Honda CR-V Power Loss

dkthom

I've searched are read for a couple of days and haven't been able to find anyone with this problem. Here are the facts:

1. Car involved in accident in March. Front end damage - not head on and not enough to deploy air bag - but entire front end involved.

2. Seems to idle a little rough now, like maybe it might die. Even more so when A/C compressor comes on. Has been "tested" at dealership and they say it idles fine.

3. It's now July 22. Since about second week in April, on four different occasions my car has done this:

First time:
Don't remember whether I was turning or not, but I was traveling at low speed. Battery light came on, power steering "didn't work" and lost power (no accelleration). Thought car died. Incident lasted about 3 - 5 seconds then everything was back to normal.

Second time:
Don't remember whether I was turning or not, but I was traveling at low speed. Battery light came on, power steering "didn't work" and lost power (no accelleration). Thought car died. Incident lasted about 3 - 5 seconds then everything was back to normal. Don't remember how long in between incidents, but at least a few weeks.

Third time:
Driving slowly through cud-de-sac, turning left, Battery light came on, power steering "didn't work" and lost power (no accelleration). Thought car died. Incident lasted about 3 - 5 seconds then everything was back to normal. Don't remember how long in between incidents, but at least a few weeks.

Fourth time:
Turning left into parking space. Battery light came on, power steering "didn't work" and lost power (no accelleration). Thought car died. Incident lasted about 3 - 5 seconds then everything was back to normal. Don't remember how long in between incidents, but at least a few weeks. THIS TIME: Loud "squealing" noise coming from engine compartment in front of passenger seat that lasted as long as the incident itself. Husband was with me this time.

I called the collision repair place after the first incident and they told me to take it to the dealership. Got busy and put it off long enough that it happened again. Took to dealership. The could not "duplicate" problem and therefore couldn't "diagnose" the problem. Said everything looked fine. Actually said the words: "If it ain't broke, we can't fix it." I wanted to kill the guy, but don't like the idea of going to prison.

Happened again twice. Took back to collision repair place. He talked to his friend who had a Honda/Acura repair shop and he told him all about the A/C compressor issues, but couldn't explain the battery light/loss of power/happens when you're turning left at low speeds. Advised me to take back to dealership.

Took to dealership last week. They had my car three days. Couldn't duplicate, couldn't diagnose. Duh! I told them they could drive my car for 3 weeks and not have it happen. Duh! Duh! Duh! If the tech is driving and it happens, he'll know just about as much as me and/or my hubby can tell him. Duh to infinity.

We've called the ins. claims guy again and will see what they tell us to do. But, as of now, I'm driving a car that is really unsafe.

Have any of you ever heard of this happening? If so, please let me know so I can pass on your wisdom.

tidester

Here's a wild guess - how about having the fuel pump checked?

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

crvme3

Another wild guess... Confirm battery is secure & not shifting around as you turn, have someone check the battery - had a Chev. Astro van years ago after an accident & subsequent repair that would intermitantly (mostly turning) lite up the charging system lite (battery indicator). Turns out the battery suffered internal damage from collision impact. :confuse:

blueiedgod

When you say "lost power" what do you mean? The engine still turning, but when you press accelerator nothing happens, or engine shutting down comepletly? And when you say it all comes back, does the engine re-start on its own if it were not on?

Power steering in the CR-V is hydraulic, not electric, so loss of electrical power would not have an effect on it.

Was A/C on at any of the instances where you lost power? Even if you did not have it in the A/C position, A/C comes on when you have it in "Defog" position.

dkthom

Yes, engine still turning or "on". I had my foot on the gas on at least two of the occasions (for sure) and while still pressing the accelerator, it was as if I had let off the gas instead. Battery light came on and power steering was like the old manual steering. Then, all of a sudden, everything is fine again. This all happened within a period of 3 - 5 seconds.

We're in Houston, so I definitely can say that the A/C was on. I know that for sure, without a doubt.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my problem and, even more so, to respond.

dkthom

Thanks for your reply. Got a new battery in the repair and they have checked the connections. So they say.

blueiedgod

We're in Houston, so I definitely can say that the A/C was on. I know that for sure, without a doubt.

