lil_wilde

OK, so there are several problems with my car so I figured this time I would post them all in one since they might be related. It’s a 1991 Honda Civic Hatchback, 1.5L automatic.

1- I’m getting code 16 from the ECU.
2- The car sometimes won’t start after I have driven it somewhere, stopped for a few minutes and then tried to go again. If I let it sit for a few minutes it will eventually start.
3- The car doesn’t respond to gas sometimes. I will press the gas pedal but it won’t accelerate right away and then I’ll push harder and it suddenly shoots ahead.
4- I seem to be leaking coolant but I’m not positive because there is no puddle. I replaced the radiator when it cracked and added coolant until it appeared to be full but I didn’t bleed the coolant system. When I drove it overheated so I checked and it needed more coolant. I thought maybe if there was air in there it had come out and I was now able to completely fill it up but then it overheated again so I had to add more coolant. Was there that much air trapped or am I losing coolant somewhere?
5- There is a small engine oil leak from the front driver’s side but I haven’t noticed it as much lately.
6- There is a small amount of smoke that comes from under the manifold cover sometimes.
7- There seems to be a lot of exhaust smoke. It is white and could be I’m only
noticing it because of the cold weather lately but it seems suspicious.

I have recently changed the ignition coil in the distributer and like I said I changed the radiator. I had problems 1 and 2 since I bought the car 4 months ago but the other problems are more recent, since the rad. cracked and I overheated it.

I have the Hayes manual and I’m willing to get my hands dirty if it saves me money but I don’t even know where to start.

whitetoy

Sounds like a blown head gasket to me (accounts for symptoms 4 and 7)

lil_wilde

OK, is there a way I can find out for sure?

whitetoy

Other symptoms of bad HG:

Pull the dipstick and see if there is any water in the oil, or if the oil shows signs of mixing with water (light-colored oil, or what is referred to as 'milkshake').

Do a compression check of all cylinders. One or more will have a much-lower compression.

With all plugs out, crank the motor. Water might shoot out of one of the plug holes.

lil_wilde

Well, I did a compression test and all the cylinders were the same but "low". Oil looks fine, no bubbles in the rad. Don't think it's a head gasket problem, think it was just a matter of not bleeding the coolant system and there really was THAT much air in there cuz the coolant stays full now.

BUT there is still the problem of the code 16. I know it means fuel injection systme but where to start...
I think Ill post a new thread about the code 16 alone.
Thanks for your help.

4drEF

Did you do your compression check with all the plugs out?
Or did you take them out one at a time?
You need to pull them all out and not one at a time - if it's blown between cylinders then you can be reading compression of the adjacent cylinder.

logie4270

i own a 1991 crx and it was doing the same thing but i just swapped the ecu to a 1990 4 door (the only one i could find) and it stopped but yea it was poping a code 16 also and it was doing the running perfect and then turring it off and it just cranks let it sit it starts umm just when u get in it dont start it till the check engine light goes off of the dash then start it mine allways works that way good luck