-Lock brakes are designed to minimize wheel lockup in a panic stop
I didn’t know that. Thank you!

>Regardless of what she wants you to hear......If it took 55 minutes to go 8 miles, I'd speculate she was probably running very late and in a panicked rush to get to work.

I have a question. Does the 9th generation Civic has no cold-weather problems like the other models?
Honda’s CR-V and civic from model years 2016 to 2018 have cold-weather problems. This issue occurs when the vehicles were taken on short trips in cold weather, when the oil doesn’t have enough time to properly warm up.

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-...ngine-trouble/
https://driving.ca/honda/auto-news/n...civic-problems

If her car had same troubles, she might keep pressing on a gas pedal, because of stalling or loss of power in cold weather. And when the oil had enough time to properly warm up, it could suddenly speed up. That’s what I thought when I read these articles.

CCarol

I waited and waited and waited, but I have no idea when my post will be visible. Maybe I shouldn’t post some links. I will try with no links.

>No more or less than any other modern car, and people drive the cars in far colder conditions without issues.
>Canadians probably laugh at your -33*C temperature, while they go swimming
>Did she actually tell someone the brakes didn't work? (if the brakes didn't work that's probably the FIRST thing anyone would be screaming about)

That makes sense.
You are perfectly right. She didn’t scream about. Thank you!

>IMHO a lack of skid marks doesn't mean much, because Anti-Lock brakes are designed to minimize wheel lockup in a panic stop

I didn’t know that. Thank you!

>Regardless of what she wants you to hear......If it took 55 minutes to go 8 miles, I'd speculate she was probably running very late and in a panicked rush to get to work.

I have a question. Does the 9th generation Civic has no cold-weather problems like the other models?
Honda’s CR-V and civic from model years 2016 to 2018 have cold-weather problems. This issue occurs when the vehicles were taken on short trips in cold weather, when the oil doesn’t have enough time to properly warm up.
If her car had same troubles, she might keep pressing on a gas pedal, because of stalling or loss of power in cold weather. And when the oil had enough time to properly warm up, it could suddenly speed up. That’s what I thought when I read these articles.

ezone

The system in this forum can 'ghost' posts from new users for various reasons, and they have to be manually approved by a moderator or administrator....Problem is the system doesn't automatically tell anyone it hid a post and it needs to be looked at for approval.


Short answer is no, that particular issue is not relevant to the 2014 car you are discussing. The cars you read about all use a 1.5 liter turbocharged engine.

Cold weather and short trips will have an effect on the oil in any engine, though to a lesser extent than the issue you read about.
Your description here is not what happens to the cars affected. Personally, I have not heard of nor witnessed any unusual change in how the engine runs nor how the car drives. And yes, I am currently seeing and taking care of these very cars multiple times per day.

CCarol

I got it! Thank you for your perfect explanation.
I had been struggling with this for a long time. I feel so much better now.
I should have asked you earlier.
And thanks for the links, I only saw Consumer Reports hp, but I didn’t check those.

> Let them do their jobs
I wandered if it had some cold weather problems, I was afraid they couldn't find any problems in warmer situation like in a garage.Can I ask you one more question?
How about oils or something? If her car was in poor maintenance conditions, for example using cheaper oils or not changing oils for a while, would it affect some problems in cold weather?
Actually I searched for news about the car accidents on 1/30/2019, but mostly due to heavy snowfall or icy roads. Only diesel vehicles had coincident troubles in cold temperatures.

ezone

No, not in the way you're trying to think about this situation.
It really sounds like you want to hear an answer that doesn't exist: blaming the car instead of the driver--- who is supposed to be in control of the car at all times.


The driver was involved in an accident.
If police and/or insurance co. decide to place the blame on her, you/she can argue about it in a court of law.
If there is a fault of the car that caused the accident, responsibility still falls upon the driver--- because they were operating an unsafe vehicle, negligent in properly maintaining the vehicle.

Note: I am not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV.

CCarol

>It really sounds like you want to hear an answer that doesn't exist: blaming the car instead of the driver--- who is supposed to be in control of the car at all times.

Oh, I am sorry maybe I think there's been some misunderstanding. I should have explained more thoroughly.
I am not arguing who was to blame, nor was the car to blame. I just want to know what exactly happened to her.
I can’t figure out why she took so much time to reach there. And she didn’t contact for being late, that was unusual for her. This question annoyed me all the time and I want to solve it rather than the accident itself. And I think the police and/or insurance co. won’t answer this question for me.

First I thought maybe she had some troubles in her driving, she can’t stop to contact. But now I know it was impossible, I really appreciate your indication.
Second I wonder if she had troubles in her driving, was it coincident troubles in cold temperatures or troubles specific to her car. But now I know if she had, it was specific one. Thank you.

So now I think there are 3 possibilities of my question.
1. She had some personal troubles on her way.
2. She had some troubles specific to her car.
3. The time was wrong.

>responsibility still falls upon the driver.
This idea is what I'm really worried about: No one was to blame except the dead driver. Dead girl tells no tales.
But I want to say there is another possibility, somebody mischief in her car.

The problem with the 1.5-litre four-cylinder found in Honda’s CR-V and Civic was the problem where the oil crankcase of their cars would fill up with gasoline in cold weather. Then, if someone fills up with gasoline in the oil crankcase, the same trouble will happen. Is it correct?

ezone

I'm so sorry, I didn't realize the situation was so tragic. I offer my condolences and prayers for you and your family

I don't know how you can establish an accurate timeline of events that can fill in the blanks.
Maybe the cellphone company can give you their ping/locations of the phone as it moved along that morning? That's about all I have thought of at this point.

I do know that extreme weather can cause traffic to slow to a crawl.....I traveled to/thru a major city around the end of January, Not bitter cold that day but they got a good snow......when I hit the edge of the area there was no snow.. (almost 50 miles from edge of burbs to my destination, on surface streets because I skipped the tollways that morning hoping to avoid the usual morning traffic jams )
As I went north, it eventually became 6 inches of snow and roads were super slick....... it took me about an hour and a half to go the final 15 miles to my destination

CCarol

＞I'm so sorry, I didn't realize the situation was so tragic. I offer my condolences and prayers for you and your family
Thank you. Actually I didn’t want you tell about her. Sorry, I didn't want to scare you.

>I do know that extreme weather can cause traffic to slow to a crawl
>it eventually became 6 inches of snow and roads were super slick.
Thank you. No, it was a local road, no traffic jams. The road surface was dry.
EMS arrived in 10 minutes. EMS arrived at a hospital also in 10 minutes. I think her house is closer than the hospital.

> I don't know how you can establish an accurate timeline of events that can fill in the blanks.
Maybe the cellphone company can give you their ping/locations of the phone as it moved along that morning? That's about all I have thought of at this point.
Oh, how great you are! Yes! Why didn't I realize it?
Thank you for your perfect advice.

I had been struggling with the cold problems for a long time. But thanks to you, now I know her car had little trouble in cold weather, and definitely she had troubles before the accident, that’s why she took so much time to reach the accident point and couldn't contact anyone for being late.

About the car accidents which didn’t depend on the driver, I guess I found another possibility if it was in downhill.

Thank you for your guiding me.