Civic EG

so on thursday i was driving to work on the freeway and noticed i didnt quite have the power in the fifth gear i normally would. when on any type of incline i would have to shift to fourth when usually fifth gets me all the way to work. I got to my exit and when i got the the light and down shifted the engine felt really rough and dropped way down in RPM's, probably around 100-200 and then the engine died. the only way to keep it running was to keep it reved up a bit.

so, on my lunch break i decided to go get a new Cap & rotor kit which also came with the dizzy O-ring, new spark plugs and plug wires. I switched everything out, there was a little oil in the dizzy since the O-ring was trashed, but i cleaned it up. I made sure to gap my plugs to spec.

After starting the car it actually ran very smooth, a lot smoother than it had ever before, so i was assuming the bad O-ring in the dizzy was the problem. I had also noticed a bit of oil on plug wire #3, so i assumed a new gasket and seals were needed, that came later and i'll get to that. so I drove the car on my last break and when i got to the first stop sign it was running worse than ever before, it was back to almost dying at idle and the motor was shaking so bad i thought the car was going to fall apart. co workers were all trying to help me figure what it could be and some people thought it could be a bad piston ring? i ended up getting it towed home and today i did the new valve seals and gasket and its just not running right.

anyone have this same experience or have any clue? i dont know if i should just spend the $400-$500 and drop a new motor in the car or pull it apart and pin point the problem and possibly save a lot of money? sorry for the long post but i HAVE to figure this out. I have another car but my wife is going to be using it now.

Thanks for any advice

Could be a few things...I normally start by checking air flow meter, throttle position sensor, air filter, engine breather, cleaning throttle body to make sure the butterfly valve is not dirty/sticky, check engine oil/coolant for contamination.

Seems like by changing spark plugs and those other things it made it worse. Sometimes even a ecu reset (even though most people believe it's useless) is worth a try while doing what I mentioned above. Removed the battery terminals and turn on your electrics to drain any stored power, about 10 minutes should be ok.

Like I said could be a few things worth trying to narrow it down, but sounds like your air/fuel mixture are not being controlled properly hence why I would check parts related to this first.

What kind of motor you have?

Good Luck!

thanks for the help. I should have stated my engine type. It's a D16Z6.

maybe worth noting, the engineer at my work said he could smell a lot of gas and it could be running rich?

Is the check engine light on? If so, checking the code will tell you of a faulty sensor: http://www.civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=1558

thats the weird part, a CEL never came on at any point. i know the CEL works because i had recently fixed a code 22

An o2 sensor can go pretty bad before it's bad enough to throw a CEL. I've replaced them before they were bad enough to throw a CEL and it made a world of difference. I'd start there, even if you just borrow one from another civic to do a quick test. If it is the o2, the difference will be night/day.

Awesome, I'll try that. Also, could it be a fuel injector?

what brand o2 is recomended for our civics? i hear alot about denso o2 have the correct bandwidth for cb7s but does that apply to civics?

I have a similar problem where the car idles to a stall, but only when the rpms are allowed to free fall while im coming to a stop (basically when the clutch is held compressed and im pressing the break at the same time). I've actually had it stall in traffic a couple times, at stop lights, stop signs basically anywhere you stop. And that was the first thing I noticed it was only when I was stopping and the car was allowed to go to idle...My first thoughts where the same ones you had, leaky piston ring, clogged injectors, failing fuel pump, clogged IACV, sticky butterfly valve, vacuum leak and dizzy, but then I stumbled across an interesting thing. If I turn on the heater fan full blast while the rpms are idling low they would pick up immediately and that meant it was something else not motor related.

After some research I came across someone who had a similar issue with the heater and someone said it was the break booster, so I tested the break at stop and sure enough if I pumped it fast enough and enough times the rpms would pick back up and idle normally. I haven't gotten around to changing mine out yet but it may be something you might want to consider.

If it only happens when your at a stop or coming to a stop, you may want to do a little test. The test works like this get to a complete stop like normal and as the car starts to sputter pump the break several times really quick and see if it picks up the rpms, pump the break almost like your trying to build pressure in the system. Three rapid pumps is normally enough to see a change in the idle speeds even if only briefly. If it changes the Rpm's from doing this that's definitely where id start. Also throw on the heater fan and see if that picks up the rpm's.

I'm not to sure exactly how the heater fan plays a role with the break booster and they both play a role with the idle. Something to do with making the motor work harder and the heater fan makes the motor automatically raise its idle to support the fan, just like when the radiator fan kicks on the rpms raise I'm guessing.

dmar13 wrote:what brand o2 is recomended for our civics? i hear alot about denso o2 have the correct bandwidth for cb7s but does that apply to civics?

OEM is #1 but very expensive. Brands from 1Aauto, Advance, Autozone etc will work great for less $ but just may not last as long.

Just be sure to order the correct one for your car (1, 4 or 5 wires)

well guys, i still haven't gotten around to pin pointing the issue. thanks for replies, i don't think it has anything to do with my breaks though. My cylinders #2,3 are definitely not working right. i bought a compression tester but haven't found the time to test the cylinders. for anyone with experience, when using the compression tester do i just unlpug the dizzy and pull the 15a fuse?

I just pull the ECU fuse and do the tests at WOT

sorry, what's WOT? lol

EDIT: never mind, i googled it. Wide Open Throttle

Gimme Wafflez wrote:thanks for the help. I should have stated my engine type. It's a D16Z6.

maybe worth noting, the engineer at my work said he could smell a lot of gas and it could be running rich?

Check your intake manifold. Do a complete visual inspection and check for cracks or any sign of a leak like a darker spots or a line where there shouldn't be a seam. I had a ton of issues with idle, running rich, shaking, and not starting anymore, and I had a strong gas smell. Turns out I had a crack in the manifold that was causing an air leak.

a little update

the civic is still sitting in my drive way I found a dude through a friend who said he will fix the car for around $300. thats with parts and labor. now my question as of lately.. could my issue be a blown head gasket? could a leak between cyclinders 2 & 3 be why they have no pressure? A friend of mine said he heard that could be the issue. thanks guys