so today as im driving to work, the lovely little silver gd3 sport i have shuts off, as if its run out of gas, odd i thought.. so i coasted to a stop. and started it right back up... nothing weird about its performance other than it just STOPPED running. now i drove it 3 miles back home and then 3 miles back to work. no problem. driving it pretty hard because i was headed to work. and forgot my store keys.. anways.. i get it in and drive about .5 mile when i got off. after i got gas*thinking i was low on gas and i got lucky .*.. leave the gas station .3 miles. and it dies again. no sputtering , no noises,.. just complete loss of power. pull over.. starts right back up. 1/2 tank of gas... ok thats weird..

i make a left drive another .5 miles... and boom.. shuts down again... wtf.. i've never had an issue with this car..

07 gd3. tanabe axle back and cai. other wise stock....

and im not getting any CEL. i've tested the battery for voltage and am getting 12.3 volts at the terminal... any insight?.. this is weird..

 

this car is a 5 speed too btw

 

Was the car electrically dead (no lights of any kind) or just the engine was inop?


My first thought would be to check the battery terminals. If you can turn either one, you may have a bad connection.

(I installed a new battery last fall, and in the past two weeks found both terminals loose. Had to shim them to make them tight.)


Another WAG (Wild-A**-Guess) might be a bad ignition switch. You symptom sounds similar to Y2K-era Hondas that suffered from bad switches. But I have not heard of this on Fits.

In any case, test for this by switching the key off then back on if it happens again.

 

What CarBuff said. Plus, 12.3 is a touch low, and of course voltage isn't a great indicator of battery condition, so you may want to get it load tested whatever the problem turns out to be.

 

drove it today, with out the air on, *not sure if it mattered* but about 10 mile trip, and it did just fine. it doesnt sputter or hesitate when it dies, it honestly feels like you just turn the key off.. i will report back with my findings, i re tightened the terminals, and didnt notice anything out of the ordinary.
thanks guys

 

Perhaps you need to change the ignition switch. Try starting the car and jiggling the key in the ignition. If your engine cuts out, it's a faulty ignition.

 

Regards the ignition:

Do you (or have you) had "10 pounds of keys" on the keyring while you drive?

That weight can lead to failure of the ignition switch...

 

Update. Ac has no effect on issue. If I drive it nice. No problem. If I try to accelerate heavily. Above 3k rpm it falls on its face. It didn't die today but def. hiccuped and had no power I had to pull over and turn it off and back on. It regained power and drove fine under light load.

 

Sounds as if your car is not totally shutting down...just going into Limp Mode perhaps.

Suspects would then be the VTEC or some other engine controls, but these usually set the Check Engine Light.

 

Weird. Bad or out of calibration Throttle Position Sensor? But that would give a CEL normally I think. Hey Carbuff2: What about a fuel tank venting issue or the fuel pump?

 

Failing fuel pumps would usually cause a symptom only during high RPM loads. And they would not require a POPO (power off power on) to return to proper operation.

Venting issues would cause a CEL also. But it wouldn't hurt to loosen the gas cap and drive it hard.

In my experience with other makes, TPS affects idle or part throttle/cruise operation mainly.


++++++++++++

The first post says "STOPPED RUNNING" After that "Over 3K rpm falls on it's face". (Engine still running?) I need clarification.


At this point we also need to ask "Does the CEL lamp illuminate at key-on?" (lamp test)

 

Cel does illuminate when key on. I can induce the studdering/hiccups through higher rpm heavy load situations. Sometimes the car loses all forward power and will not respond to throttle input. Other times I can get off the throttle if I catch the hiccup up soon enough and it will regain power and drive normal as long as I keep heavy load off the engine. Other times it will remain running but have no usable power. Until I popo. The whole system.. car is not throwing a cel

 

Failing crankshaft position sensor??

 

When this happened to a friends Civic a CEL code was set and the fuel was shut down! Totally.


If the PCM thinks the engine is not turning, it shuts off fuel to prevent a fire.

 

bad cps would throw a code, and would not be induced in higher load/high rpm instances.

 

i went through an intersection today, prob about 35 mph. had a nice little hill to it.. came out of my seat a little.. my son enjoyed it.. but the car did the same sputter and loss of power even with no load on it.. seems fuel related.. on a related note, prior to this happening a week before the car started acting weird, i ran out of gas on the fwy, i made it to the gas station, but is it possible i hurt the pump?

 

I think your prob is electrical. A fuel issue would not result in a rapid shutdown (because the fuel rail would still have pressure and gasoline).

Did you jiggle the ignition switch as MTLian suggested?

Have you checked the large cables (and 80A main fuse holder) at the battery for loose connections or corrosion?

Are your motor mounts OK? (Excessive engine movement might be stressing the battery/starter connections.)


Sorry to ask all these ??? but the answers MIGHT lead to a cause...

If the car has ever been in an accident maybe you have a bad or corroded ground.

Hondas do not set a hidden code for 'battery disconnected' as some makes do.

 

Add a can of dry gas. If there is water in the fuel this will help. How many miles on ur Fit? Coil packs and plugs need replaced @100k miles.
I have had my Fit go into limp mode and there is no power when the accelerator is pressed. But turning the car off and restarting will restore the power. The service light lit up, till 5 starts where completed and then it went off.
GLWR.
Big Mike

 

I vote for a jar or two of isopropyl dry gas. If that doesn't do it, you might have a clogged fuel filter. The pump will keep the pressure up as long as fuel rates are low but it can't maintain pressure at the rail over the clogged filter when you Rev the engine up. Shutting the engine off then on gives enough of a break for the pump to restore the rail pressure temporarily.

Try the dry gas first.