Civic - Honda :: 2005 - Scary Unintended Acceleration
Oct 9, 2012
I have a scary problem with my 2005 Civic Coupe HX CVT that the dealer can't resolve - my car drives forward and even accelerates when my foot's not on the gas! This is a recipe for disaster, especially since I live in a cold climate and there's so much ice and snow in winter.
I thought at first I must be crazy. So I've tested it by taking my foot off the gas going up a small incline, and Voila! It drives up the hill! It also can drive around the block by itself! It's like the energizer bunny, and I'm scared to drive it anymore.
The dealer has no clue why this is happening and can't seem to replicate the problem. I've brought it in more than once, too.
It happens most often when my car's been parked for awhile, say 6 hours or more, and if it's really cold outside, say less than 32 degrees outside. Also the heater's usually on when it happens, but that may be incidental since it's usually cold when the problem occurs...
Also, There's a whine that sounds like a belt that gets loud when the air conditioner runs and also if it's really rainy. I've taken it in to the dealer a couple different times and they fix it, but then the sound comes back again. Could this be related?
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The owner of the car claims that there was sudden unintended acceleration, and it was 09' Sonata.
Video .....
I thought this should be very concerned to us, since we all drive 11' sonata & up. I heard Hyundai installs some kinds of system to prevent this incident to all cars manufactured after May of 2012.
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I've read quite a few instances in this forum of unintended acceleration in the Toyota Sienna. Well it happened to me this morning. I was pulling into my parking spot at work with my foot lightly on the brake, going about 5 or 10 mph when the vehicle suddenly accelerated as if someone had floored the accelerator. The vehicle went up over the curb and into the side of the building. When I told the policeman what had happened, he said that isn't possible. I told him it was possible because it just happened to me. I had it towed to the dealership, called my insurance company and Toyota to make a report of the incident. They will be sending someone out to check out the car, but I'm sure they won't say there is anything wrong with it. I'm sure it won't be impartial since they don't want to be held liable. I also made a complaint with the NHTSA. I am afraid to drive the car and will never buy a Toyota again.
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My 2005 4.2L w/ 139,000mi , giving the above warning. Thinking it was a gremlin, I raised the vehicle height and all seemed well until I got onto the 101 fwy here in SoCal and hit the threshold speed to lower the height.
That's when the engine rev'd to 7k RPM's. Initially it quieted in neutral and I drifted to the shoulder with one shift back into D and 7k RPMs for a bit of power. After that, any start and it revs immediately to 7K upon start.
Flat bedded to Santa Monica VW and await Ivan, their Phaeton mechanic to return tomorrow. Service writer Jeff wondered about front suspension but connection to acceleration is a mystery.
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My 2013 goes 7mph with the foot off the gas. Why is it doing this and is there any way to correct this?
Is this normal? I have to keep my foot jammed on the brake to stop the car from lurching forward.
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I have a 1998 honda civic LX that slips very very seldom upon acceleration. It happens under light acceleration and medium acceleration (I dont accelerate hard enough to see it slip at high acceleration, it might!)
What happens is, the car stops accelerating and simply idles. As the motor idles the car drifts and slows down. I have never done it, but I bet in this state I could come to a complete stop just by drifting if I keep my foot in the same spot on the accelerator. When I change my foot, and accelerate harder, the car wakes back up and keeps accelerating like nothing even happened.
I don't think it is the transmission slipping, because in that instance revs would climb and acceleration would halt and that is not the case. I recently gave the car a huge tune up, here's the list
Valve adjustment
Oil and filter change
Cleaned throttle body and IAC
New distributor and cap (Plug wires aren't really in good shape)
New spark plugs
New air filter
Set the timing
New belts
Cleaned injectors
Cleaned battery terminals
I don't know what could cause this problem! The only thing I have come up is the Possibility a TPS (Throttle position sensor) going bad. The only thing that I know of that is wrong with the car is the exhaust manifold has a big crack in it right before the upstream 02 sensor. No doubt this leak is messing with the cars readings of the AFRs. Could this be part of the problem? It is throwing a code for the catalyst system.
