Control freak
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2016
- Threads
- 7
- Messages
- 64
- Reaction score
- 18
- Location
- California
- Vehicle(s)
- 2016 Civic LX manual
- Thread starter
- #1
Has anyone else had the interesting effect where if you turn off your car while traveling at speed, then turning it back on, the engine did not actually stop? Or at the very least, it's running again without you needing to start it?
Apologies if this has been covered before, but I tried the search function and didn't find anything easily. I'm sure there's one specific search term that I'm not getting.
Some background:
So, I thought I'd try something maybe slightly ill advised, but not totally unsafe: Driving on the freeway at night, I can tell the person in front of me doesn't have their lights on. Flicking my lights off doesn't work to tell them anything since the daytime running lights just kick in and the person in front of me is too clueless to be able to tell that my lights have dimmed ever so slightly. Heck, if they can't tell that their own headlights are off, they probably aren't even looking in the mirror either. This is also the case when approaching other traffic on a two way road.
So, I figure I'd turn on my high beams to get their attention, then turn off all my lights by turning off the engine. THAT turns off the daytime running lights, and I just have to remember to have my headlights either turned off, or in the automatic position. If they're in the manual "on" position, they don't turn off even with the ignition off.
I tried that by pressing in the clutch, turning the key to that ACC position (or maybe OFF), waiting a moment, then turning it back to the ... erm ON position, and briefly to START to start the engine. Interestingly enough, I heard the starter motor grind just like when trying to start the engine when it's already running. I couldn't tell what the engine RPM was because the dashboard was still booting up.
Later I tried that on a mostly empty stretch of road at 40mph. Press in clutch, turn engine to ACC, turn it back to ON, this time wait for the dashboard to fully restart, and the RPM is not zero- more like 800 RPM- so i just let the clutch out and continue driving.
So, what's the deal? If I'm turning the key to either OFF or ACC, I expect the engine to just stop, but it doesn't seem to. I admit, it's a bit noisy, so I can't tell if the engine stops and then starts again, but given I have a key ignition, I don't expect the starter to run itself (unlike maybe the cars with start buttons instead of keys).
Is this a safety feature to prevent any engine damage or loss of control if the key or start button gets accidentally hit when driving? Maybe something to prevent a GM ignition switch problem?
I guess I'll have to do more testing, maybe see if I lose power steering or brakes- I didn't notice last time since I was just going staright anyway. But really, I wouldn't have noticed this if I were able to flick off my DRLs at the drivers who forget to turn on their lights. Or maybe I'll just use my highbeams instead.
Has anyone started the whole "how to turn off my DRLs?" thread on this forum yet?
Apologies if this has been covered before, but I tried the search function and didn't find anything easily. I'm sure there's one specific search term that I'm not getting.
Some background:
So, I thought I'd try something maybe slightly ill advised, but not totally unsafe: Driving on the freeway at night, I can tell the person in front of me doesn't have their lights on. Flicking my lights off doesn't work to tell them anything since the daytime running lights just kick in and the person in front of me is too clueless to be able to tell that my lights have dimmed ever so slightly. Heck, if they can't tell that their own headlights are off, they probably aren't even looking in the mirror either. This is also the case when approaching other traffic on a two way road.
So, I figure I'd turn on my high beams to get their attention, then turn off all my lights by turning off the engine. THAT turns off the daytime running lights, and I just have to remember to have my headlights either turned off, or in the automatic position. If they're in the manual "on" position, they don't turn off even with the ignition off.
I tried that by pressing in the clutch, turning the key to that ACC position (or maybe OFF), waiting a moment, then turning it back to the ... erm ON position, and briefly to START to start the engine. Interestingly enough, I heard the starter motor grind just like when trying to start the engine when it's already running. I couldn't tell what the engine RPM was because the dashboard was still booting up.
Later I tried that on a mostly empty stretch of road at 40mph. Press in clutch, turn engine to ACC, turn it back to ON, this time wait for the dashboard to fully restart, and the RPM is not zero- more like 800 RPM- so i just let the clutch out and continue driving.
So, what's the deal? If I'm turning the key to either OFF or ACC, I expect the engine to just stop, but it doesn't seem to. I admit, it's a bit noisy, so I can't tell if the engine stops and then starts again, but given I have a key ignition, I don't expect the starter to run itself (unlike maybe the cars with start buttons instead of keys).
Is this a safety feature to prevent any engine damage or loss of control if the key or start button gets accidentally hit when driving? Maybe something to prevent a GM ignition switch problem?
I guess I'll have to do more testing, maybe see if I lose power steering or brakes- I didn't notice last time since I was just going staright anyway. But really, I wouldn't have noticed this if I were able to flick off my DRLs at the drivers who forget to turn on their lights. Or maybe I'll just use my highbeams instead.
Has anyone started the whole "how to turn off my DRLs?" thread on this forum yet?
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