You may have an A/C compressor that is beginning to sieze up, intermittently. Honda has covered many of those repairs, way outside of warranty.

dkthom

That is exactly what we suggested to the dealership service advisor and they didn't even want to discuss it. Got the old "if it ain't broke, we can't fix it."

They want my car back now and they want to look at connection/ground/short issues. When I take it back in, I will bring up your point and ask exactly how can an electrical short be affecting the power steering.

Thanks again.

blueiedgod

It could be as simple as lose belt. Do you hear screeching when you lose power steering?

pah2os95

I saw your message while I was looking up the same problem we are having with our 2005 Honda CR-V and 2006 Acura MDX. Did you ever find out what the problem was? Thanks!

taffiwi

Hi The problem i am getting is when i am driving down the highway she will just stall on me, i have heard a faint click from the glove box area and the engine management light has flicked on on the dash. The rev counter and speedo just drop to zero but i dont loose any other electrics in the car. Some times the car will just start again on it's own but on other occasions i have to pull over and restart her with the key which is always possible to do. Any idae's ? all coments welcomed.
Thanks

cubadew

I am having this exact same problem with my 2002 CR-V EX. Problem is extremely random but seems to happen during rains which leads me to believe it is a short of some kind. I have the same symptoms, loss of power, battery light and hard steering.

Did you ever find a solution for this? I am overseas and getting into a dealership that knows much about this model is nearly impossible.

thanks!

extech2

When I was still a Honda tech we had fixed dozens of Hondas and Acuras with these same complaints by replacing the fuel pump relay. The parts and labor involved are about $ 150. That was in the late 90s, so there could be new gremlins now, but if this would be my car I'd get the new relay and plug it in. Access could be very difficult but the only tools needed back then was a 10 mm socket with an extension and a small ratchet, and maybe a Phillips screwdriver to remove some plastic covers for easier access. And save the old relay in case the fix fails. They won't take it back but at least you have 2 good relays you might need later. The relay location varies but usually they are under the dash close the steering column, deeply hidden. The only way to identify the old relay is by comparing it to a new one, because there are too many there and they look almost the same. They are about the size of a pack of cigarettes.

cubadew

Ill keep that in mind. It dawned on me another possibility yesterday. I couldn't get my mind wrapped around the fact that I was loosing power steering because that is a completely separate system which typically only fails with other systems when the engine actually dies. I still had over 1000rpm so that should have been impossible. However, it dawned on me that the alternator and power steering pump are directly in line of each other in the Serpentine belt path... Both times occurred after/during rain, and the first time occurred when I was turning hard to get into a parking spot. Put all these together and you have a serpentine belt that is slipping which would cause an immediate loss of power steering and the battery light would come on because the alternator would be failing due to lack of rpm. My belt looks good, but my suspicion is that I have a belt that is beginning to wear out and a failing tensioner. I've ordered both and I'll see if this fixes it.

thanks for the tip though... Ill post if it seems to fix it.

yathra

We are having the same problem with our 1999 honda cr-v. So far it happened only twice. Odometer drops to zero all of a sudden while driving. We park the car to the side of the road, and the engine is restarted immediately. It is so intermittent, it is not possible to demonstrate this to the dealer/repair shop at will. Did you get this fixed

taffiwi

Hi all, after having this on going problem for a couple of months my car gave up the ghost on the way up north so i called out the AA. the AA guy from KeriKeri only seemed interested in getting my car to his own garage and attempted to rip me off but luckily his son was there and he had a look at my ignition switch. at the bottom of the switch there are 2 disc like metal plates that have variuos contact positions on them. over time the plates had warped slightly and the contact was being lost causing the motor to cut out. I basically bypassed the ignition switch with a 2 way rocker switch i have to throw to get my ignition lights on then i kill the engine by throwing the switch back off. have never had a problem sinse. If you know an auto-electrician ask him to have a look at your ignition switch (just a sugestion) good luck.

bumpsetspike

When we travel on the interstate at 60+ mph we sometimes experience a loss of power. The car keeps running but does slow down. It seems if we keep it below 60 mph we don't see the problem. This happens intermittently. If we fill the gas tank up and put dry gas in it 'sometimes' will solve the problem. Recently it did not. I don't think its a water in the gas issue because we've run multiple tanks of gas thru the tank now and about 4-6 dry gas containers. I hate to take it to a dealer because I feel they will throw parts at it and not resolve the problem (I had this experience with my blazer for a power loss issue). If you have any insight on this problem I'd love to get your input. Thanks, Mike

yathra

Finally, my problem was resolved today.(atleast according to the dealer who fixed it today).
The first clue is the symptom I got from this URL: http://www.visualimpressions.ca/switch/

