Hi,

I have a 98 Civic EX. Of late, I have noticed an intermittent issue with the power just shutting off by itself. It happened a few times when I had it in park(I habitually put it into park when idling) while waiting at a light. The first time it happened, I had the AC on. When it died, I tried restarting, and it wouldn't restart. Then I turned off the AC, and it started back up. However, there are other times when it has died with the AC off, so I can't be sure that the AC is a cause. It seems to be fairly unpredictable and random but seems to happen every 2-3 days.

Till yesterday, it had only happened when I was in park and waiting at a light. However, yesterday, it happened while driving (incidentally the AC was on). Albeit I was driving at a low speed (15-20mph), nevertheless, it was quite disconcerting to have it shut off like that.

I have taken it to a mechanic, who was unable to reproduce the problem. He suspected it was the the Idle Air control valve and cleaned it out. It hasn't fixed the problem. The mechanic was suggesting the IAC may need to be replaced if the cleaning doesn't fix the issue. I am not sure he really knows that to be the problem and don't want to be dinged $400 based on guesswork.

Please help.


Chandra

 

When it dies, look at the dash and see if the oil and battery warning lights came on. They should be on whenever the key is on but the engine is not running. If they don't come on it's probably the ignition switch (the one the key turns). Test it by jiggling the key and see if the lights come on.

For sure, it's not the IACV if it also quits while in gear and driving. The IACV only controls idling.

 

Everything goes out. No warning lights, nothing. I was able to kind of reproduce it by getting on an empty road, driving a little, then braking, and repeating ... It died when I was in gear, just as I was taking off from a stop ..