Rough idle and engine cuts out?

2015 HONDA CIVIC
135,000 MILES • 1.8L • 4 CYL • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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COLTONB02
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
Hi, recently my car has been idling very rough at stop lights or in my driveway. But starting a few days ago it has now started idling too low and then the engine just completely cuts out. It starts right back up when I turn the ignition but unless I put the car in neutral and rev it, it cuts out completely. I recently changed the spark plugs, ignition coils, and engine air filter. I also had it in the shop a few weeks ago for transmission issues, because apparently the transmission plug had popped out in the past and I was running it dry for an unknown amount of time; the shop did a full transmission flush and seemingly fixed it, but just thought I'd throw that in there in case for some reason it might be a transmission issue. Also, there are no engine lights dash lights at all that indicate an issue.
Mar 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
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STRAILER
  • AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
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Because the engine has a rough idle there should be trouble codes stored even though there is no check engine light on. It sounds like a classic cylinder misfire which can be caused by a cracked spark plug which is common.

Here are two guides we need to go over to help see wats going on:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-misfires-or-runs-rough

I would remove the spark plugs and check them for cracks. I don't think the transmission has anything to do with the problem but thanks for mentioning it. If you can upload a short video of the engine idling from under the hood it will help me, see what the problem is. Please go over these guides and get back to us.
Mar 19, 2025 at 10:47 AM
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