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Short Hills, NJ Car Consumer Discussions

Engine light is on and about reversing the van down the hill

by miyervang on Fri Nov 14 07:01:23 PST 2008

i have own this car for only 7 months and bought this van through a small dealership that i have bought this car from PA through an action. i did a carfax and it came out to be no trouble at all and one owner for this car and it was for personal used only. i purchased it when it was 69,000 miles. i have quesiton about my engine light being on. light show on 10-27-08 and i had reset the car and it had turn off eversent today. the light came back on and i don't know what to do. i took it to a local auto zone store to do a free engine check and it define it as Electrical load detector curcuit high input Probable causes 1. open or short circuit condition 2. failed ECM do anyone know what it exectly what it is telling me. i don't want to waist money to go the dealership to disnosg. it and if someone could get me some answer to this question. if it dones't help, maybe it'll be best to take it to the dealership. i have another question. when my car is put into reverse(front is facing down the hill) it seem to be reversing it, if i don't put enough gas paddle on the car. i goes down and then when i put gas on it, then it'll reverse. same thing when the car is going up the hill; and when i stop and then go, it'll roll down and i have to put gas on it so it won't roll down. is that normal or is there something wrong with the van?

Re: "bouncing" problem [smoscato]

by waterdr on Sat Dec 22 05:24:36 PST 2007

It's a Wrangler. It has a short wheel-base and is heavy. It will bounce and hobby-horse like an SOB. The new 4-doors are a big improvement in ride quality over the older models, but it is still crappy. I have driven a bunch of the new ones and they all do this. If the road is smooth, they are fine. But, add bumps and hills, and it turns into a roller coaster. Jeep has tried to make people think that the new 4-doors will make sedan people think they can get one of these as a family car, but the ride quality is terrible when compared to a almost anythng else. They are also extremely slow. Passing on the highway is complete fear when merging into traffic. Wait until your first wind-storm. Bottom line, this Wrangler is still a great, fun, weekend or ocassional use car. but, no substitute as a family hauler.

Re: 14.5 mpg in SF [dpp8f]

by nippononly on Sat Nov 08 11:09:35 PST 2008

SF is a town where traffic is stop and go almost everywhere, every block has either a stop light or a stop sign, and the hills are so steep that some older cars can't go up them at all. If one were to combine that with lots of short trips where the engine is running cold as often as it is running hot, it wouldn't be surprising at all to achieve only 14.5 mpg, especially in a model with such a large 4-cylinder as the CRV has. Your last two cars had much smaller 4-cylinder engines, so they would be bound to do a lot better if a lot of your driving is in town, especially if it is mostly short trips (5 miles or less).

Re: 4 cyl or 6 cyl [backy]

by bhmr59 on Sun Oct 26 15:47:06 PDT 2008

I'm surprized to see these reports of teh 4 cyl Sonata being under powered. My '05 Sonata GLS SV is a V6, rated at 170 HP. The new 4 cyl is rated 175 HP. I've always been light on the gas, more so in the last year. I do practicaly no highway driving, drive under 3 miles to work with hills (we're talking elevation changes of 200 ft), 2 stop signs ( I actually stop) and 4 traffic lights. My '05 is rated 19/27. Year round I average about 19 mpg for local driving. Better in the spring & fall when the auto A/C doesn't kick on and a bit worse in summer with the A/C and worse when the temps drop below 50 and even worse when the temps are in the teens. Yet, year round, I average right about 19 mpg. If I drive 60 highway miles during a tank of gas, the mpg improvement is 1 to 2 mpg. With my type of driving (short haul), I can't complain about about the MPG.

