eskimo10

First the car: its a 1998 Civic EX, with 138xxx miles, I/H/E, lowered, and thats it. I was taking a road trip to Jersey on thursday and about an hour or so into my trip the car shuts off while doing 60, now not a normal slow down lose power coast to a stop shut off. Nope, a lock the freaking car up, 60-0 in 2.45 seconds shut off. I was able to move the car out of traffic and it started right up. Could this be caused by like a ground coming undone? Or something? I mean the car absolutely locked up, brakes locked, power shut off, car skidded to a halt. What could cause that?

Also, when I break while up too speed say at 60 and I brake semi hard my car pulls to the right hard. Could this be fixed by bleeding the brakes? Or a warped rotor? Or worn pads?

Thanks for your help, sorry for the double question, I just figured it would be easier than making two threads and wasting peoples precious time. Thanks again!

eskimo10

Nobody has any idea on either problem?

hard_boiled_EG

kinda hard to understand what your saying...kinda don't makes sense...but i kinda put it together and:

1: your car was probaly in gear when the motor shut off making the car skid
2: your left break caliber might be stuck: so when you break only the right side grabs making it pull right.

eskimo10

ok, thanks for trying to make some sense of it. Let me know what I need to clarify and I can do that.

1 - yes it was in 5th gear, but even still when I lose power in times before it has never just completely locked up, making the brake pedal stiff as all get out and stopping me from a 60-65 roll to 0 in around 2.45 second.

2 - hm, you could be correct on that I will have to go and take a look at that soon. Any other reasons you can think of?

Thanks for your input!

waaBAAH

left brake hose, left caliper, left caliper slides, fornt end play or looseness in eitther side for the pulling "right" while braking. rare case is master cylinder or even abs solenoid leaking internally if abs equipped.

im clueless on the car skidded and shutoff and the same time while cruising 60. i want to kind of say somehitng in the tranny locked the wheels and created a stall effect. it would best explain both problems. but then again..the car dorve away just fine?.. lol

eskimo10

Yea I'm gonna dissect the front brakes this weekend to see if I can find anything.

And yes the car started up less than 2 minutes later and has driven just fine ever sense. I would guess the tranny too, but I have had no problems leading up to that incident or since the incident.

waaBAAH

disconnecting the front brakes totally wont tell you anything.

first you need a good front end check. check for any looseness especially the lower control arm bushings.

from there i would check your calipers for binding. can you move the caliper back and forth on the bracket? good...slides in tact.

can you push in on the caliper?.. good..caliper not frozen

what happens when you open the bleeder screw on the caliper?.. fluid dripping in steady stream or fast paced drip? good..hoses

also slighlty pull on the ebrake to where the engage then hit the brakes. pull still there? mor wethen likley the front then.
when your at a stop light...does your pedal sink a little bit while stopped?.. sign of bad internal master cylinder.

do you have abs?.. what happens if you take out the fuse..does it still pull?... if it does still pull then abs is good.

the rear can even cause a "pulling" effect. if you have rear drums see if both tires spin the same while in the air. they should. also see if the spin one full rotation then stop.. that is how they should be adjusted.

eskimo10

I didn't say disconnect, I said dissect, like take the tire off, take the caliper off check for working and functional parts, etc.

Thanks for the checklist of things to look for, going to be doing that this weekend. Good looking out bro!