the manual says that when you turn the air conditioning on the 'econ' light will go off. so when you stop your engine won't turn off. i did see this in practice a few times on my civic. when turning on the air i immediately did see the econ light go off much like when i turn on the front defroster. but starting this past weekend when i turned on the air conditioner the econ light did NOT go off. and when i would stop the engine would turn off. i know the air was indeed on as it came out of the vents a lot cooler and a lot quicker than by just using the fan. so my point is that it appears that i have the best of both worlds: using the air but still having the engine-idle function working. has anyone else seen this? one thing though is that i haven't been using the air conditioning for very long. i usually just use it for a a few minutes to cool the car up quickly. then i switch to the fan. but i still think this is strange. yet good

 

Check to make sure the fan dial is on auto. If you have it on a manual speed it will still turn the car off and you will get some circulation. This may be what is happening.

 

tbaleno, you are right! thanks. i do not have it on auto, but on manual since i wanted more air coming out of the vents. so this is great news as far as i'm concerned since i didn't think it was possible. i can have the air on plus have the engine shut off at stops. it just keeps getting better with this civic! thanks again.

 

But, when it's really warm out the hot air will be blown in through the vents...that's the downside.

 

The air probably will stay cool enough to last through a stop light.

 

that's probably what honda was thinking when they were programming the econ function. smart people

another thing about auto stop/econ - i've had this happen to me many times. usually the auto stop engages when you brake normally to a speed below 10? 7? mph.

but if you are pointed uphill and brake slowly, then take your foot off the brake, coast to a stop (because gravity pulling you the down the hill slows the car down), and depress the brake again to hold the civic on the incline, it takes about three seconds or so after fully stopping before the auto stop engages, abruptly cutting off the engine with a shudder, normally not noticeable when the car is still slowing to a stop. has anybody had a similar experience with a delayed autostop?