Morning gentlemen, I've got quite the issue with my 2008 Honda Fit. 3 times now it has stalled whenever putting it in neutral to coast to a stop, but of course continues to roll forward cause it's in neutral. Yesterday, it did this again but also my brakes failed in the process and would not push forward. It was like stomping a brick, I had to use the e-brake to safely not run into the car in front of me.


Anyone know what could be causing this issue? I've also noticed anytime I shift to neutral the RPM arrow go nearly all the way to 0 and "shake" before resuming back to idling speed.

 

Does it do it only when engine is cold or also when hot?
What is the car mileage? Any repairs prior to that? Any valve adjustments?
(hard brakes at second application after engine dies are common due to the lack of vacuum assist)

 

Well, the issue where it stalled and the brakes failed was an extremely cold day. I never noticed the RPM before, but I've only had the car a month. I had to have some issues fixed that don't include anything concerning the engine. I recently did an oil change. The car has 100k

 

I would recommend having valve clearances inspected and adjusted; it seems to be an issue with 1.5 engines at least according to this forum. The maintenance schedule calls for the valve clearance adjustment at this mileage as well. Of course there could be some other reasons for stalling (you seldom can diagnose problem with high accuracy over the internet

 

As doctor J alluded to, there is limited power assist available for the brakes when the engine stalls. It should have enough vacuum for one or two pedal pushes, but if there's a leak or a problem with the vacuum accumulator, it may not. (For a similar reason, you have limited braking power assist when the engine is running at full throttle—which is not a combination most people ever try, and which modern computer-controlled engines with a drive-by-wire throttle valve will not even permit.)

Even without power assist, there's still full braking available; it just requires a much, much harder push on the pedal. I would suggest that everybody at some point in a safe place, like an empty parking lot, get their car moving a little and shut off the engine and see how the steering and braking respond without power assist. You'll have a better idea of what to expect when things go awry.