missing cylinder?
 

2000 Honda Civic EX 2 door. No performance modifications.

last night it had been raining / very windy and then the temperature dropped from 50 degrees to below 30 before I started my car, seemed to start normally, but then the car started to vibrate / rumble a little, the car was idling as if running on only 3 cylinders. i started to drive of but the vibration / rumble from the engine was worse (particularly around 2k rpm) and now the Check Engine light is flashing. I drove it for 5 miles, slowly and hoping it would stop once the card warmed up. Well i didn't. i eventually got out of the car and checked everything i could. Fluid levels were ok. Water temp was ok. Out of the tail pipe there seemed to be an unburned fuel smell that was strong (i think it was unburned fuel). i let the car sit turned off for about 15 minutes and then started it again. Same problem. Small amount of smoke came out for a short while but seemed to quit as i drove for another 2 miles home.
This first occurred in the middle of the summer during a heavy rain storm. After letting sit for 10 or so minutes, and then driving for a mile, the car performed normally. after that time the car acted the same (once or twice) when i started it up after it had been raining the night before... or was really cold / damp that morning.
After the first occurrence, I took it to a mechanic to check the CEL light (which had pretty much been on since I have owned it), The computer indicated a Catalyst Failure, and one other which he described as the "evap"(?) system. he said the two sensors could be reflecting a problem with one or the other, causing both to show a failure. The CEL light did not come back on until 30-50 miles later. he didn't have time to work on the car, so i decided to do what maintenance i could (replace the spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotator, battery, and both Oxygen sensors). still the Cel light stayed on... and now this.

I will probably end up taking it to a local mechanic (which i'd rather not because of past experience with over a dozen local mechanics), but i thought i'd post and see if this rings a bell with anyone, or if anyone has some useful suggestions.

Some things i know about the car:
I've owned it for 14 months.
The CEL light would only come on intermittently at first (for the first 4 months).
The previous owner lived in Wisconsin, or some other northern state.
The CAT is not the original (or even Honda oem, for that matter).
The gas cap is not the original (don’t know why).


And this is all i can think of at this hour.

Re: missing cylinder? (Prof007)
 

Try checking the disty cap for moisture, carbon tracks(if it has a cap). There may not be enough spark.

I have a 1992 EG and this happened to me yesterday at work. I drove to work fine but when i went to leave i couldn't get it started and it sounded like it was trying to run on three cylinders. I checked connections, hoses,and anything i could think of. So i went and bought a new coil and that was that.

Re: missing cylinder? (Burton7706)
 

thanks for the reply.

when i replaced the distributor cap and rotator six months ago, there was large amount of rust on the rotator button. No signs of moisture. I think it may be the coil as well.