I bought this car in Wisconsin where there can be some really cold winters and humid summers. In 2009 I moved to Rochester, NY where the weather is quite similar. The first precursor of this problem started when my car's RPM would drop low when I start my car and occasionally the engine would stop. I assumed that the gas line was not allowing gas into the engine properly so I would pump my gas petal before I would start my car. Then, a week later, I would have my daily commutes and stop either at a red light intersection or a stop sign and I would feel the RPM drop as low as 600 and the engine would be on the brink of stalling. As I would press down on the gas petal, the car would not accelerate immediately as usual but would have to rev up the RPMs before it would accelerate. I believe this is quite dangerous and could cause an accident if the car does not perform properly. This would happened for a couple more weeks until I finally could not start my car.

I would turn the ignition key and the car would start up properly but after approximately 3-5 seconds the engine would shut off. Not being a car expert, I assumed it was my batteries but the lights were on, power windows worked, and engine would start until it shut off a few seconds later. I call all of my automotive techies and they had a few hypothesis but only one hit the nail on the head.

Since it was still covered under standard warranty, 3 years or 30,000 miles the local Honda dealer towed my car and determined the problem was a failed Mass Air Flow Sensor computer chip that emits the proper amount of air into the combustion chamber. It took a few days to order the chip and they replaced it and it was good as new.

So I thought, until not even a year later, I just had the same precursor show up again. This is about the same time of the year that it stall the year before, usually in early Spring after Winter. My car had trouble starting up and RPMs drop while I'm in Drive gear at intersections. The car will rev up RPMs before it accelerates and is quite slow. I expect my car to not start up in the next few weeks because it is a recurring problem. However this time I will have to pay $250 out of my own pocket to fix the problem.

We will see what happens in the next couple of weeks but I'm sure it is the same Mass Air Flow Sensor short circuiting either from the change in weather or humidity. This is something that Honda needs to be aware of for future references.