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My 2001 manual transmission Honda Civic lost acceleration and died a few weeks ago. Was pressing the gas all the way down and it just wouldn't go. I was able to get the ac/radio to turn on but couldn't get it restarted. After 5 minutes, I got it started and was able to get it through the intersection into a parking lot before it died again. It jerked and made loud popping noises and never would go more than 5 mph the whole time. Had it towed to the shop. They tried to start the car the next morning and did so with no problems. The check engine light showed a timing issue. Later that day, they restarted and no check engine light and no problems, but we knew the timing belt was way overdue (165000 miles, never replaced) so we all hoped I got a lucky warning and they replaced that and sent me on my way.
Two weeks later it did the same thing and died again. This time it was close enough to home to restart it and get it home. It jerked and popped and then at one point it was as if a clog got cleared and I shot off down the street, because I had the pedal to the floor. Then it started decelerating again but I got it home-smelled a slight burning smell. Waited until the next morning, suspecting it would be fine, and drove it to the shop myself with no problems. This time the codes showed it needed a new O2 sensor and a cam shaft sensor. They replaced those, feeling certain that must have been the issue.
Drove it home with no problem, went to leave the house that night and as soon as I got out of the driveway, it started doing it again. This time, though, the car did not die and I was able to turn it around and get it back into the driveway. The shop sent a tow truck and they've had it since, but can't get the car to replicate the problem and there is nothing showing up as being wrong (and I swear I'm not imagining this). Have been assured that it's not the transmission, not the fuel filter. They think it might be something electrical but can't figure it out.
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I was driving my 94 civic lx yesterday, and noticed that on acceleration the car would die when exceeding 3000 rpm, so I proceeded driving not exceeding those rpms. After a few minutes, that “ceiling” decreased to 2700 rpm, then to 2500 and so on. In the course of 10 minutes the car died and would not start. I checked the spark, and fuel pressure everything seems to be fine. It cannot be the fuse because the car was dying slowly, like something was limiting the rpms.
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My husband and I bought a 1995 Ford Crown Victoria not too long ago. We have already had to replace the brake lines 2 times (well, first the front and then a few weeks later the back). It has had nothing but problems. One thing is the air conditioner, but that probably just needs charged.
Now on to the bigger problems. All of a sudden we started having unintended acceleration. It is strong enough that if you don't have the brake pressed hard it will move your car forward every 5 seconds. The engine revs up on its own. This happens every time we stop anywhere. Including when I was pulling into a parking spot last night. I went very slow and as I was turning pressing on the brake it revved up and I thought for sure the way it jerked, it was going to go over the curb into the road. This scares the crap out of me.
Also, we have a problem with the slow (very slow) start. I know they had a recall on the cruise control, but I have not heard of any recalls on this. However, I did read somewhere about accidents happening due to this and something about it had to do with the way Ford build the car.
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I took my 2011 Lariat in for first service and reported that it sometimes tries to accelerate on its own during slowdown from high speed, eg when coming off a freeway ramp, rpms go up and vehicle wants to speed up rather than slow down. (sounds like something a Toyota would do!)
Dealer says its a known problem with 5.0L and performed a supposed fix per "TSB 11-8-9, 5.0L ENGINE BRAKING PERFORMANCE DURING LOW SPEED COAST DOWN," essentially a PCM reflash.
Happened once in a parking lot...thought the floormat was stuck on the accelerator but the pedal was clear.
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Recently, my 2003 manual honda civic accelerates very slowly, even the engine speed goes up to 4000 rpm. Usually it takes up to 1 minute to reach 60mph on high way. Is the clutch getting bad?
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05' Civic HX 5 speed with 167K. I picked up the car two years ago with 134K on the OD, and the only service records were regular oil changes.
