Engine stalling while idling (Honda Fit 2007)

Question

I have a 2007 Honda Fit Sport. When idling (e.g, at red lights), my engine often dies. It seems to happen at least once per day. It has about 70k miles, and is in otherwise good condition.

From what I could tell, I THINK it happens much more often if my AC is on, so I usually turn off my AC whenever I hit a red light. Also, I THINK it happens more on hot days. Possibly because the AC is running harder.

Also, sometimes if I run the AC for a while, and then stop my car, I hear a swashling sound. It sounds like I have a cooler of ice water in my car. I don't know if that's related.

Also, I could kind of tell it's about to happen, because I feel a low gurgling rumble when it happens before the engine dies.

The engine just cuts out, and I have to use my keys to start it up again.

I tried bringing it to Midas, but they couldn't figure it out. Also, I don't know if any of these problems are related, or if they're totally separate issues.

Any idea what could be the cause of the engine dying? I could live with the ice bucket noise if it's not a related issue.

Answer 1

This is a bit hard to pin down with just the given info since it could be caused by so many things. You need to find a better shop I think, someone who will hook up a good scanner and watch live data on test drives. This would probably help narrow it down. My first suspect would be airflow. Have you changed your filter lately? Another I might would keep a eye on is the alternators performance. Maybe its dying out.

The swooshing sound could be gas tank or water trapped in the doors. Where does the sound come from?