Hi there,
I've got a question for anyone out there who has more knowledge of the mechanical workings of the fit than me. I was driving about 60 mph yp a decent sized hill on a two lane highway here in AK when I felt the car kind of shudder almost like the transmission was having a problem. I slowed down and it happened again at 40mph. I pulled off the highway and the car was idling pretty rough and died after a few seconds. Fortunately I have tow insurance and the car is still under warranty. Any ideas? All Ive had done recently is get my winter tires swapped out for my summer tires. Tow truck is now on the way.

 

Any clues on what happened yet? Did you have to have it towed to Continental?

 

No idea what happened yet. I had it towed to Continental Honda and they're going to try to look at it tomorrow. I was going up a decent sized hill on the Seward Highway when it happened. A few of my friends thought that it could be a bad fuel pump or something clogging the fuel line. After the car had been sitting in the pullout for about a half hour or so, I was able to start it up and it idled fine. I was tempted to try driving it back to Anchorage, but the dealership cautioned against it. Today I am very, very happy that I have towing insurance!!!

 

Wow, sounds like an unfortunate start to your new car experience. I hope this is something simple like a loose electrical connection. Hopefully the computer recorded a code when it died.

 

Keep us informed on what it is.

I'm pretty sure it's not a transmission issue, but rather something making the engine run very poorly. Bad gas or some fuel system problem, electrical problem, a sensor for the engine computer, and probably a host of other things could cause these sorts of symptoms. (Bad gas doesn't seem too likely to me unless you had filled the tank up not long before this happened.)

 

I will post here when I hear back from the Honda dealership. I left Anchorage with a half a tank of gas and stopped in Girdwood (super busy gas station) and filled up. This all happened about 30-40 minutes after putting in the Girdwood gas, so maybe I did get some bad gas. The Tesoro in Girdwood is one of the busier gas stations in the state, so I'm sure if I got bad gas, a LOT of other people did too, but then again, it probably doesn't affect all cars equally.

 

My bet's on bad fuel....

 

I just heard back from the Honda service department and they still don't know what's wrong with my car. If it was bad fuel, I'd think they would've picked up on that by now. They've driven the car a few times and haven't been able to replicate what happened to me. I have given one of their mechanics permission to drive it home tonight or tomorrow night. He lives just out of town and at the top of a substantial hill. He wants to see if it behaves the same way it did for me on a hill. Sounds like kind of a long shot, but we'll see.

 

Ask them what codes the computer showed. (Not "if" they looked for codes, but what they were. That should be the first thing they did.)

 

I just heard back from Honda and they can't find anything wrong with my car. It's frustrating because obviously something went wrong last week. The service advisor I've been dealing with said that they tested the fuel and it was fine. Supposedly there could have been some water vapor in the fuel that caused the car to behave that way? According to Honda that wouldn't record any computer codes or cause the check engine light to come on. They've taken my car for several drives and can't get it to replicate what happened to me. I have to drive it up to Fairbanks next week so I'm a little nervous that this whole thing is going to happen again. Are there any other specific questions I should ask Honda when I go to pick up my car later today? I'm sure they'll still charge me the $120 diagnostic fee....

 

Bring tools to disconnect the battery ground cable - resetting the ECU can sometimes compensate if a sensor is intermittent. Note that when they checked the gas, they probably didn't drop the tank - debris could clog the pump intake, then drift out of the way when you turn the engine off. This is likely if, after running rough or stalling, it runs fine after a rest.

Steve

 

Has it been very warm there? May 1st is the change over date for all fuel sold at retail. If it was hot, then it is possible that you got some winter RVP fuel. Vapor lock on Fuel Injected vehicles is not very common but is does happen occasionally. If that is indeed your problem all you can do is drive the vehicle until all of the fuel is gone.

I just looked on the EPA site. Alaska, Hawaii, and all US territories are exempted from the EPA May 1st RVP mandate.

I would get a 5 gallon gas can, fill it, and take it with you to Fairbanks. If you have a problem, you could fill the tank with fresh gas, let the engine cool, and continue on your way.

The trip from ANC to FAI ought to use about all of the fuel in the tank. If I remember correctly it is about 365 miles. If you haven't had a problem when you reach FAI, then you could empty the 5 gallon can into the tank and fill the rest of the tank with fresh fuel for the return trip.

I had a similar problem in Montana last year when the outside temperature on a Fuel Injected Blazer exceeded 100 degrees. I had to wait until it cooled down. Then I drove late into the evening in cooler temperatures to get rid of the high RVP gas.


This is just a guess on my part but this type a failure is common on other types of vehicles this time of year.