jonathan13

Hey guys! I'm trying to help a friend of mine fix some things on her car because she doesn't make a lot of money and cannot afford to have a shop diagnose and fix things. For reference this is a 2000 model Civic EX. Among the issue that I am posting a question about, she has a CEL for a bad catalytic converter which she is having replaced tomorrow, the car also has a "whining" noise coming from near the timing belt, and a MASSIVE oil leak.

I am assuming the code is correct and she does truly need a new catalytic converter. Also, the car has 209k miles and I don't believe the car has ever had the timing belt replaced so I THINK the whining noise is coming from the timing belt. I took off the timing cover and felt the tension and it did seem somewhat loose. As for the oil leak, there is oil ALL OVER the underside of her engine and transmission. It is also all over the top side of her transmission and caked on the front of her block behind the exhaust manifold. Based on where the oil is at on the engine/transmission I believe it is leaking between the head and the block. I advised her I would probably just have the head gasket and timing belt done all at once (which I will probably end up doing myself for her).

Now for the issue that I am utterly stumped over. ALL of her lights flicker constantly like a strobe light. The dome light, gauge cluster lighting, headlights, and tail lights. She said she had the alternator tested and it tested perfect. I checked all of the wiring, all of the grounds, battery terminals, and the two power wires that screw into the fuse box. All of that seems to be fine. To me if she had not had the alternator tested I would swear that was the problem, but since it tested to be good I have NO IDEA what is causing these lights to flicker.

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas of anything else to check to try and troubleshoot this flickering light issue please let me know. She is already going to have to spend $270 having the catalytic converter replaced tomorrow, and probably buy a new timing kit and head gasket, so I would really like to be able to help her figure out this lighting issue so she doesn't have to spend anymore money. She just truly cannot afford it.

Thanks in advance for ANY help!!

pityocamptes

Ooops, see below (double post)

pityocamptes

Not so fast hoss...

1. What is the CEL being thrown for the Cat?
2. It may not be the head - it could be the dizzy o-ring or vtec gasket leaking and following the ridge on the head and dropping down the front.
3. If you replace the timing belt REPLACE THE Main front and cam seals, tensioner, belt, and water pump, and perhaps oil pump since you are in there. Oil pump is up to you but I would definately replace everything else.

Hold off on the Cat. You can get a OEM cat from autozone for like ~$150.00 and it bolts on.

Is the positive or negative battery clamps (terminal studs) lose or corroded? Are they on tight? If not that could be the problem.

Best thing on the oil leak is to clean the engine as pure as the virgin snow. You can add a couple of bottles of dye (kit at autozone for like $20.00 - light and glasses) and check to see where it is coming from. It took me a couple of days, but found my dizzy oring was leaking and following the channel between the head/block (tranny area) and dropping down the front....

jonathan13

1.The code it is throwing is 67 which is the actual catalytic converter code. If it had been for an o2 sensor I wouldn't have been so quick to say that it truly was the catalytic converter but with it actually being the code that says "cat converter" I assumed it was a safe bet that it's bad- especially with the milage on the vehicle.

2. I did make sure and check the dizzy o-ring and vtec gasket so I know it isn't those. Plus this is a HUGE oil leak. Honestly its so much damn oil I don't know how she is able to drive it without adding some EVERY day. I told her to keep an eye on the oil level because the engine sounds good itself other than the whine of that belt. (no ticks or knocks or loud noises)

3. And I appreciate your advise on doing all of that preventative maintenance. I definitely planned on doing all of that, because as we both know it is much easier to do it all at once than have to tear things back apart later to replace something that should have been done in the first place. I've learned my lesson on that one! lol

The battery terminals look perfect- actually better than my own lol.

And yeah I used some purple power degreaser on it today to get it as clean as I could so that she could come back in a couple of days and see if I can better tell where the leak is coming from. It truly does look like its between the head and block though. There is SOOOOO much oil its scary lol. If it was my car I would be crying haha. And I feel so bad for the girl because like I said she doesn't have a lot of money and I don't want any shops taking advantage of her. So it looks as though I get to add some good karma to my karma vault and help her out myself.

Thanks a TON for your input. ALSO, I was reading that the tests that places like Autozone do on alternators can be wrong a lot of the time and there is a good chance that even though hers tested good, it could still actually be bad. I am considering going ahead and pulling it off and having it rebuilt because we have a local shop in town that will rebuild it for about $35

jonathan13

Just a little update: I decided to tell her to not have the cat done tomorrow. I am ordering her a weld-in style Magnaflow for $110.86 shipped. Anyone have any experience with this cat, or Magnaflow replacement cats in general? its model number 99354HM.

Zuvi00

For the flickering lights, check the alternator belt. Had the same problem recently and my belt just needed tightened

jonathan13

Replaced the ELD and that didn't fix it. The Alt belt is nice and tight. I'm guessing the only thing left it could be is a bad Alt even though it tested good at Autozone.

Bo0st1n_Civ1c

i would say check alt. but common problems on any battery can be corrosion or loose post on negative side of the battery

10psiLsEf2

Sounds like alternator ripple.


replace the alternator with a good known unit. see what happens

jonathan13

Yeah that's my next plan

Donovan45

I have a 1999 Honda Civic LX and the headlights, dashlights would flicker/pulse and ocassionally the SRS light would come on. The above symptoms would at first only happen once a month, then once a week for a duration of 10-30 minutes while driving. I took it to an Auto Zone parts store for a free alternator test and they said it was fine. I drove the car for another 1-2 months until it got really annoying. By this time it would happen every 1-2 days and the serverity was really bad. It was so bad, my automatic transmission PMC would start to do very abnormal gear shifting. I immediately took it to an OReily Parts Store and their tester indicated my alternator voltage was fluctuating. The voltage regulator is internal in my alternator, so replaced alternator and no more flicker/pulsing lights.

n87romeo

Yesssssss, exactly the symptoms on my civ. Feel better about getting an alternator