2006 Honda Civic: sudden loss of power

Filed Jul 23, 2022 · Electrical, Transmission · CA

Car lost power while trying to make a left turn across traffic. IMA battery charge dropped and no assist was delivered. Oncoming car was able to stop in time, but barely. This has now happened on a number of occasions. Car lost power while climbing a hill in a residential neighborhood (15 MPH) and barely made it to the top. Car lost power while climbing a short steep driveway and could not ascend; had to roll backwards and "force charge" the IMA battery in low gear for 10 minutes, after which I was able to climb the driveway easily. Decided to replace the IMA battery due to obvious malfunction although no codes were being thrown. Problem improved significantly but once again experienced lack of power on steep, low-speed hills and in our driveway. Battery software seems schizophrenic, deciding to charge itself rather than assist when power is needed, such as hills or merging into or across traffic, even when there seems to be ample battery reserve (for example, after swapping out the IMA battery it refused to provide assist on the hill with approximately 40% remaining -- 4 bars -- but will gladly provide assist at 50% + battery charge. Sometimes battery does not charge while braking downhill even though charge is needed. Unpredictable. The sudden loss of power whenever the IMA Assist decides that it *isn't* going to help is extremely dangerous. Honda is aware of this problem but has not offered any solutions outside of 150k / 15 year warranty on the IMA battery, which has lapsed on our 2006. Reluctant to let my young adult daughter drive this car as loss of power while merging or crossing lanes of traffic could result in a serious accident.

Filed Apr 2, 2019 · Engine · 168,000 miles · CO

While driving on the highway the engine sputtered then lost all power. It was towed to the shop where they told me the engine block was cracked. I bought the car used and the cost of repairs will exceed the vehicle's worth.

Filed Sep 26, 2018 · Engine · 164,000 miles · OH

I was driving on a highway and my engine started to get really hot I lost my power steering and my brakes all at once because the engine overheated, I pulled off the road and filled the coolant however that did not work and so I took it into the dealership and found out there was a crack in the engine block. This is a safety hazard because I was n the highway and had mere seconds of losing power steering to pull off onto the side of the road and get out of the car as smoke was coming from the engine. The issue is that the car was bought in 2006 and because of just an extended warranty that was only 10 years I now have to put thousands of dollars into getting a new engine.

Filed May 19, 2016 · Engine · 211,262 miles · IL

Hello! A very well-known issue with the 06-09 honda civic is a tendency for the engine blocks to crack. Frequenting online forums and websites, it seems a wide range of people are affected from less than 1,000 miles to up to 200,000 miles. That being said, it seems this car is a literal time bomb. There have been incidents of people driving on the highway only to rapidly lose power to all systems, including the brakes and power steering. Needless to say, this is a profound safety hazard, not only to the driver, but other drivers as well! That being said, honda admitted that the tendency for blocks to crack was due a faulty casting process. They had issues an initial 8 year warranty and increased that to 10 years. As of late, many current owners have still had their blocks cracked. Only this time, honda is refusing to fix their faulty product. As such, I wanted to bring attention to this issue and hope something can be done to alleviate this matter. A car's block under normal maintenance and use should never catastrophically fail, let alone risk people's lives! Even if a recall isn't enforced, at least hold honda accountable to their faulty engines and place an extended warranty for this specific issue. Thank you. *takata recall

Filed Apr 14, 2016 · Engine · 120,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 honda civic. While driving 55 MPH, smoke appeared under the hood of the vehicle and the vehicle lost power. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine block was cracked and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.

Filed Apr 4, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 140,000 miles · CA

Hello! A very well-known issue with the 06-09 honda civic is a tendency for the engine blocks to crack. Frequenting online forums and websites, it seems a wide range of people are affected from less than 1,000 miles to up to 200,000 miles. That being said, it seems this car is a literal time bomb. There have been incidents of people driving on the highway only to rapidly lose power to all systems, including the brakes and power steering. Needless to say, this is a profound safety hazard, not only to the driver, but other drivers as well! That being said, honda admitted that the tendency for blocks to crack was due a faulty casting process. They had issues an initial 8 year warranty and increased that to 10 years. As of late, many current owners have still had their blocks cracked. Only this time, honda is refusing to fix their faulty product. As such, I wanted to bring attention to this issue and hope something can be done to alleviate this matter. A car's block under normal maintenance and use should never catastrophically fail, let alone risk people's lives! Even if a recall isn't enforced, at least hold honda accountable to their faulty engines and place an extended warranty for this specific issue. Thank you.

Filed Sep 8, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 120,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 honda civic. While driving 10 MPH, the vehicle lost power and failed to accelerate. The engine and the ima lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the voltage converter module failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 11v106000 (electrical system). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.

