civicguy35

My 03' civic is no longer running.
What happens is that I turn the key to the start position, the car turns over and starts like normal and then stalls immediately after. If i give it some gas it will rev up, but then it stalls.

the engine light does not stay on and I have plugged in my OBD reader and there are no codes to report.
It stalls as if i have just turned the key back off. i can hear the fuel pump every-time i turn the key on and i can hear the ECU click a couple seconds after i put the key in the on postion. its almost like the fuel gets cut off because i can hold my foot on the gas pedal to the floor it will rev up as it starts and then, poof, the revs plummet and it stalls. It stalls pretty roughly too (it "diesels" if you know what that means).

My immediate thoughts are that its the ignition switch, but it only has 110,000 km on it. I know its not impossible but that seems pretty damn soon. Plus its the year after the recall so i would imagine that problem would be pretty rock solid by now. My other thought is maybe the fuel filter?? Only way to check is to change it i guess.

I've seen this problem all over the net from searching but always on older models and almost never is there a solution posted.
Thanks in advance for the help.

civicguy35

In addition to the above. It died while i was driving home today, just drivin along and all of a sudden i notice the gas pedel isn't doing anything and i realize it was stalled.
Luckily i was just outside my parkade and was able to roll it in.

civicguy35

Another though i have after reading some other posts is that it could be the that the timing is off a couple teeth? Somehow it could have jumped a couple teeth. Would a car still start like that and rev up and then stall?

jmvtec05

Have you already changed your timing belt before?if you're not the first owner, do you know if the previous owner did. just might have something to do with it. I'm sure Matt will give you a couple scenarios and suggestions...

civicguy35

I actually did do the timing belt about 4 months ago. I didn't change the tensioner, now i'm kinda wishing i did, so that i could rule that scenario out a little more convincingly.

civicguy35

The timing belt seems unlikely to me though. It starts up so smoothly, and when i give it gas the engine accelerates pretty smoothly to about 5000 rpm and then it cuts out.
I have also read that it could be a crank shaft sensor for TDC or a camshaft sensor. But, wouldn't it have spit out a code when i plugged in my OBDII reader?

Would there be a code if there was a problem with the ignition switch or main relay??

My gut feeling is to check the ignition switch with a mulimeter when i get home and then the timing would be the next thing to check i guess.

Any other suggestions??

JDM_Yuki

What is the temp when this occurs? Is it at all over heating within that time?

jmvtec05

It is a bit odd, your not getting any codes...:/ I'll help you do a little research and get back to you if/when i find something.

civicguy35

Got it! I think...
Checked the ignition switch and although it was a little corroded it didn't look bad to me, so i slapped it back in. Plus the parts store near my place said i had to go to honda and they were closed, so i kept looking around.
Next i pulled off the timing cover. Found that the timing belt had been rubbing on something and is now about a 1/4" wide. So i kept taking it apart...

Found that the tensioner bolt wasn't in all the way and had allowed the tensioner pulley to move out away from the engine and allow the belt to rub on the cover.

So its got to have something to do with this mess inside the timeing cover. Belt still seems tight so i'm still not sure if its jumped a couple teeth or if all the crap from the worn down belt was messing with the CPS.

I'm putting a new belt tensioner and timing belt on after work, obviously, but does anyone think i should change the CPS? or should i just clean it up and leave it in there?

civicguy35

Anyone think this Ignition switch looks bad? If you look real close (shitty pics, max upload size) the white half has a "pit" in it on one of the connection surfaces on the farthest outside left edge...

civicguy35

bump.

wittynamessuck

I'm having this same problem after a head gasket install.

I am positive it is the timing, so I would suggest you look at that also.

(edit)
Ok, I would look at the timing, I was 2 teeth off. Fixed it last night and drove smooth today.

hondasck

I had a very similar problem with my 2003 Civic Hybrid. After a few days of the Check Engine light being on constantly, I noticed it did not come on when driving today and the car seemed to behave normally. After arriving and turning the engine off, I turned it back on to see if the Check Engine light would come on. It started up normally (with Check Engine light off) but then stalled after about 20 seconds of idling. I started it again several times and it stalled increasingly quickly each time.

The problem went away when it was started with the CVT transmission in Neutral instead of Park.

It has started fine in Park several times since then (without driving anywhere) but it may be too soon to know if it's completely okay yet. I'll try to remember to post a follow up in a few days.

freddyh

has anyone found the fix for this problem??

90goldhatch

I'm in the same boat, I just did a motor swap d17a1 to d17a and the car was running fine for a hour and now it's just starts up and stalls. I've searched everywhere and haven't found a solution yet.

90goldhatch

I'm checking the car today and when I unplugged the crank sensor the car started up fine but the idle was jumpy then I plugged it back in while it was still running and the car stayed on, but when I shut the car off and tried to start it the motor just stalls. So next I unplugged the cam sensor and the car started up fine and it was idling perfect, but when I plugged it back in the motor cut off right away.

It could only be 2 things a bad cam sensor and I have no clue why it's not throwing a code or the timing jumped? What do you guys think help me out

90goldhatch

So I got the car running today, it was the timing if anyone was still wondering. When you buy a jdm motor make sure you swap the cam pulley and the crank pulley from your usdm motor and make sure your timing is dead on before you install it, because it was a pain doing it with the motor in the car and if this problem happen to you even if you didn't do a jdm motor swap, still check your timing because you never know if it jumped a few teeth until you check it. I hope this helps everyone now and in the future because I was completely lost and couldn't find nothing on it. Reply if I helped

Whiteonblackej

I'm having a simular problem . Drove the car mile from my house on the way home it cut off on me so I pulled over. Got out and it smelt like eggs really bad. I suspected that cat was clogged.It will crank right up and die. I got it pulled home. I check the plugs Nd replaced when some extras I had. Other were black n smelled like gas. Still cranking and dying. I took the two screws out from the manifold to the cat and thought maybe the cat was just severely clogged. Still doing it . Anyhelp would be great on what I should do next

Tristin Van-wyk

Hey guys I have a 03 honda civic right hand drive ..I would like to know where the fuel cut off reset switch is thanks guys in advance .. It just stalled after hitting a pothole

Scout1856

Tristin. The fuel switched are behind the glove box. If you remove the glove box it should be the brown relay on the bottom left of the glove box hole.