Won't idle when first started
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: Duncansville, Pa., USA
Won't idle when first started
I need some help (Advice) real bad.
I have a '96 Civic DX (94,000 miles) and it just started giving me this problem. About 3 weeks ago my check engine light came on and the car continued to run fine. After a week the check engine light went off and the car still ran fine. Yesterday morning (2 weeks after the check engine light went out) when I went to start the car, it was a little hard to start (like it wasn't firing) and when it did finally fire, it was all I could do to keep it running. After it warmed up, it ran fairly good. When I tried to start it again this morning, it was the same thing all over again.
Here's what we did today to try to solve the problem:
Changed the cap and rotor
Changed the wires
Changed the plugs
After we did all this work we checked the computer and no faults or misfires were showing. The car still acts exactly the same as it did before. It will start but run very very very rough until it warms up. Then it will run alright.
I had some good spare parts laying around and changed:
Map Sensor
Idle Air Control Valve
Throttle Body w/sensors
We used a scan tool and no codes come up. If I unplug the MAP sensor, the car will start fine cold but only with it unplugged. I put 2 MAP sensors on it and that's not the problem. Vaccum is great and we checked for leaks on head and intake and it's fine too.
This is driving me nuts. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. My friend is a Master Honda Mechanic at the local Honda Dealership and he's never seen this problem before and said it will be very difficult to diagnose with no codes showing up. He also said at the dealership they have some sort of scan tool about twice the size of a laptop and they plug it into your car and it reads every sensor and if it doesn't show any codes, it hooks them right up with a Honda Technician (AT HONDA) and he'll diagnose your problem and tell you exactly what's wrong. He's taking it to the dealership Monday to see what's up. (Cost For Diagnosis $52.00) Anyone heard of this before?
I have a '96 Civic DX (94,000 miles) and it just started giving me this problem. About 3 weeks ago my check engine light came on and the car continued to run fine. After a week the check engine light went off and the car still ran fine. Yesterday morning (2 weeks after the check engine light went out) when I went to start the car, it was a little hard to start (like it wasn't firing) and when it did finally fire, it was all I could do to keep it running. After it warmed up, it ran fairly good. When I tried to start it again this morning, it was the same thing all over again.
Here's what we did today to try to solve the problem:
Changed the cap and rotor
Changed the wires
Changed the plugs
After we did all this work we checked the computer and no faults or misfires were showing. The car still acts exactly the same as it did before. It will start but run very very very rough until it warms up. Then it will run alright.
I had some good spare parts laying around and changed:
Map Sensor
Idle Air Control Valve
Throttle Body w/sensors
We used a scan tool and no codes come up. If I unplug the MAP sensor, the car will start fine cold but only with it unplugged. I put 2 MAP sensors on it and that's not the problem. Vaccum is great and we checked for leaks on head and intake and it's fine too.
This is driving me nuts. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. My friend is a Master Honda Mechanic at the local Honda Dealership and he's never seen this problem before and said it will be very difficult to diagnose with no codes showing up. He also said at the dealership they have some sort of scan tool about twice the size of a laptop and they plug it into your car and it reads every sensor and if it doesn't show any codes, it hooks them right up with a Honda Technician (AT HONDA) and he'll diagnose your problem and tell you exactly what's wrong. He's taking it to the dealership Monday to see what's up. (Cost For Diagnosis $52.00) Anyone heard of this before?
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,884
Likes: 2
From: Asheville, NC, USA
Re: Won't idle when first started (redlines4us)
the ECU should store that CEL even tho it went off so thats weird...
do you have to keep the gas on it until it warms up to keep it running?
do you have to keep the gas on it until it warms up to keep it running?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: Duncansville, Pa., USA
Re: (dogbiscuit)
Yes I have to keep pumping the gas pedal until it warms up to keep it running? The only fault on the ECU showed a misfire at one time or another. I believe that's when the check engine light came on originally then went back off. We cleared that fault and no others show up at all.
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