Did: Timing belt; Valve job; Brake job. Both dealer and tire shop have gone over it / safety checked it twice. About 10K miles ago it developed a racket (rotational noise, as if something was coming apart.) above 1,800RPM. "Can hear from a block away" in 1st gear, to a lesser extent in 2nd, etc (no racket revving, only in gear). CV joints, bearings, anything belt driven, has been checked out.
Figured it was the transmission, but it shifts perfectly - and I've drained the oil twice, perfectly clear, and no shavings on the magnet. I know the clutch is original (doesn't slip, don't want to spend $700 if I don't have to). The car, other then the noise, runs as if it's new, and averages 34MPG, so I'd like to keep it!
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I have honda civic 2005 with 170,000 miles on. My car has been little shaky with cold start in the morning and Engine light finally on. I was told that I need new fuel injectors from local mechanics. I'm a poor student so I decided to fix it myself. I was able to reach down to fuel rail and It was very challenging to take the rail & injectors out. After I finally pop them out with long driver/hammer, It is even harder to put new ones inside, all the way in. I tried put some oil at the end but still did not completely go in. Is there any special tool I need to use to put them in? I tried oils...ect.
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I have a Honda civic 2005 LX, 170,000 miles. I love this car as I went through my tough time with it. I don't want to give it up until it dies if possible. Only issue of this care is AC does not work when temperature is hot. It works really good when it's cold/rain. When I turn on the car and AC in the morning, the compressor works fine for 5-10 minutes and it turns off when the engine is normal temp.(below mid line). I went to one local mechanic and I was told Freon level is good.
They spend about an hour to figure out what's going on and they told me that I need to change my entire compressor, I felt they just can't figure out what exactly causes it and want to just scare me with big $, to make me give it up. (because compressor works fine when it's cold. I think something with temperature) I recently changed my Thermostat, filled up coolant, and changed crutch-AC relay fuse but no change in the AC symptoms. I will need AC for sure when I move into Arizona next summer!
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my wife now drives what was originally my 2005 Honda Civic from '05-'10. In the last 3 or so years since she's been driving it, the Civic has developed a tendency to die on her at inopportune times. A quick jump always fixes the problem but I never, ever had this problem myself when I was driving it and I've had the battery tested at AutoZone twice with both techs telling me the battery was in great shape with cranking amps well above its rating. I've offered to just buy a new battery and eliminate the issue but the "it's fine" report from AZ has me puzzled.
I have noticed that corrosion tends to build up on her positive battery terminal very quickly and I suspect she's getting some drain due to that but I'm stymied as to why it happens. The only thing (and its a stretch) that I can think of is she has a habit that her father taught her of cranking the heat, the defroster AND the A/C in her car when it's cold out. Normally I wouldn't think this would make a difference but I wonder if there is somehow condensation developing in that tiny little Civic engine bay as a result?
I've asked her not to do it and see if the situation improves but old habits die hard. The battery does tend to come up dead (of course) more in the winter but it's not an exclusively cold weather situation. Anyway, after jumping her car in single digits this morning before dawn I am ready to admit defeat and just get a new battery but figured I'd throw it out to the many voices here.
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My husband owns a 2005 Honda Civic with 192K miles on it. For the past 3 months, the thermostat has been floating to hot (H). He took it in to a mechanic who could not reenact the problem and could not find anything wrong. The mechanic replaced the thermostat indicator. The problem persisted without any sort of consistency. It would go to hot on the highway when he was going at high speeds and back down again and would also do it while idling at a stop light. We took the car in again and, again, the mechanic could find nothing wrong. Since then, the problem has become more frequent. Additionally, while the AC is on, when the thermostat goes to (H), the A/C is impacted...it starts blowing warm air versus cool. Again, it does not remain this way. A moment later it could go back to the midpoint and the AC then starts blowing cool air again.
