brenen8

Hey everyone, I'm havin some engine issues and am helping some of you can give me some advice/insight. When I was driving my car last I was going up a hill and noticed it seemed to be loosing power until I ended up having to downshift repeatedly until I was in first to even finish making it up the hill I was on. I was able to drive it home and it still started after that just didn't run right, it was jerkin from suddon loss's of power and started engine backfiring, (sounded more like high pitched top end crackles to me). The engine has about 90k on it. I changed the plugs wires, dizzy cap and rotor with no success. However after i changed the cap and rotor it started for about 15 seconds but revved to about 3k then shut off. I tried changing the dizzy but the one I had may not have been any good either. I'm just looking for ideas of things to try that are relatively inexpensive and can help eliminate some things. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance for any help.
Brenen

Jaynik

Things I always do if my car won't start:

Battery: It seems to be able to start sometimes so we can rule out the battery.

Check for spark: Remove a spark plug and with it still plugged into its wire, have a buddy try to start the car. You should be able to see the spark. Careful not to shock yourself! If there is no spark start by checking the ignition coil inside the dizzy, this is a common point of failure in civics.

Check the fuel: Turn the key all the way on without starting it. You should hear the fuel pump priming. Listen for a soothing hum from the back of the car. If the pump does not prime start by checking the main relay.

Check the main relay: Turn the key all the way on without starting and listen, there should be 2 separate clicking noises from somewhere under the dash. If you hear both of those clicks your relay is probably fine.

Check the timing belt: take the upper timing belt cover off and make sure that belt isn't broken! If it isn't, line up the timing marks on the camshaft gear, and the crankshaft pulley. If they don't line up correctly your belt may have skipped a tooth.

Check the timing: Put a timing light on there and have a buddy crank it while you shine the light on the crankshaft pulley timing marks. This is usually a long shot but since you replaces the dizzy it is possible to have simply lined it up wrong causing bad timing.

All this should only take a hour or two and will eliminate LOTS of stuff.

brenen8

thanks for the tips! every little bit helps.
to help eliminate some things, i can hear the fuel pump kicking on so i know its getting fuel. and i can hear the relay click also.
like i said it has started and ran.. just terribly so i know the timing belts not broken but it skipping a tooth is possible, im not 100% sure how to go about checking it though ive never done it. thanks again, ill check back after i go thru the list further. if anyone can give me some advice or know of a good diy on checking to see if it slipped a tooth itd help

Former User

Did you check for spark?

brenen8

i didn't before but i did after you asked. it seems to be gettin plenty of spark. however the sparkplug seemed wet and smelled like straight gasoline when i pulled it out. any ideas?

Former User

Click the spark link in my signature. What color is the spark? Bright white, orange, or blue?

brenen8

it was bright white spark, brighter than i expected actually.

Former User

If you hear the fuel pump prime, check the mechanical timing:

brenen8

are there any tricks or any certain procedure that's easiest when turning it to tdc? i can only get to the crank pulley from underneath is that correct?

Former User

Put the transmission in neutral; remove the valve and upper timing belt covers; use a breaker bar with 17mm socket to turn the crank pulley only counterclockwise until the cam pulley is positioned perfectly at TDC1; then look down to see whether the pointer and white TDC1 mark on the crank pulley are aligned.

brenen8

alright cool, thanks for all your help i really appreciate it. wheres the best place to get at the crank pulley from? is it possible to do it from the top? i'll have to be under the car to see the marks won't I?
Sorry for all the questions I'd just rather ask as much as I can now so when I go to do it tomorrow morning I can get it done with out questioning any of it or having to fight with it.

brenen8

also I can take videos/pictures of stuff for future reference if it'll help just in case there's a question about anything that's hard to put into words

Former User

It's easiest to remove the driver's wheel to access the crank pulley bolt through the hole in the splash guard, though I don't know whether this is necessary.

You'll see the cam and crank TDC1 alignments from the top.

Former User

Good idea.

brenen8

alright cool, I'll do that soon as i wake up tomorrow. Also my buddy has a 99 y8 and will let me try any sensors/parts off his to try and troubleshoot. if you can think of any ideas that wouldn't be to much work for him to bring over here with him Saturday let me know.

Former User

Nope. Start by checking the timing. The backfiring you mentioned is a hint that the timing belt may have skipped a tooth or two.

brenen8

okay, I'll get on it soon as I get up tomorrow and check back with results. Thanks again for the help.

brenen8

So here's where i got so far, just had a quick question. I obviously have to remove the bottom timing cover, I just wanted to know if its 1 or 2 pieces and are the more than 2 bolts? I can see the one behind the dipstick hole and the other on the other side of the mount, was just curious if there was anything else that needed to be done in order to get where i need to be. thanks.

brenen8

it doesn't look like the picture i posted is showing, if not. http://tinypic.com/r/20fx8pg/7 is the link to it.

brenen8

well now that i look at the picture you posted im gonna say it doesn't have to come off, im just having trouble seeing the TDC white mark part from the top.

brenen8

Okay, so ignore all 3 of my last posts. I looked at the pictures better and did a little searching so I could get a better understanding of what I was looking for and everything DOES line up TDC. when the white mark on the pulley is lined up with the mark on the cover the cam pulley is as it should be.
What would be the next step?

brenen8

After making sure the timing belt didn't slip I tried another ecu and distributor with no results. I tried to do a compression test but the results weren't completely accurate because i didn't have the right fitting for the test however I know that at least 2 of my cylinders have low compression. I'm going to get a good comp tester and a leak down test and see what I can come up with. So at this point it's either a head gasket, cylinder wall, or valve issue correct?