Engine idle drops and dies after cold cranking?

Tiny
ETERNALARIANNE
  • MEMBER
  • 2011 HONDA ODYSSEY
  • 3.5L
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 215,000 MILES
Since the weather has gotten colder, I've had this weird issue. If I'm parked on a hill with the nose facing downward and crank the cold engine, it will start out idling fine, then after a minute or so it will start idling really low and the whole van shakes, then the engine dies. I can turn around and crank it back up and it will run fine - but there is no CEL indicating a problem.

It has happened twice so far this winter. The second time the engine didn't totally shut off, but it almost did before it revved back up again and the battery light flashed for a split second.

I tested the battery with a load tester and it's fine (it's only 2 years old). Alternator was also replaced maybe 3 years ago. Could it be fuel pump/filter? Without CEL/error codes it's hard to tell.
Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 AT 8:47 AM

5 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,446 POSTS
The description sounds like separated fuel. Ethanol loves to pull moisture out of the air and then that settles into the tank. With the nose tilted down that may be enough to settle the bad mix under the fuel pickup in the tank and you get this response from the engine getting a larger amount of a water/ethanol blend than it can handle. The cold means that the PCM tries to run a richer mixture and that dumps more of the crud into the engine and you get misfires and the engine stalls. I would suggest running it down farther then filling it with non-ethanol fuel. Running more fuel out of it should help remove the moisture.
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 AT 10:57 AM
Tiny
ETERNALARIANNE
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I thought it might be fuel related. I don't remember how much fuel was in the tank the first time, but the second occurrence I just filled the tank the day before
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 AT 11:02 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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It can be easily with modern fuels. Especially if you got a bad batch like some folks in Colorado got, theirs was diesel in the gas but water can be much worse.
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 AT 1:14 PM
Tiny
ETERNALARIANNE
  • MEMBER
  • 207 POSTS
Ok that's good it could just be fuel. I'll run some of the "good stuff" in it and see if that helps
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 AT 1:36 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,446 POSTS
Let us know. FYI it does have a fuel filter but it is in the fuel tank as part of the pump assembly. As such you normally just change out the complete assembly instead of just the filter, but it sounds more like the fuel itself.
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 AT 11:06 PM

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