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A bit of a long story, but brought my 2005 automatic honda civic into a mechanic for timing belt changeout (im at 112k miles) but expressed my concern over a noise persisting for approx. a week, sounding like it was stuck in a lower gear... but RPMs were fine. The mechanic looked at it all day and came to the vague conclusion that a bearing in the final gear of the transmission was busted. Brought it in for the diagnostics and had to take their mechanic on a test drive so he would hear what noise I was talking about. OK, days later = new transmission. Within 24 hours I hear a noise mimicking what I heard prior to work. They tell me its a wheel bearing that they couldn't properly diagnose without first replacing the transmission. Why not replace the wheel bearing before the transmission? How can they prove to me what was the real problem if I am still hearing noises?!
48 hours after getting the car back I wake up and start the car to warm her up before driving to work. She sits in park, running, for approx. 10 minutes and when I hop in, step on the brakes and try to pop it into drive from park, she is locked up and will not shift anywhere. In a panic I call honda and they tell me about a little 'trap door' i can pop off next to my shifter and manually flip it out of park. Fine. It works and I get to work, then have no problems getting my car into drive until the next morning when the exact same thing happens. (It is suggested it is a brake switch, but once it got into drive the brake lights worked fine.) So, this next morning I can not manually pop it into drive. It is currently at that Honda dealership, and has been there for 5 days, where, of course, they have not had ONE problem getting the car into drive.
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I have a 2005 Honda Civic and it has a pronounced squeakiness. I have had my steering, suspension repaired and nothing has seemed to work. It's really annoying and frustrating, especially because mechanics have "fixed it", but the noise always seems to continue.
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Since buying new my Civic VP automatic, it seems I've been plagued with electrical gremlins. Right off the bat, I noticed the lights would arbitrarily dim and brighten with no rhyme or reason. The dealer checked it and found no problems and could not replicate it. It still does it now at 117K miles with no predictable pattern.
Also, it has always seemed to idle too low while crawling in Columbus, OH, traffic, with the battery light coming on when adding in temperature extremes (while running A/C or defroster) to the mix. At first, I was able to rev the engine in neutral or get out of traffic and open it up to make the battery light go out, but that doesn't seem to work anymore. Also, I can make the battery light flicker just about anytime when I let off the gas. I had to replace the factory battery (under warranty) with one I bought off the AAA service truck.
I had to replace that battery, too, along with the alternator (rebuild), at 88K miles at my local mechanic 2 years ago. It died again yesterday, on the interstate, after my vain attempt at getting up the rpm's when the battery light came on strong. It's at the AAA garage now where they said it needs another alternator (rebuild), but the battery is OK.
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I have a recently purchased '05 Civic 1.7.I've noticed that the steering takes significantly more effort to turn left than to the right. Turning right, even when moving at a good clip, I can turn using 1 finger. It takes a decent grip to make the same turn to the left. I've also tried this from sitting still - same thing.
The alignment, as far as driving goes, seems pretty straight. I've also had a Honda shop that I trust from experience look into the issue to see if there is any physical signs of damage, bent parts... anything. They are very confident that all parts related to the front steering and suspension are in good shape and that both wheels are even.
I am a little stumped as to how any physical damage would only affect turning the wheel in one direction. I wonder if there is something that would reduce the effectiveness of the power steering in just one direction???
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My AC stops working intermittently - I got a whole new compressor about 2 years ago, then it stopped working altogether about a month ago, they said they couldn't find any leak but filled it up w/ added dye. Now it blows cold for awhile on the highway, but will randomly blow warm air, and also blow warm air when I'm stopped at a light (Which is no good in Phoenix, AZ) I took it back in and they said they couldn't find a leak or anything wrong with it, that some hose was probably just freezing and then I would have to wait for it to thaw... but that doesn't explain why it never happened before... and it's not normal (clearly)... I just want a car that I don't have to roast in this summer!
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