pantyraid
=^.^=
Hi you guise, I've got a 99 civic lx sedan, sohc d16y7 (non-vtec) auto trans and totally stock as far as I know
First the backstory:
The car was abandoned for... I'm not actually sure for how long but my boyfriend's brother bought it after all the issues it had were fixed (not exactly sure what the issues were, I think it was just the lights and some other minor things, however because it was abandoned it has a salvage title) and he had it for a few years with no issues. Then sometime around last august he came home and informed me it had overheated and could I come look at it (he didn't know where the radiator was, where the coolant went, where the engine oil dipstick was, nothing. I honestly don't think he'd ever even popped the hood on it.) When I went out to look at it the coolant reservoir was full although the coolant looked absolutely disgusting, it was brown with big chunks of stuff in there (if I recall correctly when I googled it back then it came back with a bunch of threads talking about rust in the radiator or something? Although I could be remembering that totally wrong) I also noticed that the radiator fan wasn't turning on even when it started overheating again, the radiator fan fuse was fine but that was all I checked at the time. He took it to a mechanic who said the head gasket was on it's way out and that he had maybe a couple months left before the car was done for (the salvage title made paying to do any actual work on it illogical). Come december he finally bought a new car and I got the old civic from him.
Since then it's had a few of the telltale head gasket signs, overheating while idling, oil in the coolant (well, what I'm pretty sure is oil anyway, I had forgotten about the other possibilities that had come up when I initially googled it until recently), and s**t acceleration (this did get about a hundred times better when I changed the air filter but then it went back to s**t about a day later).
The signs I have NOT seen are white smoke, coolant in the oil (I'm not sure I'd be able to tell but it looks like normal engine oil, or dark engine oil when it's coming up on changing time, but never milky and I can never smell any coolant on it), or white gunk under the engine oil cap.
I have yet to check out the spark plugs but I'll be inspecting those in the next day or two. (Is it accurate that if the head gasket is bad there should be some white stuff on the spark plug coinciding with the cylinder where the problem is?)
About a month ago (well, April 9th) we flushed the radiator and put some of that blue devil head gasket sealer crap in it (I know, it's just a band aid that could potentially f**k it up worse than it was to begin with, but my boyfriend's dad had been bugging me to do it for months and I figured why the hell not, especially since he paid for the stuff). For the first time in a very long time it actually idled for about an hour and a half with the engine holding steady right at operating temperature the entire time, never even hinted at overheating AND it was hot out, and the intermittent CEL stayed off as well. It ran incredibly for about a week or two (with the exception of one day where I filled the coolant before I left my house and then right when I was parking outside my job, about 22 miles away, it started overheating and when I checked it the coolant was empty, but it only happened that one time).
After that week or two it started having a different issue, where when I started it warm it would idle SUPER low, at the most it was less than 500 rpms and usually a lot lower than that, and if I didn't either rev it up a little or turn the ac on it would stall out. It quickly progressed to where it would do it warm or cold, still intermittently for both but more often than not. Every now and then it would also idle low and rough at stoplights but it only stalled when starting.
It did have a similar issue back when I first got the car but it was pretty much only when I got gas (turned it off and then turned it right back on) but it stopped doing it maybe a month or so later.
Fast forward to last week, I had driven it into dc and back (from where I live in laurel MD, about 20 miles each way) and it had started fine both times (when I started it the first time it was idling a bit low but it corrected itself pretty quickly with no action on my part). The next morning (maybe afternoon) I went out to start it and it kind of sputtered and idled really low before immediately stalling (usually I have enough time to catch it and rev it up before it stalls but this time it happened too fast). I tried starting it about five to ten more times but I couldn't get it to catch even a single time (was that the correct terminology? It would crank but not catch?), it happened kind of like that once in the past but I managed to get it running by turning the key with my foot already on the gas, but this time it wouldn't even get to the point where that would work.
At this point I've pretty much googled myself to death and I've read more information than my puny brain can handle.
My question is this: how likely is it that this is all due to the head gasket? I mean it would definitely make sense that it wouldn't have enough compression to start (if my minimal knowledge is accurate anyway), the part that's throwing me off is the fact that aside from the whole starting/idling thing it's been running great, no overheating even when stuck in constant traffic on super hot days, and no (or negligible if any) coolant loss. I've seen many other things that can lead to idling issues, and I'm planning on cleaning the iacv and map sensor, but if those don't help I'm wondering which problem I should pursue first, head gasket or something else?
Oh one other thing, the intermittent CEL was on when I got my emissions tested (before I put the crap in) and it came back as bank 2 oxygen sensor too lean (I think that's what it said, I'll double check once I find the sheet they gave me but it was something to that effect) if that helps narrow things down.