Yes, the ignition switch recall that was performed on my suv in 2002. The same thing cropped up again. I called Honda, and they advised me to take to the dealer. They performed the same recall replacement for free. When i walked in, they gave an invoice for $190, but after conforming that the recall was the same, they didn't charge me anything. I had to wait for 4 hours at the dealership, that was the only loss.

Here is the detail:

CAUSE: IGNITION SWITCH FAIL, NEEDS NEW
725108 SAFETY RECALL:
1 35130-S10-A01 Switch, steering

193862 Recall confirmed problem, removed and replaced ignition switch(Electrical)

mlint

I know its been a long time since your post however I dohave a ? ..is the Honda CRV 2002 second addition a good purchase? or do I need to look at another honda? I have always owned a honda last one lasted 334,000miles.. looking to get into the 2000 yr range...not much money..so don't want to have to get stuck with something that will cause me to wish I hadn't purchased... thanks ....ML

bumpsetspike

Believe it or not I've fixed this problem and it was a cheap fix. I had noticed when the problem occurred when the gas tank reach 1/2 full and I took off the gas cap there was a large rush of air entering the tank. So I figured I buy a new Honda gas cap and install it. So for $36 the new gas cap seems to have fixed this problem. Whew!

bumpsetspike

We've had pretty good reliability with our 2002 CR-V. We bought it used in 2004 from Honda so it was checked out pretty well. Good luck in your search.

rslyn

I have seen the thread here for this problem -- has any one solved this permanently?
I, too, have this problem, spent over $600 and I have the problem again. They are saying it will be another $800 to replace the CC.
HELP!!!
Thanks!

mr_marflo

Hi , need help on my CRV 2004 , a few weeks back the D green light (DRIVE) started blinking , sometimes it stayed on, my first thought it was that the transmission was faulty but then some days later the dashboard panel dimmed out more than the usual when lights were on , and at some point I felt it was losing power as the radio went out and lights didn't had enough power , I took it to the mechanics and they said that the alternator was bad , which made sense to me, and I kind of thought the D green light might have been a problem with the lack of power (somehow), anyway they fixed the alternator (they said) but a few days later my battery died, I kept having to recharge it as it was loosing power after a few days, and my D light problem was still happening , I also noticed my front lights were like flashing real fast (flickering) like whenever you almost run out of battery, so I took it to an autozone, they tested everything and said that the battery was dead, I bought a new one, and after that the lights were not flashing anymore, but next day when I was at a stop I noticed 2 lights on the dashboard , (ABS and Release parking break) didn't staid on for much time, but didn't felt right, took it back to the mechanic and couple of days later they said it had nothing, I was driving for a few miles and the same lights appear again but this time the revolutions dropped to 0 and then the engine went off, it all took like 5 seconds, I was able to restart the vehicle without any problem but I don't know what can I do, I really think those mechanics are ripping me off and are not really checking/testing anything, I would really appreciate any advise .

thanks

taffiwi

Hi.
I had a similar problem with my CRV and it got worse over time, it kept cutting out eventually but started after I had pulled over with full power loss.
The problem I had was to do with the ignition switch where you put the key in and turn for ignition. At the back of this assembly there are 2/3 little metal disc's that make the contact for the ignition to work and after time they warp and bend slightly which makes the contact intermittent hence the power loss or complete cut out.
I had mine by-passed in the end to a separate switch which was hidden from thieves and have never had a problem since. You still have to turn the key to get the starter motor cranking but worked fine after that.
Cant say that this is the exact problem you are having but if you know anyone with any auto electrical experience I'd ask them just to check it out for you.
Good luck

cher333

My brand new 2013 CR-V has intermittent acceleration problems. There is a delay in the acceleration at times- absolutely no response at all. It seems almost as if the car has cut off, then it will recover and lurch ahead. It is very frightening. I took it back into the dealer today, and they said they could find nothing wrong with it. HUH? I am hoping there is someone out there who has had this experience and can shed some light on it for me.