Hi there! I am desperately seeking info about my 1998 Honda Civic. My engine keeps quitting on me when I am either stopped at a stop light idling or the rpm’s are really low. This seems to happen at random with no warning or check engine light. I keep my tank more than half full with gas so I don’t believe this could be it. I have been to my mechanic and they said it could be a multitude of things wrong with it so it doesn’t make sense to put money into the car if it won’t necessarily fix it. I am desperate to figure something out so it can get fixed because I have to drive to work everyday and I’m sick of feeling anxious while driving all the time! Thank you so much,
Erika
Start with the simple things. Fuel filter.
Does the car run good other than stalling at a stop?
Ask your shop to clean your idle air control (IAC) valve and throttle body. (Or if you’re even slightly handy its probably not that hard to do yourself). Also ask them to inspect the wiring & connection for the IAC valve.
Is it possible that it has some connection to the brakes? E.g. if you just sit still at idle and give firm brake pressure, does the engine do anything odd? Could you make the car stall just by mashing the brakes a bit?
cig r u headed towards a vacuum problem?
bb - the brakes question was a vacuum brake booster question, yes. That would be about too much air.
The IAC - well that’s about not enough air.
The IAC can be the issue as Hondas are not prone to idle issues UNLESS they ar ehaving issues w the IAC…that valve controls much if not all aspects of idle. The IAC is a controlled vacume leak…more air when cold raises the idle…less air when warm will drop the idle. If the IAC cannot vary the amount of air as it is supposed to it will cause you all sorts of issues…if it wasnt working at all the idle will fluctuate wildly up and down. Id look into cleaning your IAC and throttle body first…Free if you do it yourself. Let us know if you are doing it yourself and we can assist. You can also sign in to the Auto ZOne Website and get a free membership that will allow you to look up parts and look at the repair manuals for FREE… Lots of good info in the repair manuals on that site.