Also right around the time we put the blue devil stuff in we also put in a new thermostat and stuck a paper clip in the radiator fan switch (I know, it's a cheap crappy shortcut, and temporary assuming I ever get my little baby running again, but I'd rather have the fan always running than not at all. We did try a new switch which didn't help, which lead me to believe that the culprit had to be the relay since clearly the motors ok if it runs with the paper clip, but for some reason this guy that helps out with all of our vehicle repairs and such has informed me that there's no way it's the relay - although the guy at advance auto said it probably was.. any input on that would be helpful too if anyone has any)
Sorry for the essay, I figured too much information was probably preferable to too little but I totally understand if this was WAY tl;dr
Also I apologize for perpetuating the whole women don't know s**t about cars stereotype but I'm trying to learn if that counts for anything
Anyway thanks for existing, you guys are always my first stop when I need to know anything vehicle related, you're the best around impo <3
(Oh and I have used the search feature -many times- I just got too much information and don't have enough automotive know-how to narrow it down, just so you know that I'm not trying to be some douche n00b that stumbled upon this site and jumped straight in without looking at the rules or doing any research on my own)
/rambling
First the backstory:
The car was abandoned for... I'm not actually sure for how long but my boyfriend's brother bought it after all the issues it had were fixed (not exactly sure what the issues were, I think it was just the lights and some other minor things, however because it was abandoned it has a salvage title) and he had it for a few years with no issues. Then sometime around last august he came home and informed me it had overheated and could I come look at it (he didn't know where the radiator was, where the coolant went, where the engine oil dipstick was, nothing. I honestly don't think he'd ever even popped the hood on it.) When I went out to look at it the coolant reservoir was full although the coolant looked absolutely disgusting, it was brown with big chunks of stuff in there (if I recall correctly when I googled it back then it came back with a bunch of threads talking about rust in the radiator or something? Although I could be remembering that totally wrong) I also noticed that the radiator fan wasn't turning on even when it started overheating again, the radiator fan fuse was fine but that was all I checked at the time. He took it to a mechanic who said the head gasket was on it's way out and that he had maybe a couple months left before the car was done for (the salvage title made paying to do any actual work on it illogical). Come december he finally bought a new car and I got the old civic from him.
Since then it's had a few of the telltale head gasket signs, overheating while idling, oil in the coolant (well, what I'm pretty sure is oil anyway, I had forgotten about the other possibilities that had come up when I initially googled it until recently), and s**t acceleration (this did get about a hundred times better when I changed the air filter but then it went back to s**t about a day later).
The signs I have NOT seen are white smoke, coolant in the oil (I'm not sure I'd be able to tell but it looks like normal engine oil, or dark engine oil when it's coming up on changing time, but never milky and I can never smell any coolant on it), or white gunk under the engine oil cap.
I have yet to check out the spark plugs but I'll be inspecting those in the next day or two. (Is it accurate that if the head gasket is bad there should be some white stuff on the spark plug coinciding with the cylinder where the problem is?)
About a month ago (well, April 9th) we flushed the radiator and put some of that blue devil head gasket sealer crap in it (I know, it's just a band aid that could potentially f**k it up worse than it was to begin with, but my boyfriend's dad had been bugging me to do it for months and I figured why the hell not, especially since he paid for the stuff). For the first time in a very long time it actually idled for about an hour and a half with the engine holding steady right at operating temperature the entire time, never even hinted at overheating AND it was hot out, and the intermittent CEL stayed off as well. It ran incredibly for about a week or two (with the exception of one day where I filled the coolant before I left my house and then right when I was parking outside my job, about 22 miles away, it started overheating and when I checked it the coolant was empty, but it only happened that one time).
After that week or two it started having a different issue, where when I started it warm it would idle SUPER low, at the most it was less than 500 rpms and usually a lot lower than that, and if I didn't either rev it up a little or turn the ac on it would stall out. It quickly progressed to where it would do it warm or cold, still intermittently for both but more often than not. Every now and then it would also idle low and rough at stoplights but it only stalled when starting.
It did have a similar issue back when I first got the car but it was pretty much only when I got gas (turned it off and then turned it right back on) but it stopped doing it maybe a month or so later.
Fast forward to last week, I had driven it into dc and back (from where I live in laurel MD, about 20 miles each way) and it had started fine both times (when I started it the first time it was idling a bit low but it corrected itself pretty quickly with no action on my part). The next morning (maybe afternoon) I went out to start it and it kind of sputtered and idled really low before immediately stalling (usually I have enough time to catch it and rev it up before it stalls but this time it happened too fast). I tried starting it about five to ten more times but I couldn't get it to catch even a single time (was that the correct terminology? It would crank but not catch?), it happened kind of like that once in the past but I managed to get it running by turning the key with my foot already on the gas, but this time it wouldn't even get to the point where that would work.
At this point I've pretty much googled myself to death and I've read more information than my puny brain can handle.
My question is this: how likely is it that this is all due to the head gasket? I mean it would definitely make sense that it wouldn't have enough compression to start (if my minimal knowledge is accurate anyway), the part that's throwing me off is the fact that aside from the whole starting/idling thing it's been running great, no overheating even when stuck in constant traffic on super hot days, and no (or negligible if any) coolant loss. I've seen many other things that can lead to idling issues, and I'm planning on cleaning the iacv and map sensor, but if those don't help I'm wondering which problem I should pursue first, head gasket or something else?
Oh one other thing, the intermittent CEL was on when I got my emissions tested (before I put the crap in) and it came back as bank 2 oxygen sensor too lean (I think that's what it said, I'll double check once I find the sheet they gave me but it was something to that effect) if that helps narrow things down.
Also right around the time we put the blue devil stuff in we also put in a new thermostat and stuck a paper clip in the radiator fan switch (I know, it's a cheap crappy shortcut, and temporary assuming I ever get my little baby running again, but I'd rather have the fan always running than not at all. We did try a new switch which didn't help, which lead me to believe that the culprit had to be the relay since clearly the motors ok if it runs with the paper clip, but for some reason this guy that helps out with all of our vehicle repairs and such has informed me that there's no way it's the relay - although the guy at advance auto said it probably was.. any input on that would be helpful too if anyone has any)
Sorry for the essay, I figured too much information was probably preferable to too little but I totally understand if this was WAY tl;dr
Also I apologize for perpetuating the whole women don't know s**t about cars stereotype but I'm trying to learn if that counts for anything
Anyway thanks for existing, you guys are always my first stop when I need to know anything vehicle related, you're the best around impo <3
(Oh and I have used the search feature -many times- I just got too much information and don't have enough automotive know-how to narrow it down, just so you know that I'm not trying to be some douche n00b that stumbled upon this site and jumped straight in without looking at the rules or doing any research on my own)
/rambling
