I have a 2001 Honda Civic with 190K miles. Usually runs fine. The other day it was torrential downpours as I’m driving on the highway. After about 100 miles of rainy driving, I lost the ability to accelerate. All accessories still on, but no response from the gas pedal. At the same moment, the check engine light came on, then – while coasting off an exit ramp – the car made a loud squealing noise for about 10 seconds.
I turned the car off, and was able to restart it without problems, although the engine was idling strangely with a faint knocking/fluttering noise. Drove to a Sears where they ran diagnostics on the engine – the only code that came up was that the TDC Sensor was picking up noise. But the car ran, so we kept driving and the check engine light shut off on its own.
Managed to drive 2 hours to our destination, but had one incident of squealing from the engine (about 10 seconds while slowing down and then speeding up), and lost ability to accelerate again, this time accompanied by the Battery Light coming on as well as the Check Engine.
Today the car is in the shop, with Check Engine light off again but Battery Light still on. Mechanic suggested it might be the Alternator, but that seems odd to me because a) we just replaced the alternator and battery about 5 months ago and b) all accessories worked fine when we lost ability to accelerate, and the car was able to restart. My mechanic seems a little flummoxed, which makes me nervous.
Any ideas?? I feel like this one is a real stumper. Thanks for any thoughts you might have.