I have a 97 Civic LX with a greddy turbo kit running 7 psi. Driving home from School today, I noticed a little hesitation at a low constant rpm. It sounds like my Stock exhaust pipe popping im my DTM! (like when I come off throttle) . I just went to my friends house and now it is "BOGGING" at any constant rpm and aliitle while accelorationg slowly. I just changed my Fuel filter 3000 miles ago, I have MSD wires, I just changed the cap and rotor not more than 24 hours ago, the plugs are 3000 miles old. Using a 1 level colder Bosch Platnium plug then stock. Any other suggestions for plugs? Back to the Major problem, My motor has 97,000 miles, 5,000 with boost and still mostly origanal from the factory(water pump, oil pump, fuel pump, etc)
Anyone that likes to help another honda junkie, always get good karma! If this helps, I beleive it is the fuel pump or Regulator but I also realize that it could also possibly be my ECM. (I hope not, at least for now). So if anybody could point me in a direction, Thank You!
And please hurry, I need to fix it befor it strands me somewhere. I am still planning on driving it to work tomarrow unless you all tell me different.

 

one word o2sensor try that mine went bad and the same thing happened!

 

yea you getting any codes?
i ran with no o2 sensor for about a month and it bogged but it wasnt that bad.

 

Did the problem occur before or after your tune up and what parts did you use?

 

I have no CEL on , All i did was replace the cap and rotor, and it worked fine after that. I really don't think it is the o2 because the CEL would be on. I went to the Peice of **** Local Honda Dealer "SouthEastern" and the dude in service thinks it might be the coil or ignitor? Would an MSD ignition fix both of those? He also said that if it was fuel related then it would be constant. Oh Yeah, it is not bogging as bad as yesterday. Dosen't make sense to me.

 

Was the dude in serevice a mechanic or a writer? Probably wrong either way. The MIL won't always come on with an O2 problem- pull your plugs- what do they look like? I seriously doubt it is the ECU- I have only seen 2 bad ECUs in 5 years at work. I have seen a few MAP sensors stick and cause erratic running problems. I think an MSD would add to your problems. It is really hard to tell without seeing datastream with the Honda scan tool. It COULD be the O2- but there is no way to verify with symptoms only.

 

Well, the plugs are fine! THey are doing alot better then the stock ngk's. My air/fuel gauge is wired up to the o2 sensor and it seems to be working fine!? When running at a constant 2500 rpm when the car boggs the gauge seems to read lean, that is why I origanlly thought it was a feul issue. AS for honda it was a one of their writers that was probably feeding mee a buch of BS so I would give them $68 an hour to diagnoss my problem. THat is why I payed the flat rate of $70 for the shop manual. But in this case it comes to experince and unfortunatly I am still learning and need some help on issues like this. I have a real nice mechanic that does the ultimate jobs on honda. would he have the tool that could tell me my problem? Even though there is no engine light, the "Special tool" can read my engine and give a diagnostic? I wanty one! How much? Anyway, more help is what I need so throw all of your ideas at my and I will run down the list and check off all your ideas! But just to make this clear, if your o2 sensor still sends a descent signal, it does not trigger the light but will give a breif false signal that will cause the ECM to freak for 1-2 seconds? But if it does not send a signal at all then it lights the CEL? THanks alot for your help. I have already saved $. THank YOu honda Guru's that like to share knowlegde. It is so appriciated. What I would give to have more time to become a trained honda tech: while I am a full time college junior, and full time emplyee at Dillards. Busy, poor schedual.

 

You can use any generic OBD2 scan tool- they wont give nearly the amount od info that the Honda tool does. Honda uses a mastertech scnner ($2,000)but you have to have Honda's software- maybe the dealership would upload this to the mastertech or maybe they wouldn't. The MIL won't necessarily come on for a biased O2 sensor- usually as long as the O2 is cycling (primary O2 anyway) it will not set a code. What color are the plugs? Are they really white (hot) or dark (cold)? You might check your distributor rotor- which brand did you use- I have seen several aftermarket cap and rotor sets that caused misfiring and poor running. Alot of the rotors will turn on the metal mounting piece that is molded in, changing timing. Some of them pass spark to the rotor shaft causing misfires and false distributor codes. Some of them burn out coils. I would not suspect the igniter here- I have yet to see an igniter that caused a miss - people say they cause misfires because the wires were not tight on it and when they replaced it, the wires were tightened and the car ran better- so they figure the ignitor was bad. I have only seen ignitors fail by completely shutting down for good or only when hot. Sometime they fail and send constant ground to the coil, making it hot enough to melt. I'm not saying it is not the igniter- but it is highly unlikely. If you want to eliminate the fuel question, pinch off the fuel return line and drive it (only for a short period)- see what your A/F guge says then. Most techs at dealers would have no clue how to solve your problem- they would look at the turbo and say- i dunno- however there are a few out there that actually know how to diagnose problems- hanging parts is not a diagnosis.

 

It's your oxygen sensor, trust me. A CEL will not come on sometimes even when the o2 is faulty. I would suggest to read the voltage on it and compare it to factory specs. I am almost 100% sure it will be off and you will need a new o2 sensor. Believe me i have been through this.

 

yea its possible. but i wouldnt "trust you" untill i did get a voltometer out and test the damn thing.

you said you just replaced the cap and rotor? make sure your timing is correct

 

Ok, Teken- I promis I am not ignorant about my car, I do things slow and right, "Time Is Fertilalizer on love", and trust I love my car. And very important, it dosen't do it when ideling! Only cruising between a few houndred rpm. I have checked the basic tune-up areas and all are fine! I don't have an MSD ignition, just wires. The plugs are running alittle hot but I have seen much worse. If you have a suggestion for a plug type and temp please let me know. Thank you for your knowlegde!

AS for the o2 sensor, I am cluless! My air/fuel gauge isn't going berserk. It bounces from bottom red to 1st green on cruise and 3-4 green on 100% throttle.
If it is my o2 should I replace it with a honda one or an aftermarket? THanks for all the help.
And fixhonda, you are dead on when it comes to local Honda Mechanics. They get scared shitless when they see my turbo.

 

I would go with a Honda O2 sensor- you will pay out the nose for it- I have heard nothing good about bosch O2s- Honda uses NGK or Denso O2 sensors- if you can find these brands elsewhere I would go that way- let me know if you find them elsewhere.

 

any fuel upgrades to your car?