1997 civic hesitating every sporadically

mustang469

New Member
I just bought a civic with a 170,000 miles on it. It has an oil leak around the valve cover it seems like so the distributor and most electrical connections are covered in oil. (just keep that in mind) The problem is i will be driving and out of the blue it starts hesitating likes its losing power and then a few seconds go by and it starts running good again and then it repeats over and over again until it decides it wants to start running right again. And the really weird thing is you keep giving it the throttle and it will keep going it wont die, it just loses power and then comes back. It doesnt do it everytime, in fact it did it twice today and then i drove it around town just for fun and i didnt have any issues. The first few times that i drove it didnt really do it and then more and more it does it. these are the things that i have done to it.
I put a new fuel filter on it, I put sea foam in the gas, i degreased the engine and electrical connectors i used contact cleaner. I checked the spark plug gap and it is .046 out of range so im going to change those. But i dont think that would be the cause of my problem. Im thinking that something is clogged or a sensor not working properly.
If you could give me some ideas that would be great thanks allan
 

93Civicspeed

New Member
Check the Oil Pressure sending unit as well, thats what was shooting the oil all over the back of my engine
 


Jersey8

B20: Detroit Muscle!
Registered VIP
Registered OG
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
any check engine light?
whens the last time you did a tune up? spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, pcv valve, air filter
 

Black96EXNC

SOHC EJ8
The intake manifold gasket can leak causing hesitation and random mis fires. I just had this problem. Replaced the gasket all problems/power loss gone!
 


buzzbombtom

captin sleep0
Registered VIP
Registered OG
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
i am willing to bet it was your plugs... whats the word
 

mustang469

New Member
i havent had a chance to look at it yet. this weekend will give me a chance to dive in. I have had CEL's had some thing to do with evap.....something. only got it once, but i have another one and i will have to check it when i get back to work. I will let you guys know what i find. Thanks for the help, if you think of anything else let me know.
 

mustang469

New Member
the CEL that im getting is a "P0441" Evaporative emission purge flow. Doesn't sound bad but let me know what you guys think. I will work on these others things this weekend. i also have not changed the PCV valve, think I should? The spark plugs were changed about a year ago along with the Dizzy.
 

buzzbombtom

captin sleep0
Registered VIP
Registered OG
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
what distributor did you use, an oem or napa brand? sometimes a parts store style has problems, or at least in my personal experience
 

Jersey8

B20: Detroit Muscle!
Registered VIP
Registered OG
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
its a problem with your evap system. sounds like there could be a clog somewhere
 


Top