2001 CRV stalls, unstable idle

[rak911]

I have a 2001 CRV and right about warr exit time 35k-36k, the idle started gettting rough and would occasionally die, ie, stopping at a stop sign. Now we have 50k miles and it got worse, so I messed around with the idle adjustment bolts and jacked up the idle to about 900 rpm. About a month after that my wife took the car to Phoenix and the battery died, so she got a new one from Costco. On the way home, the idle was running about 1500 rpm when she stopped for gas or food and twice the gearshift lever would not come out of PARK until she shut off the engine and re-started it. After reading a couple forum items, I'm inclined to head for the dealer unless some of you more-experienced-with-CRV folks can offer me some better direction before I submit to Dealership victimization.
Another interesting quirk is that when I adjust the idle to keep it from stalling, it will speed up 300-400 rpm all by itself and then I re-adjust it back to 900-1000rpm. I rememeber when the car was new and it was just a teeny bit rough at 400-500 RPM, but never stalled. When perusing the owners manual before I changed the plugs at 38k, I found a statement that warned against too little torquing the plugs could cause engine damage, and the original plus were not too tight. That ring any bells?

[CS12]

I have a 2001 CRV and around 57K miles it started giving the same problems. (Engine stalls @ red light, stop sign, rough idle etc). Took it to the dealer and as suspected, the "Known issue" from Honda had happened. The issue is that on a certain batch of CRV's from 1997-2001 the cylinder head was bad causing the valves to stick. This was impacting the exhast valves. The dealer had talked to American Honda had got the OK to replace the cylinder head (including valves, camshaft) at no cost to me. (About $2000 for parts /$700+ for labor). So please see a Honda dealer and try to push for the "Goodwill warranty"

[lorunner]

has the check engine lite come on at all? A misefire usually accours like CS-12 says and its due to lack of valve adjustment. The valves actaull burn and the whole head need replacement. Good luck with warrenty though.

[kishoree]

Hello RAK911 > I see you had a problem with your 2001 CRV sometime in Feb. 2005. I would like to know if you were able to resolve it to your satisfaction and if you did, what was done to resolve it?

Here is my problem: I have 2001 Honda CRV. It ran flawlessly since it was purchased brand new in 2001 until recently. About a month ago it started stalling/rough idle with the engine cold. Problem is intermittent, and it seems to be happening only with engine being cold. I live in Southern California. I spoke with a mechanic locally, he says to take it to the dealership and have them clean the fuel injectors.

Before talking to a dealership, I am trying to find out more on this issue. Any input from anyone??

Thanks.

[kishoree]

...

[jkk_01]

I have exact same problem. The honda dealer in my town replaced head gasket(sp?). After 3000 miles, same rough idle and check engine lite.

My next step is to see if I would qulify lemon law relie

[crx91]

i have the same prob, but on a 98' model. i was getting a missfire from the obd2 reader/scanner. so i replaced the distributer and chaged the wires and plugs, runns a lil better but still a rough idle and poor throatle response. im not new to hondas, and have worked on many honda engies, but this lil thing has got me stummped!!!. when u went to the dealer, did they say it was a reacal for the bad head???. thanx in advance

[crx91]

bump

[meldyf]

I have exactly the same problem with my stalling crv...would like to know if you have found a solution..would appreciate a lot.

[jgr7]

Have any of you had the valves adjusted? My 98 was running ruff and missing when cold at around 75K ran fine when hot. CEL gave a #1 cyl missfire. I changed plugs, wires, cap, you know a tune up. It didn't help. I took to the Honda dealer and they suspected the valves needed adjustment. They warned me that it could have burnt an exhaust valve if it had been doing this for a long time. The valves were adjusted and it fixed the problem. I think the owners manual calls for valve check and adjust if needed every 30K miles. I just had mine done again 2 weeks ago at 143K miles not having them done since the first time. I didn't have any symptoms just figured it was time to have them done.
Jeff

[meldyf]

I have good news..because of this wonderful website i told my husband about having the valves adjusted and the dealer discovered a notch in the timing belt..after both were done..my car now drives like a dream..no stalling even with a cold engine! thank you so much & God bless!

[jgr7]

meldyf, I'm glad everything worked out for you.
Jeff

[gtocali]

Originally Posted by jgr7

Have any of you had the valves adjusted? My 98 was running ruff and missing when cold at around 75K ran fine when hot. CEL gave a #1 cyl missfire. I changed plugs, wires, cap, you know a tune up. It didn't help. I took to the Honda dealer and they suspected the valves needed adjustment. They warned me that it could have burnt an exhaust valve if it had been doing this for a long time. The valves were adjusted and it fixed the problem. I think the owners manual calls for valve check and adjust if needed every 30K miles. I just had mine done again 2 weeks ago at 143K miles not having them done since the first time. I didn't have any symptoms just figured it was time to have them done.
Jeff

The 2001 CRV owners manual states 105,000 for valve adjustment. The #1 cylinder lost half compression in my CRV which turned out to be a burned exhaust valve. I am saddened by Honda's lack of a proactive stance on this issue to send alerts to owners warning of this potential problem. My CRV had only about 69,000 miles when this happened and I have read about several other owners with this problem.

[jgr7]

gtocali your right about the 105k adjustment I was thinking about spark plugs every 30k. They do seem to know about it as they knew just what to check when I had my CEL and cold miss.
Jeff