02 Civic losing power/ sputtering

[Karah]

I need help. My car has 158k on it, 2002 Honda Civic ex. Since around 150k I have dumped a lot of money into it for various things. Battery, alternator, tires, brakes, rotors. The past few months my car had started to lose power, sputters, sometimes stalls out, the engine light was blinking, and then it would stay on. I got a code for a Catalytic converter which I replaced a month ago. Then my light came back on for O2 sensors. I replaced Bank 1, sensor 1 and sensor 2. My car drove like a dream for 3 days. Then, it started to sputter again, its not shifting properly, the temp gauge goes up, engine light blinking, and then it stays on. When my temperature gauge goes up if I lay off my gas it drops back down to the halfway mark. If I turn my knob to AC instead of heat it will also drop. My codes read "cylinder 1 misfire, cylinder 2 misfire, 3, 4, etc... What could be wrong here!? This car is driving me nuts and I can't seem to resolve the issue here...

 

[HeX]

Did you happen to change the distributor cap & rotor or the spark plugs & wires? What brand are the new O2 sensors you installed? Hondas can get finicky when you use anything but NGK or denso spark plugs or NTK O2 sensors.

 

[Karah]

We did not change distributor cap, rotor, plugs, or wired. The O2 sensors were aftermarket, they were not NTK. So I should start with changing out spark plugs/ wires you think?

 

[HeX]

Yes. Multiple cylinder misfires can be the result of worn distributor cap & rotor along with worn wires and/or plugs that dont fire well enough. As for the temp issues, it may just be the thermostat. You can easily change all of that yourself to save money. By the time youre done you mightve covered every single maintenance issue and be basic issue free for a long time, so keep that bright side in mind.

 

[Karah]

I checked my O2s and the downstream (bank 1 sensor 2) is a NTK the upstream (bank 1 sensor 1) is not. I will have someone check my cap/ rotors/ wires/ tempt gauge, thank you for your time and help.

 

[HeX]

I'm glad to help.

For what its worth, all you need is a philips head screw driver to remove the cap & rotor. The wear tends to be pretty obvious but if they havent been changed in a long while then its worth to do so now anyways. If the wires look old and feel a bit stiff then thats a good enough reason to change them with NGK wires.

If the bank 1 O2 isnt Denso then remember that if you ever get another O2 code.

The temp gauge will say nothing about whether or not the thermostat is good. Either it functions properly or it doesnt. The only other possible thing that'll affect the temp. is a faulty water pump. The thermostat can be removed with simple tools & itll cost lest than $20. A bottle of coolant may be another $10. Look up how to change the thermostat online and you'll see its pretty easy.

I mention these things so you feel you have the option of saving money on labor. Order all the parts online and you'll save even more. Good luck either way.

 

[daperez13]

Battery, alternator, brakes and rotors are part of wear and tear; eventually, all those components will need to be replaced. 158K is barely touching half that engine's life. Keep it maintained and that car should get you 300K+.

A CEL indicating inefficient catalytic converter does not necessarily mean a bad catalytic converter, it is more than likely, the Bank-2 O2 sensor going bad or getting dirty. Most times, you can pull the O2 out, clean it and re-insert it without any further issues. If it still does not clear the CEL, it should be replaced before the cat is. In California, catalytic converters are required for emissions and can be quite expensive. Some shops will install cheap cats, which will fail and have you regret your decision on going cheap. If your catalytic converter is truly bad, you need to determine the cause of the issue. Did you lean-out the car (ran out of fuel), overheat it; even a too rich fuel mixture will damage it. If you replaced the cat but did not fix the issue, it will damage it again.

When a vehicle overheats, several components can get damaged. You need to find out what caused it to overheat and fix it. You should always change out the thermostat and perform a flush on your radiator. Check the water pump and if deemed bad, replace it with an OEM or equivalent quality part. The timing belt should be inspected as well as the head gasket and all hoses. A compression and leak-down test should be performed to verify there is no damage to the gasket, valves, head, or block. Never use tap water alone or anything else other than a 50/50 (or exceed a 70/30) mixture of coolant and distilled water in your cooling system. Timing should also be checked.

