drewbru

98 civic DX D16Y7
The first time you accelerate after the car has been sitting for a few hours, it hesitates until you stomp on it to get the rpms up and then it's ok after that. I'm getting the codes p0300 p0301, p0302, p0303, p0304

History: It was doing this months ago and I just lived with it. Then I started having idle surging problems. I don't recall having the hesitation problem during that period of time. After I replaced the IAC, the surging issue went away but the hesitation has come back.
I have replaced the plugs, dist cap and rotor, and the wires look great.

I don't want to throw more parts at it until I have a better idea of what it could be. Any idea how to narrow this down?

Thanks

tony_2018

Dude....look up the CEL codes and tell us what they mean....

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

"Look great" is diagnostically worthless. When were they last replaced? Did you use an OEM cap and rotor, or parts store trash? Did you get proper NGK plugs, or "Champion" ****?

drewbru

I've had the car 1.5 years and the wires were on when I bought it. They look like they were replaced shortly before I got it. No visible damage on the exterior and I don't see any arcs when it is running in the dark. The dist. cap and rotor are Bosch and the plugs NGK.
I changed the fuel filter today so I'll be able to see if that did anything after it sits tonight.

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

it wont. multiple misfire= **** distributor or mechanical timing off. fuel isn't going to help anything.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

What color is your spark? Do a compression test, and give us the numbers.

drewbru

I took the car into my mechanic. He did a compression test on 2 of the cylinders and they were ok. The spark plugs in the other two were too tight and he didn't remove them for fear of snapping them. So that doesn't tell me much.

He said the most likely problem was the distributor. I replaced it with one from Amazon that I'm sure isn't the best but good enough.

That didn't fix the problem either.

I've never messed with timing. Is it possible for it to be off for the first few minutes and then resolve itself?

Former User

If you reset the ECU, do all the codes return?

Get those stuck plugs out and replace all of them.

Also replace the plug wires and the fuel filter.

drewbru

Within the last 15,000 miles, I've replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, air filter, fuel filter, distributor cap and rotor, and then the distributor. Obviously non of that has fixed it.

When I was describing the issues with the car to my mechanic, I remembered another issue that the car has that I didn't think was related. It slowly loses coolant and I can't find the source of the leak. I was wondering if this could be leaking into the cylinders when it is not running and causing the issue. There isn't any signs of coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant. I also have not noticed any unusual smoke from the exhaust.

Former User

Pressure test the cooling system, and rent a block tester kit from AutoZone.

drewbru

I rented a pressure test kit for the cooling system. I pressurized up to 16 lbs. It lost about 1 lb / 10 min. I looked everywhere and couldn't find the leak. Possibly the cap didn't fit exactly? I doubt it.
I depressurized it but left it on and started the car. The car eventually came up to 15 lbs and held there. I thought that would signify that the head is ok. But if it is, I still have no idea where the coolant is going or why it's running like this.

Former User

drewbru

I found a block tester at AutoZone like you (RonJ) suggested. I tried Pep Boys and Advanced Auto first because they were closer and neither one loaned that block tester.
I used it today and it doesn't appear to have any exhaust leaks into the cooling system.

The codes do come back after they are cleared.

I'll work on the stuck plugs next.

What are the chances of it being an issue with the crank shaft position sensor?

Thanks for your suggestions.

drewbru

I had it checked out by a second mechanic who diagnosed it with a head gasket leak. That's beyond my skills and available time to repair. They want a couple grand for the whole job. With almost 200K, that's not going to happen.

I think that I'll try the Blue Devil Head Gasket Sealant and see if it helps at all.

Former User

Don't. Do it right or don't do it at all.

drewbru

I am not going to spend the money on this car to fix the head so I tried the Blue Devil Pour-N-Go. It seems to have drastically slowed down the coolant loss and the car has more power. It also was running fine even at startup. However, it is running poorly at startup again but I don't think it is loosing coolant from the head. There is a little loss from the water pump.
What else could it be? ECU?