Questions and Answers

Honda Accord Mysteriously Died While Driving
Q. Hello, I have a 2003 Honda Accord V-6. I was driving down the freeway and all of a sudden my engine light came on I took the next exit and my car died. I tried to start it and it turned over then it died again.

I had it towed to the dealership and they told me they ran a diagnostic test then they called me the next day and told me they found a piece of carbon in the #6 cylinder and some carbon build up. Funny thing the next day I happened to be at the dealership and the mechanic got in my car and it started right up!

My car has 45,000 miles on it so it is fairly brand new. They also found the following misfire codes; P0301, P0304, P0305, P0300. They later went on to say that after the carbon was found that the codes were no longer there when they retested.

So they wanted me to let one of the mechanics take the car on about an 80-100 mile run to see what happens. $339.00 later they think that may be the problem but they are really not sure.

Boy that makes me feel good when I get in my car not knowing if my car is going to die again. So why am I paying $339.00? I don't know anymore than I knew then.

My brother in law is a mechanic. He seems to think that there may be an electrical problem. He doesn't believe that a piece of carbon would stop the engine from running. So what do you think?

Debra

A. I'm with him, I don't believe a piece of carbon would stop an engine either. But if they want the technician to take it on an 80 to 100 mile road test, let them. As long as you can go with him/her to help duplicate whatever conditions led up to the first failure.

It is not all that uncommon for a technician to want to take a vehicle on a long road test. As long as the purpose is to find a problem and not to use your vehicle for a more personal reason. I have driven vehicles for, up to, 160 to 180 miles to try and find a problem.

With so many possible causes for what happened, I wish I could be more helpful. But who knows? Maybe they did fix it.