The misfires can be caused by a number of things. You should start with he simplest things first. Like HeX said, check cap, rotor, wires and spark plugs. Your spark at each cylinder should be nice and evident. Fuel injectors should be checked for spray pattern and efficiency. Compression will determine the shape in which your engine is in. Sometimes, moisture in the distributor can be a cause for misfires. Bad cap & rotor, coil, spark plugs, individual coils (if applicable), wires, injectors, fuel pump, fuel filter, compression, vacuum leaks, can all be a cause.

A scanner can save you a lot of time and money, consider buying one (does not have to be expensive but do not purchase the really cheap ones). Also, a repair manual for your specific vehicle is invaluable. If you are mechanically inclined, you can save a lot of time and money by doing these checks and repairs yourself. Do not be discouraged or intimidated by most of these troubleshooting steps. They can all be done and preformed with a little patience, a space to work in and some tools.

Keep us posted as you check these things. Good luck!

 

[Karah]

Update; brought my car to a friend and it sounds like I needed a new temperature gauge and a tune up! Not very expensive at all. It was not a head gasket, thank goodness!

 

[HeX]

Update; brought my car to a friend and it sounds like I needed a new temperature gauge and a tune up! Not very expensive at all. It was not a head gasket, thank goodness!

There you go. Crisis averted ;-)

 

[lunder03]

04 civic ex sedan
Metallic silver

You're quite lucky it wasn't a head gasket...changed mine last year, along with the timing belt, tensioner and water pump...no fun at all!!!

Decided while i was down to the block to go ahead and clean the top of all the pistons...then i thought what the hey...so i bought all new valves, valve caps and retainers...then thought what the hey...so i resurfaced the head myself with a piece of plexi-glass w/fine grain sand paper glued to it and just slid her back and forth for about 25-30 mins...checked for gapage with my feeler gauges and straight edge...then i thought, s**t i'll lap the valves myself...even went and bought a port and pollish kit....watched a few videos on YouTube and was like buck that shi*...lol...put it back together set my valve clearance @.08 thousanths which if i recall correctly was the middle ground...i had also replaced the front bumper reinforcement as the previous owner had gotten into a little fender bender (did this a month or so before the head rebuild). Had been meaning to throw the old one away, but was very happy i hadn't because it was a last resort to getting my harmonic balancer off. I had a 24" breaker bar with the old bumper reinforment kinda wedged to it and i was literally hanging off that effer bouncing up and down trying to break the bolt loose...lol...i probably looked like a jack ass, but i wasn't springing for a heavy duty impact!

I was on a roll saving money and i had plans for the money i was saving doing it myself...

Anywho, gotter back together, put in a new thermostat, spark plugs and one coil pack too, and she purred like a kitten.

So with the money i saved, plus what i had been saving and my tax return...i went all out, as much as i could anyway.

Bought a k&n cold intake, racing exhaust from the header back, led head & tail lights, rear spoiler, black 3d vinyl wrap (wrapped the hood), front bumper cover (black), front lip spoiler (black), yellow fog lights w/6k led's which are flippin awesome beeecause...what color does yellow and blue make??? Oh yeah, green fog light glow.

Let's see, drilled and slotted race rotors and pads for the front, new drums and shoes for the rear (need to install), new ball joints and a-arms (need installed), both o2 sensors, new upper and lower radiator hose, over flow tank and hose (need installed) new rims and tires 215 40r17 (wish i would have went 225 and stretched the tires...but was worried about rubbing and clearance. Cool decepticon 3d sticker...fender decals...hmmm...oh, rain guards and led fog lights that i ran the wires and switch for but haven't mounted the led's yet...kinda on the fence as to where i want to mount them.

And i do apologize if it seems like i'm bragging, but i've never been in a position to do this before...

I do have more plans i'd like to execute, but it'll depend on what i can save from now until tax season again...

What i'd like to do! Tinted windows, coil overs, camber bar, stablizers, stage two cam, racing valves & retainers, k-pro ecu, racing pistons which are .20 over so i'd have to bore out the block...if i can at least get the pistons, valves, retainers and the k-pro, i will utilize my port and polish kit; i'll make myself...

Later down the road, maybe go turbo??? I'm trying to be realistic here, but at the same time, feel i'm getting ahead of myself...

I've been doing a lot of research and actually found a guy who made 489 whp on a 1.7l sohc...i am excited...

So, since it seems like i'm all talk and no photos, i will post some photos tomorrow the most updated cond. of my car.

Lastly, sorry for rambling.

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[lunder03]

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