Filed Aug 15, 2015 · Engine · 101,657 miles · DE

As the single owner and driver of an 06 honda civic that I purchased new and paid for in full, I have full service for the vehicle as recommended at the dealer site where it is purchased. I had the vehicle serviced for lube/oil/& oil filter change on 7/27/2015 and they also perform the multipoint inspection. In just 12 days, engine overheating occurred while I was driving on I-95. Upon my return home from work, I heard a humming I had never heard before. As I slowed down to listen closer to determine origin, I see that no engine lights. After few minutes, the temperature gauge indicated sever overheating, then the car sputters, rapidly losing power -I barely made it to the side of the road safely out of traffic on I-95 when the car shuts off and smoke. I had absolutely no warning or even a hint of a problem; no noises, no dash lights on, no issues with ignition, gears, or driving performance. I had to arrange the car tow to my dealers service department. After that, the dealer reports engine is completely burned, not drivable and not repairable. The oil strip burns half way. They dont know what causes the engine overheated. This overheating problem is not due to the cracks that are included in the warranty extension. They don't cover the replacement cost. If we want to replace a engine, a used engine block is $5600. It looks like I will need to rent a car for at least next two weeks because I am still negotiating with my dealer about this issue and if it is covered by any warranty. They are unable to answer me what cause the issue when the car just finished its service and everything including engine condition is great. I could go on and on and on with the costs involved, time involved and the incredible inconvenience of this event.. Not to mention the safety issue while driving on the high way!!!

Filed Sep 24, 2014 · Steering · 104,500 miles · CA

I was on hwy 18 just before lake arrowhead, ca when I lost the power steering and almost went off the cliff. Upon inspection, I found that the belt tensioner bracket's pivot bolt had sheered off the engine block causing the belt tensioner to come loose. This, in turn caused loss of power steering. There was a tsb (09-007) issued by honda for a limited number of VIN numbers. This tsb called for replacement of the pivot bolt and the drive belt. The tsb expired on january 30, 2012, however, it appears that this is an ongoing issue and honda should recall all affected vehicles to correct the defect. I also contacted a small local honda dealer and inquired about the number of this pivot bolts they have sold in the last 6 months. This dealership alone sold over ten bolts. It appears that this is a wide spread issue that needs immediate attention before injuries occur or worse, lives are lost.

Filed Jan 15, 2013 · Engine · 75,689 miles · AL

I was driving the car down a 2 lane road and the engine started making a noise again. This is the 4th time this same problem has happened within one year. I took my foot off the accelerator to turn left into a gas station and the engine went dead and power steering was lost. Could not re-start the engine and had to have it towed to a dealership. Invoice says serpentine belt tensioner pivot bolt is broken which caused belt damage, waterpump pulley damage, tensioner damage, etc. Due to the damage, one helicoil was not enough to maintain the proper torque so they had to use a second one inside the first one. Note on this invoice says "if problem recurs engine block replacement will be necessary." honda sent out a tsb about this on january 30, 2009 #09-007 that says "the current routing of the engine drive belt creates extra force on the drive belt auto-tensioner. In rare cases, this extra force could break the auto-tensioner pivot bolt, causing an engine noise or a loss of power steering." I did not receive a card in the mail saying that my car was being recalled for repair of this problem, but I feel like this time there could have been serious injury when my car went dead while I was turning left across oncoming traffic.

Filed Oct 11, 2011 · Engine · 71,000 miles · NJ

Premature catastrophic failure of water pump pulley caused by pulley bolts falling out of pulley, pulley detaching and than causing failure of serpentine accessory belt. Honda will not cover this under tsb 08-039. This is a saefty issue as well - loss of power steering, cooling, engine could blow. I have to bring into dealer contacted honda asked them to cover 100% of cost they only cover 40%. Replaced with upgraded parts not same flawed design. Honda must cover 100% of this. Case number: no12011-09-2700942 car always dealer serviced and oil changes purchased new.

Filed Jun 21, 2011 · Fuel system · 66,000 miles · AZ

Honda civic ima system not functioning properly while driving, leading to loss of power when critically needed, possibly causing an accident. The car completely stalled in traffic, ima light, check engine light, brake system light were all on, car would restart, but would not let take out of park to get out of traffic! Very very dangerous. I have complained about this hybrid battery giving me problems before-- not holding a charge, almost every time I start the car, the ima battery shows depleted, even though it was charged when I left the car the night before, and often it will go from fully charged to dead in a matter of 1 mile of driving on flat roadway, causing the engine to be very sluggish and not have power when needed. Honda would not do anything, they just kept making excuses. There are many many people complaining about the same thing. I'm taking it in tomorrow morning to have it looked at, but I am not confident they will properly address the issue, because they have dismissed me in the past.