2008 Honda Civic: sudden loss of power

Filed Mar 11, 2019 · Engine · 106,900 miles · FL

Honda needs to be very considerate and make some type of exception towards what peope go through when they sell car that have a problem. I bought my car back in october of last year and I have had some issue every since. Back in feburwry of this I noticed that I was driving and my car started smoking I let it cool down and my car began to lose power. I took it to a shop who initially diagonosed it as a blown head gasket they told me it woul be $1500 to fix. I took it a honda repiar shop who did several test and came to the final conclusion that block is leaking. I always thought that honda was supposed to be the most relaible car. Please try to make some type of exception this is ridiculious.

Filed Dec 20, 2016 · Body, Engine · 145,000 miles · CA

The bracket the holds the alternator and is connected to the engine block snapped while I was driving on a city street. I lost power steering and the belt came off. The alternator was just dangling. From what I understand, this is a known problem with this model vehicle and it seems to be a serious design flaw.

Filed Apr 3, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · OH

2008 honda civic. Consumer writes in regards to engine block failure . *smd the consumer stated the engine block problem should be treated as a recall due to the severity of the problem. When the engine overheated and stalled, he lost power steering and brakes. At that point, the steering and brakes became very difficult. The consumer stopped to the dealer, where they showed him the 4 problem areas of the engine where the leakage occurred. Also, the bearing on the air conditioning compressor pulley started making a noise. The entire compressor had to be replaced. The consumer also had difficulty starting the vehicle and after 10 seconds, the vehicle would start. On occasion, he had trouble shifting from first to second gear. It would not shift, and he had to come to a complete stop and start in first gear. *jb updated 04/10/14

Filed Jul 2, 2013 · Engine · 143,000 miles · MD

Daughter was driving car and without any warning the engine started to lose power. She indicated that she pressed on the gas and the car just slowed down. She lost power steering control but was able to pull the car off to the side of the road. The car was towed to the nearest honda dealership and it was determined by their technicians that the engine block had cracked causing coolant and shut the engine down. There were no warning lights and no indication on the gauge panel that there were any issues or that the car was in the process of overheating.

Filed Dec 11, 2010 · Electrical · WI

I have 2008 honda civic hybrid had no problems until august 2010 when they sent a letter to have a software upgrade for the ima integrated motor assist battery after having the upgrade I had loss of power when acceleration the ima seems towork 50-75 percent less then what it use too also my battery indicator had never been down to 4 bars before the upgrade but after it was done seems like it wants to stay right at 4 most of the time so inturn the ima doesn't use the battery I have lose 10+ mpg I use to get 45-48 now I get 32-35 so now its like driving a under powered civic the worst is when you try to take off or if you need to accelerate to merge on the freeway you might have some ima or not you just don't know.

Filed Sep 28, 2010 · Engine · 32,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 honda civic ex (n/a). The contact was traveling 45 MPH and attempted to accelerate when the vehicle suddenly began losing power. The check engine light illuminated so the contact pulled over to the shoulder and turned the vehicle off. The vehicle was then towed to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed the bottom of the engine had a crack. The service manager then called back and stated that there was a problem with the headers and the radiator was melted because the vehicle had overheated. The failure mileage and current mileages were approximately 32,000.

Filed Sep 18, 2010 · Engine · 32,250 miles · FL

Basic complaint is unpredictable loss of power when accelerating. This seems to be due to the ima system operation. Not being able to depend on consistent acceleration has drastically changed the way you have to drive vehicle to prevent crash. If you needed the ability to accelerate quickly and safely, you cannot count on this vehicle to provide it. It occurs almost daily when acceleration is needed most, turning across traffic and merging in traffic/highway on-ramps. At the start ownership of vehicle, no problems noted. Car operated great! In last 5-10k miles car has gotten worse and worse. It has had all software updates. Mpg was always 42-45. Now runs around 35 mpg.

Filed Sep 2, 2010 · Electrical, Transmission · 21,010 miles · CA

We received a letter from honda stating that there was a recall on the software stating that a software update was needed to be done on the car to help the battery life of the car. So we brought it in to be serviced and ever since, we've lost power to the car, and lost mpg that used to be approx. 38 mpg to now 29 mpg, the same as our '99 civic coup dx, that is not a hybrid. My wife, while going onto the freeway was almost hit, while trying to accelerate. My wife is now hates driving the car she used to love. We live in a hilly area. When trying to accelerate up a hill we drive everyday, if the battery charge is 4 blocks or lower, it doesn't even assist. It's all the gas engine. The battery rarely kicks in so that defeats the hybrid theory and just adds more pollution that honda purports that it doesn't. To put it straight, this is not the car I bought and have been frustrated with the experience. I've brought my car back to honda to try to get the software issue resolved. They stated that there is nothing wrong with the car, engine or battery that everything is fine. When asked for an explanation for the loss of power and mpg, they said that I should try a higher octane of gas or a different brand. I have always used the highest octane gas from different gas stations without any issues before the software upgrade. So that isn't the problem. They have refused to say that there is an issue with their "software upgrade". I have pretty much wasted $26,000+ on purchasing this car. All I can say is this is shame on another big company, trying to save $$ by taking advantage of their own loyal customers. Thank you honda!

Filed Aug 31, 2010 · Transmission · 40,000 miles · OH

After the honda dealer performed a software update per a recall to extend the life of the battery on my 2008 honda civic hybrid, the vehicle began losing power intermittently and the gas mileage dropped significantly. Returned to dealer and was told "everything checked out." problem still unresolved.

Filed Aug 27, 2010 · Electrical · 9,240 miles · CA

2008 honda civic hybrid. Had battery computer replaced per honda request and experiencing loss of power going up inclines and going backwards downhill in low gear. Had family in car and never had this problem before going up this hill. This car will go up this hill with less people but we never had this problem before.

Filed Aug 26, 2010 · Electrical · 20,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 honda civic hybrid. The contact stated that when driving at various speeds, the vehicle would intermittently lose engine power. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. The battery software was upgraded under the a voluntary manufacturer recall. The failure became progressively worse following the repair and the vehicle was not further repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.