I Agree...

by jchan2 on Wed Oct 22 17:09:37 PDT 2008

That Ford has the best shot at surviving; even without Kirk, because they have their Mazda and Volvo assets, which I think they shouldn't sell- Ford is really benefiting from the Mazda small/midsize expertise, the Volvo safety expertise, and if Ford can afford it, I think both should be kept as they allow Ford to attract buyers who may not consider a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury product. Ford can cut some costs by closing Mercury, reducing themselves to 4 divisions: Ford (mass market), Lincoln (premium/fleets), Volvo (premium), and Mazda (sporty/imports). I think Ford could even safely close Lincoln, leaving Ford once again with three brands- Ford, Mazda, Volvo. GM and Chrysler are another case altogether; while Ford is almost on track, especially after the sale of Jaguar/Land Rover, the combined company would have too many divisions; I think the resulting GM/Chrysler should be: Chevrolet (mass market), Pontiac/Buick/Jeep (sporty/premium/SUV), Cadillac (luxury), Saturn, and Saab. GMC, Dodge, and Chrysler should simply be closed. The only thing worth salvaging would be the Jeep models (excluding the Compass) and the minivans, which could be rebadged as a Chevy (Grand Caravan) and a Buick (Town & Country). I would also argue that GM could even spin off Saturn and Saab, selling the combined dealer network and production facilities (GM Spring Hill and Trollhattan) to a new owner. This could raise some cash in the short term, and I've always seen more synergy between Saturn and Saab than between either brand and the rest of GM. Plus, a foreign brand seeking to come back to the US (Renault, Fiat, whomever) might like the smaller, leaner dealer network that Saturn/Saab provide. The only obstacle to a spin-off is that it goes against the current policy of further integrating Saturn and Saab into the rest of GM; GM wants Cadillac-Hummer-Saab dealers right now, making any spin-off of Saturn and Saab far more difficult.

Re: Duplicate IMA Malfunction On Demand? [freddierap]

by lectricman52 on Sat Oct 18 10:17:48 PDT 2008

Good to hear that you have filed a complaint with the NHTSA. I filed one in early September, and all of us who are having the problem should file a complaint. As far as causing it to happen "on demand", it always happened to me more often in stop and go traffic, and when the AC was needed. The service manager at my dealer explained that in warmer temps, when the battery goes from charge to assist to charge and so on, all in a short time, it causes the battery to heat up. One of the software updates is designed to protect the battery from damage by cutting out the IMA assist and the drain on the battery. The only suggestions given me were "direct the AC vents to direct the cool air back toward the battery" and "take the back seat cover off to allow the battery to cool". Insane suggestions? Here are my unresolved issues: 1) There is erratic behavior of the charge/assist system. Sometimes the system charges under acceleration when it should assist and it assists when coasting downhill and it should be charging. 2) Sometimes the charge/assist indicator will bounce between charging and assisting, and a noticeable “bump” or “surge” occurs. This happens when the car is accelerating, or sometimes decelerating down a hill when it should be charging. 3) Although a new IMA battery was installed and for a couple of weeks it seemed to hold a charge, the battery has become discharged on several occasions since the installation of the new battery. The car then exhibits very degraded performance and poor gas mileage. The battery has never charged the way it did before the first IMA problem. Prior to October 2007 it would often charge fully, sometimes each day. Since the first IMA work in October 2007 it rarely charges fully. 4) Sometimes when driving on level ground or a slight downhill grade, the gas mileage indicator drops all the way down. It stays there for several seconds and then goes back up to a normal level. 5) At times it seems that the engine will race or rev up when I start to accelerate from a stop. The car engine goes to AutoStop when the car stops, but it doesn't’ seem to move immediately when it restarts the engine after I take my foot off the brake. This does not happen really frequently, but occasionally. 6) The gas mileage of the vehicle has dropped almost 15% overall. But the gas mileage has also very frequently been inconsistent. At times the MPG is up to the 50 MPG range or more. At other times it is in the 38 – 44 MPG range on the same type of road conditions, same driving patterns, and no AC use on either occasion. I drive the vehicle 30,000 – 33,000 miles per year for work, so I am very familiar with the normal performance and mileage of the car, at least before the problems occurred after the IMA warning light came on in October 2007. I have told my dealer that I am considering some options, contacting local and/or national media about the unresolved problem and American Honda's denials, and getting a magnetic sign made for the side of my car that will warn others who may be considering buying a Civic Hybrid. I would name the local dealer and American Honda and state that they cannot fix my car. The dealer has made me a decent offer to trade my car for another, and I could get a pretty good deal on a 2009 non-hybrid. I told them that there are bigger issues than just my dissatisfaction. The weather is cooler here now, so the safety issue is not as big of a problem. I hope other owners file complaints and try to put pressure on Honda. There could be some strength in numbers.