Engine cuts out when clutch depressed but only after warmup

It may seem completely out in left field, but they should verify the engine ground is still good. Bad engine grounds make for a lot of really weird effects, and they are really not that uncommon.

One of my brothers once worked in a stereo installation bay. One guy brought his car back because the stereo didn't work. Naturally, when he tried to demonstrate it worked fine. Eventually they found that the radio worked when the parking brake was on but not when it was released! The engine ground was bad, and the parking brake grounded the engine when the cable was tight in the sheath. When the cable was released the ground was lost and the radio didn't work... the battery got its ground through the engine.

Mike

Forgot to mention - I see no reason total engine replacement would help at all. The only internal failure I can imagine doing anything like this would be a bad thrust bearing (do Hondas have those?)... and that can be checked by measuring the play when the crank pulleys are pulled out and pushed in. I think they just want you and your problem to go away by telling you it would be outrageously expensive to proceed.

Mike

that's the truth!

i think you have a good point with looking for internal electrics. other things to look for include brake vacuum. it's common for the engine to stall if the servo vacuum is leaking - and typically, you press the brake at the same time as the clutch, but when driving, the engine will only stall when the clutch is disengaged. doesn't usually happen until the engine is warm.

Something finally filtered through my aging mind... the clutch has to be depressed to start the engine. How does it behave when you try to restart after it dies? It may not mean much, but if it cranks normally (whether it fires or not) it rules out the engine per se.

Mike

Mike, thanks for the suggestion, I think you were probably right about the garage as we picked the car up on Saturday because they still had no ideas. Luckily it was only 1 1/2 miles to home and it died just as we rolled onto the drive. Will check out your other suggestions now we have access to the car again. Noticed as well that when running cold on the drive and the clutch is depressed the clutch is quite noisy, grating noise? Tony

The clutch noise isn't a good thing, but not necessarily related to the engine problem. Talking about this with my son, we're really curious about the battery drain symptom. If that is happening with the new battery (battery isn't charging right) I'd recommend chasing that problem. I have a hunch that the fix for that is also the fix for the engine cutting out.

If you have access to a digital voltmeter the info and tests in Elle's site at

will tell you what's going on there. If you don't have a digital voltmeter, this is a good time to buy one. An adequate one can be had for $20 US these days, and I recently bought a simple one for $6.95 US. The engine ground can be tested by watching for voltage between the engine and the body; it should never go over a tenth of a volt or two. Mike

"Michael Pardee" wrote in news:89ydnU7XSvjDszHYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@sedona.net:

I'd watch out for Harbor Freight's cheapo DMMs;I got one that read WAY too high for a 1.5V alkaline battery,like 1.8-1.9Volts. I took it back and exchanged it for another one that read right. I'm still unsure about the AC volts accuracy. Fortunately,I have a much better 4.5 digit DMM,too.

myaccordcoupe wrote in news:964107 snipped-for-privacy@autoboardz.com:

Your clutch release bearing is dragging on the pressure plate fingers and is probably getting ready to bust through them.

The drag is slowing the engine down. (This used to happen from the factory on certain old BMC models that had carbon release bearings.)

Time to get a new clutch. And really soon. If the bearing pokes through the fingers, an awful lot of stuff can get torn up.