The other day I was driving. came to a stop light, and I turned on the heat and the idle dropped and the car stalled out. The idle seems to drop when I turn on the heat in my car. Any ideas what might cause this? Thanks

 

Hmm.. I've read that this can be due to a dirty throttle body, but don't know how accurate that information is.

It's worth a shot. Clean the TB and the IACV (idle air control valve) and reset the ECU.

It is recommended that you do the Idle Relearn after resetting the ECU.

- Turn all electrical items OFF. (radio, wipers, heater, defogger, etc etc)

- Start the car and hold it at 3,000 RPM until the radiator fan comes on, or until the coolant reaches the operating temperature of 194 °F

- Take your foot off of the accelerator and let the car idle for at least five minutes.

- Done.


It's worked for other people (according to what I've read) so hopefully it works for you too.

 

Is there a Manual for our generation of civics. I have the manual for the EK series, but doesn't cover the newer generations. Thanks

 

Of course there's a manual. Helm's makes the best one.

http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2...C01&itemtype=N

 

I currently am having a similar issue, but with high idle & 'stalling' at lights. The stall is caused by the ECU cutting fuel injection when it detects the high idle parameter. For me this results in a idle bouncing between 1k and 200. However, it has never actually completely stalled out. I believe this to be related to either 1.) vacuum leak or 2.) bad grounding or a voltage issue to the IACV valve (my IACV is brand new, issue persists)

 

Thought I might add that turning on the heater draws on the electrical system and your idle issue could be related to your charging system. Check out your Electronic Load Detector, this is a 'relay' of sorts that is supposed to send signal to open the IACV slightly as compensation for added load on the engine/electrical. May want to go in this direction if you have no disturbance to normal vacuum and your idle is usually normal unless your upping the electrical load.