My car has been bogging/missing, most noticeably between 2500-3500 rpm, for a long *** time, and I can't figure out the source.

It got to the point to where between those rpms my car would jerk violently, and during acceleration it sporadically feels like it's missing and bogging throughout the rpm range.

I've replaced:
dizzy cap, rotor, plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, ignition coil, tested a good tps, checked timing, etc

When the jerking got extremely bad I replaced the plugs and it seemed to help the problem a lot, but its coming back as usual.

Also it's thrown codes for random misfire in cylinder 1 and 2 twice in the past year, both times while starting the car on a hot day.

Nothing major, car runs, just annoying. I'm putting together a turbo setup and would like everything running how it should before I'm boosting.

Any other suggestions? I'll pay 20 to whoever gives me the right tip. Thanks

It's a completely stock EJ8 D16Y8 (1997 Civic EX)


Modified by Jorsher at 1:01 PM 5/3/2006

 

do you have the correct ecu for the motor and is it working correctly?

 

bad pistons/rings/seals/etc??

do a compression test?

 

What motor ECU chasis are you running I had same problem with my B16

 

yes its the original ecu...

I don't think the compression is bad because its not a constant problem, is just random. I will definitely get it checked though.

 

its either your ecu or your dizzy or one of vacuum sensors(map, etc)

 

-- check for vacuum leaks in intake manifold/throttle body
-- make sure injectors are clean/working correctly and the gasoline you're using is good
-- make sure the gap on the spark plugs is good

 

So if it is map sensor or another sensor would it throw a cel? because the only cels I get is "random misfire" for cylinders one and two.

How would I go about testing these things?

Could I plug my friends ecu from his 99 civic ? we have the same engine but I tried using his dizzy and it has extra wires

 

I know this is really farfetched, but my friend had a similiar problem, and when we changed the O2 sensor it went away

 

are the spark plugs gapped properly. my buddy did my plugs
then went to honda and they said they were gapped wrong so problem gone

 

well I am on the third set of plugs with this problem, and everytime I got them my friend got a set and changed his also, so I don't think they're the problem. Wouldn't surprise me if they gave the wrong parts but I don't think that happened since my friend who has the same car hasn't had the problem.

We got the wrong rotors 3 times before they got it right one time...wrong bolt pattern, wrong size, etc

 

one guy already said it but check your fuel injectors. I had a similar problem and that fixed it

 

Have you tested the ignitor?

 

check your grounds sometime on cars around 2500-3500 RPM's, thats when they shake the most, so check for lose grounds

 

yes I replaced the ignition coil.

How would I check the injectors? is there a way to clean them (brake cleaner)?

and all I burn is chevron gas

 

where are the grounds? I know about the one that goes from the the valve cover...but that's about it.

It seems like it might be something electrical just by how its so random...and it acts kinda like my old chevy that had a spot in one of the wires where it would "leak" the spark to the block and cause it to miss...my wires are new though.

 

Try a different ECU and if you have the time a different fuel pump.

 

is it full throttle or partial throttle misfiring?

 

at partial and it seems worse at WOT but not sure, seems to bog more

 

what kind of octane do you run? try running better gas. or gas from a good gas station, i.e. mobil, exxon, etc etc

 

I use the correct octane, just regular octane, and only chevron gas has been ingested by the engine for the past 40000 miles

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jorsher &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I use the correct octane, just regular octane, and only chevron gas has been ingested by the engine for the past 40000 miles</TD></TR></TABLE>
i would suggest just running a tank of 93 one time and see what happens. i know it aint cheap but that may fix it. this happened to HXVTEC on here befor, he was buying crap gas from crap gas stations.. so i told him to get 93 from mobil, and problem solved.

 

I have just recently had this problem where you would be driving and at low RPM it would bog down. While the engine was running i took off the vac line from the intake mani to the fuel press reg, then replaced it with a new line. I also took out the map sensor on the throttle body, and cleaned it out a bit, by just blowing in it. The car runs good right now. It is a B18C5, so a diff engine, but I hope you find out whats wrong with ur car, cause it does suck when it is spitting and sputtering, and when it does it and you push in the clutch, and the car dies, and you have to restart it. Especially so, when driving in large amounts of traffic, and you have to focus more on starting your car then driving

 

I don't think increasing the octane would help, and if it did, I would still want to find out why my stock engine isn't running on the gas that it's supposed to. I'll try it sometimes but don't know if it'll help.

It doesn't just bog, it misfires and sputters and bogs etc, but I'll definately try cleaning the map sensor, is it the one on the back of the throttle body near the firewall? I don't have a book for my car...just my del sol one lol.

 

how many miles on your car? has it had the free service from honda. I believe there was a recall or some type of emission replacement for that year civic.