Atriticuss

So i just bought an 02 honda civic ex from a friend for $500 who bought it 3 months ago for $4000 and has since spent 3 grand trying to get it fixed after it overheated on him about a week or two after buying it. the problem is it occasionally looses power and wont let you drive it over about 10mph and will not rev over 3500 rpm ( I assume limp mode ). Also the oil light and the Battery light come on when this happens. the check engine light wire is cut but it does have codes, I will list them. I checked them right after i bought the car after it gave me the same problems trying to drive it home. It seems to only do this on hotter days/time of day and over equal distances on hwy/main roads. 2 days ago i drove it around on back streets for about 2 hours just to try and get it to crap out on me with no success i tried low gears (automatic btw) to keep the engine reving high and the damn thing ran like a champ though it was a cooler day low 80's i think. drove it to work this morning, no problems, on the way home it stalled at almost the same spot on the hwy when i bought it (Mid 90's)( old owner lives near my work wich is about 25 miles from my house) this was maybe 15 miles in. After 15-20 minutes it finally started normally, i noticed that after it cut out. if i revved the engine even slightly it acted like it wanted to die once it returned to idle which at this point was 500 or less rpm. Normal is 750 or more. once going again it cut out after another 6-7 miles, this time i got on a side street and pushed it until the engine actually died (2500 rpm @ 10mph or less). during these times the problem started the temp gauge was below half, i did notice after letting it stay idle once pulled over the first time today it eventually got to 3/4 but quickly went back down. some notes on the car. and some of it shows... supposedly it has a new head, head gasket,valve cover, valve gasket, egr valve, coils and coil pack, timing belt, tensioner, sprockets and pulley's, and water pump. it had a new thermostat but its been removed recently and the catalytic converter has been removed. I did check the oil, the level was fine but wasnt as clean as i would expect for all that work being done just in the last few weeks or so. I also had the alternator and battery checked when i checked the codes... the readings were, exp Decision : good battery, voltage: 12.58v measured: 440 cca Rated: 425 cca temp: 107F and starter test: Voltage: 11.28v amps 0.0a Time: 2.56s and charging system test: no load : 13.9v Loaded: 13.61v. The check engine codes i got were ( in order): P0336 (crankshaft position sensor A range / performance current), P1362 (Top Dead Center Sensor no signal current), P1361 (Top dead center sensor noise current), P1519 (RACV wire / Internal Circuit malfunction current), P1298 (Electric Load detector circiut High Input current), P0141 (Oxygen Sensor Heater circuit bank 1 sensor 2 current), P0401 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow Insufficient current), P0401 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow Insufficient detected temp), P0336 (crankshaft position sensor a circuit range/performance confirmed), P1362 Top dead center sensor no signal confirmed), P1361 Top dead center sensor noise confirmed) P1519 (RACV wire / Internal Circuit malfunction confirmed), P1298 (Electric Load detector circiut High Input confirmed), P0141 (Oxygen Sensor Heater circuit bank 1 sensor 2 confirmed), P0401 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow Insufficient detected), P0401 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow Insufficient detected pending). So ive tried doing alot of looking into this and it seems there are so many possibilities im not really sure where to start. im thinking crankshaft sensor or plug but i hope someone can steer me in the right direction.

Orangegsx

Are the bolts/nuts securing the alternator tight?

Atriticuss

just gave the alternator some generous tugging and it didn't budge, pulled on the belt in the most open area with maybe 35-40 lbs of force and it maybe flexed 1/4 inch. seems pretty tight and secure to me.

Orangegsx

These civics have an issue where the alternator bolt becomes loose or is left loose during other repairs. The lack of a good ground damages the ECU. Every time I have seen it the symptoms have been a little different. I did do a TDC sensor on one of these a few weeks back too. Cheap enough part and not that hard to get to.

I personally would try a known good ECU considering it is a common issue and the amount of codes you have. Good luck!

Atriticuss

ive considered that but dont i have to get a bunch of crap reprogrammed? in order for that to work right?

Orangegsx

Yes. The immobilizer for the key.

Atriticuss

Ok, I'm debating on taking this thing to a honda dealership and having a diagnostic done for $80 but I'm a little hesitant as I've been stiffed before by midas telling me it would find the problem for a knock sensor code on my subaru. They said the results were inconclusive and it could still be a number of things. I just replaced the knock sensor for another $80 and that solved it. Do you guys think this would really be worth it? Otherwise I'm going to try replacing the crank position sensor which looks like its going to be a lot of work. Is there any tricks or shortcuts to doing this? do i have to remove the valve cover, upper timing belt cover, engine mount and that other stuff as if you were doing a timing belt job just to get the harmonic balancer and lower timing belt cover off?

wishiwereLux

Reading your problem I was trying to make sense of it. When I got to the codes part I thought "sounds like a computer problem." If you don't want to run out and buy a computer, try clearing all the codes & drive it. Then the codes that come back first will give you a starting point. Also keep in mind that there may be multiple problems, especially with so much work that was done recently. Did the problem get worse or change after some of the work? New problems may have been introduced over the original problem.

jj_diamond

+1

If that does not work, replace the engine.

"Never buy a car from a 'friend' and always expect grey hair from a $500 'running' car." -Used Car Proverb #18

Djratrap

A new ECU isn't that expensive. You can find one from a junk yard for $80-150. To save money, i'd sign up for AAA ($50-100 membership depending on how far you need to have it towed) wait a few days then use them to tow your car for "free." That's still cheaper than having it towed out of pocket.

Kenjiew

Try a good ECU

Eddieflo

I had a similar problem. A new ECU fixed the issue. I got the ECU from ebay for $60 and they reprogrammed it at Honda. VOILA, good as new!