I am checking this out with my auto service shop and all, I’m just interested in what others might think is going on. I drive a 1999 Honda CR-V with approximately 156,000 miles on it.
I make a 90-mile round trip commute on the interstate at least three days each week. On Tuesday, I had to brake very hard after a car a bit in front of me reacted to a low-hanging cable or utility line across the highway. (The car had plenty of clearance, the driver just overreacted.) The 18-wheeler behind me had to emergency stop, it was fairly freaksome.
When I tried to accelerate after the braking so hard, it was like nothing was happening. I was pressing the accelerator pedal, the engine would rev, but I’d get very little speed. I managed to limp over to the shoulder, and some lights came on in the dash, but the car didn’t stall. The brake pedal was seized up high in its arc, too, and had major resistance when pressed.
I was about to freak out, but instead defaulted to former computer professional mode. I rebooted. That is, I turned the car off, waited 30 seconds and prayed, and restarted. After that, everything was back to normal. I have had no problem since then, and I’ve driven a good 150 miles since with no issues.
Could the hard braking have put some sort of “vapor lock” on the fuel system?
It sounds like something in the brake system jammed. The high hard pedal and the return to normal after turning off and restarting first brought to mind a problem with the vacuum booster. It’s an unusual symptom – I haven’t run across it in my nearly 40-year career in auto repair. I wouldn’t rule out an ABS glitch, but I’d be very surprised if it was caliper-related.
Is it possible the pushrod might have popped out of “alignment?” Maybe the master cylinder was slow to return after the panic stop and the rod dropped out of its seat.
never heard of it actually happening, but I suppose it’s possible.
I would almost guarantee it was ABS related. Master cylindar or calipers wouldn’t correct itself with an ignition cycle. It’s possible an ABS valve got stuck, keeping pressure applied to the calipers. That would explain the lack of acceleration and the brake pedal being frozen. When you turned ignition off/on the ABS CPU rebooted and did a valve open/close check to reset the condition.
If there is someplace you can SAFELY engage ABS again (like a deserted gravel road), you could try it and see if it repeats. If so, you might have a bad ABS valve.
That is, I turned the car off, waited 30 seconds and prayed, and restarted. After that, everything was back to normal. I have had no problem since then, and I’ve driven a good 150 miles since with no issues.