Ailing Battle Civic

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Ausfahrt

Ausfahrt

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My old battle-ax '01 Civic has an issue and I hope that it's not serious.

First of all, I have owned the car since new and it has 221k HARD miles on it but I wouldn't mind getting a few more out of it. The Civic sat for 4-5 days this past week without being driven and it started very roughly today when I moved it out of the driveway.

It idles roughly and when I took it down the road it had no power at all. No CEL light and no error codes on the OBDII unit. There is no indication of water in the oil or vice versa so I am thinking a clogged cat maybe?

I don't have the tools to check cylinder compression but I may need to do that.

Thoughts?
 
Lots of possiblilties here. Ignition wires and plugs replaced recently? Fuel filter? Could be a crack in the coil. Vacuum leak etc.
 
I did change out the plugs recently and I thought about that but it was 2000 miles ago.
 
I'm kind of inclined to believe it might be fuel related given that it happened after sitting, even though 4-5 days isn't much sitting. I think on this one I'd start with checking fuel pressure.

When was the fuel filter last changed, assuming it's a standard one on the rail? How much gas is in it, and when was it last filled up? Any possibility there is water in the fuel or something like that?

A clogged cat could cause those symptoms, but it would have to be a sudden collapsing of the honeycomb.

It's frustrating when OBDII cars run bad, but won't tell you what's going on.
 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Spark Plug wire is loose.


Originally Posted By: Warstud
Spark Plug wire is loose.


Sorry War, these 7th gen civics (D17Ax series) runs on coil packs, no spark plug wires.

As a matter of fact: over 90+% of Japanese designed/manufactured automobiles on OBD-II since 2001+ are on coil-packs (1 per spark plug) for better spark and timing management.

Q.
 
If it ran just fine, then sat for a few days and now you have a severe lack of power with no codes I suggest you start by checking to see if perhaps a varmint built a nest inside the air intake.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, diagnosing a problematic engine can be tough in person let alone from a keyboard!

So far I have cleaned the K&N air filter, loosened and reset the plug wires, pulled and reset the ECU fuse. It sounds like it is hitting on all cylinders but just not revving freely and bogging down.

Here is a pic of the engine from a couple years ago, the hunt continues.....
001-L.jpg
 
I would check for an exhaust restriction. Nests can be either side of the engine.

Cat came to mind for me also.
 
Maybe try pulling the electrical connector on each cylinder for both the injector and the coil while it's idling (pull each one separately and plug it back in to isolate ignition and fuel) to see if one cylinder does not respond. That will at least isolate the cylinder and component from something like a main sensor, plugged cat etc. Even if it sounds like all cylinders are firing correctly, one may not be getting sufficient spark or fuel. It's free and would take about 3 minutes to accomplish.
 
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Rough idle at start doesn't bother me. Fuel pump could have lost its prime or lost rail pressure so the startup is less than stellar. It's the lack of power that isn't right.

It worked fine before, no?

Never saw this before?

Has the car sat for this long on other occasions?

IMO I'd chance the fuel pump and fpr first.
 
When was the last time the throttle body was cleaned? That intake will play havoc on the throttle body and IACV. K&N's suck in my opinion.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Rough idle at start doesn't bother me. Fuel pump could have lost its prime or lost rail pressure so the startup is less than stellar. It's the lack of power that isn't right.

It worked fine before, no?

Never saw this before?

Has the car sat for this long on other occasions?

IMO I'd chance the fuel pump and fpr first.


Well I'm done with it for tonight but yes, it was fine when parked last week.

Nope, never had this issue before and it has sat for much longer without issues in the past.

Fuel pump? hadn't considered it but it's a possibility. Thanks JHRZY boy!
 
Originally Posted By: ARB1977
When was the last time the throttle body was cleaned? That intake will play havoc on the throttle body and IACV. K&N's suck in my opinion.


The throttle body has never been cleaned. The K&N has been on the car for over 100k miles but I understand the issues with them.

IACV= intake ____? control valve?
 
Originally Posted By: bigdreama
Originally Posted By: ARB1977
When was the last time the throttle body was cleaned? That intake will play havoc on the throttle body and IACV. K&N's suck in my opinion.


The throttle body has never been cleaned. The K&N has been on the car for over 100k miles but I understand the issues with them.

IACV= intake ____? control valve?


Idle Air Control Valve
 
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